Cochem is a lovely little town in Germany’s Moselle country. There has been a town here since before the Romans came. As it happens, most of the old buildings in the town centre were destroyed during various wars – the … Continued
I think I’ve found a favourite European city. Koblenz is just plain lovely. Pete and I had a great time simply wandering around, soaking up the ambience. There are large buildings (churches, palaces, government offices), but wide pavements and beautiful … Continued
Duisburg is in the middle of the Ruhr industrial area, basically levelled in WW2. The glory days as the industrial center of Germany are gone. Only one of the coal mines is still operational, scheduled to close in 2018. These … Continued
Maastricht is on the River Maas (or Meuse if you prefer the French version), which forms a part of the Rhine delta. The city claims to be the oldest town in the Netherlands (haha – see the post about Nijmegen). … Continued
Veere is a gorgeous little village on one of the islands of Zeeland, close to the Belgian border. Very, very picturesque, with lovely gardens and cute lanes lined with neat houses. In the afternoon we were taken to see the … Continued
We sailed out of Amsterdam in the early evening, heading for the Amsterdam Rhine canal, and from there to Antwerp on the River Scheldt. It’s a boring run for the most part, passing green fields, man-made rock walls and hundreds … Continued
We cruised along the canal that connects the Rhine to the city of Amsterdam on the River Ij. The overcast weather threatened rain and there wasn’t much to see, but it was very green and there were cows, all of … Continued
Back to the big smoke today. We were well and truly on the Rhine and a parade of barges passed us, going upriver from the Netherlands and Germany. I have no doubt we were just one of many vessels heading … Continued
Getting through all those locks can be a bit of a trial because you have to wait your turn. As a result we were a bit late getting into Rudesheim, which is famous for wine. Cherie had organised for a … Continued
Today was a little bit different. We gathered in the Amavenita‘s lounge to watch a demonstration of glass blowing. This wasn’t the sort of bending of glass into animals that you see in Venice. Hans Ittig and his family make … Continued