On the road again – or should I say the river
Recovering from jetlag in Leyden before we catch a riverboat in Amsterdam
Europe 2016 – a river cruise with Scenic
We joined Scenic’s Scenic Jade at Amsterdam for a fifteen day cruise on the Rhine and the Moselle, back to the Rhine and up to Basel in Switzerland.
We sail out of Amsterdam along the Amsterdam Rhine canal, and from there to Antwerp.
The lovely little Dutch village of Veere
We visit the gorgeous little village of Veere, and the storm surge barriers that keep the North Sea out.
Nijmegen and the killing fields of Arnhem
I visit the cemetery at Arnhem and remember the abortive attempt to capture the Rhine bridges in 1944.
We visit Maastricht, Andre Rieu’s home town.
A visit to the old town of Duisburg, home of the legend of Siegfried and the Nibelungen Lied.
Where the Moselle meets the Rhine
Koblenz – where the Moselle flows into the Rhine. We visit the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein,
Want to impress your wife? Buy her a castle.
We visit Cochem, a lovely German wine town – with a restored castle high on the hill.
The Moselle Valley – or grape growing for mountain goats
We sail along the Moselle, past the vineyards on the steep slopes.
We take a short trip to the city of Trier, touted as the oldest city in Germany.
We return to the Rhine and sail through the Rhine Gorge to Rudesheim.
And now for something completely different
We tie up at Mannheim and visit the Hockenheim Ring, the home of car and bike racing in Germany.
We take a bus trip into France to visit Strasbourg
Instead of a visit to the Schwarzwald we had to settle for a wander around Breisach.
Gruyere – mountains, cows and cheese
From Basel we catch a bus into the Swiss Alps – first stop Gruyere.
Montreux, playground of the rich and famous
We arrive at our hotel on the shores of Lake Geneva for a 2-day stay
Not just another bloody castle
A wonderful visit to Chillon – the castle on the rock.
We take a funicular railway train up the mountain behind the hotel to Rochers de Nayes.
The bus winds its way along the narrow mountain roads from the lake to Bern.
We make a short stop at Luzern on the shores of the lake before driving on to Bern
Stop-off in Singapore – meeting the locals
We break the long flight home with a couple of days in Singapore.
Stop off in Singapore – exploring
We visit the old parts of Singapore, the gardens by the bay, and the rail transit system.