Life on the Ship–A Visit With the Captain (Saturday PM, September 2)

  We returned to the ship for late lunch and to sail to our next destination. After lunch our little group spent time on the sun deck, waiting for a scheduled visit with the Captain in the ship’s wheelhouse.  (See above, which is a photo from another Viking ship.) The wheelhouse, which takes its name …

Strasbourg/Strassburg, France (Friday September 1)

[Remember to click or mouse over the photos for more information.] Forty miles (64 km) north-northeast of Colmar is Strasbourg (sometimes spelled Strassburg), France. A Roman camp in 12 B.C., its original name was Argentoratum, referring to precious minerals mined or stored in the area. Later its name was changed to Strasbourg, a word of …

The Colmar Pocket (Thursday PM, August 31)

[Note, click on photos for more information.] After lunch we headed to Turckheim and Colmar, two cities in Alsace-Lorraine.  Alsace-Lorraine is a region of about 5,000 square miles located on the northeast shoulder of France, near its border with Germany.  Its population today is about 70,000.  Alsace-Lorraine's sunny and dry microclimate (caused by nearby mountains …

Breisach, Wine Queens, and the Schwartzwald (Thursday AM, August 31)

We awoke this morning docked in Breisach, a town of about 17,000 located about 60 km north of Basel and about about halfway between Freiburg and Colmar. Breisach got around a lot. Its very name is Celtic (meaning breakwater). It lies on a hill, and whenever the Rhine would flood Breisach would be surrounded by …

Morning in Lucerne, Evening in Norse Mythology (Wednesday August 30)

Last day in Lucerne. After breakfast Marian and I decided against the organized walking tour.  Instead, after packing and vacating the room, we headed on our own walk. One of the city's most famous landmarks is the Lion Monument, a mountainside carving that commemorates hundreds of Swiss Guards who were killed at the Tuileries Palace …

The Mountain, The Abbey, and The Cheese (Tuesday August 29)

Lucerne the city is located around the shores of Lake Lucerne, in the Swiss canton of Lucerne. (Do you catch a theme here?)  It is overlooked by Mt. Pilatus and Mt. Rigi. (More about Mt. Pilatus in a minute.) In 1332 the canton of Lucerne and several others formed the original Swiss Confederacy to defeat the existing rulers …