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4/9/18
We're off for the river cruise ship Hild of the Viking line. It will be our first time on Viking after five cruises on Vantage and one on Grand Circle. Hild or Hildr means "battle" in Old Norse; she was a Valkyrie who could bring killed warriors back to life, thus keeping the battle ongoing.
We're still feeling the effects of our colds. Lots of coughing, sore throat, etc. Makes us want to curl up in a ball and sleep.
We bused 400km from Paris to Luxembourg City, where we took lunch. Afterward, we bussed to the WW2 American Cemetery outside the city. It's a very solemn place with 5,100 crosses & stars, including two CMOH honorees plus the gravesite of General Patton.
Then we continued to Trier, a city deep in a gorge on the Moselle. We went aboard. Our luggage was brought to the cabin (323) and we unpacked for the week.
Then we headed to the bar and had a glass before the Captain's talk. The Captain provided champagne and more of the same words we've heard before.
Then the six of us went to dinner. The menu was varied and the food quite good. Lots of wine. Finally went to bed somewhat addled.
4/10/18 Thresher sinking, 1963.
The picture at left is the Moselle River, the town of Trier, and the Viking Hild in the river.
There was a town tour in the morning. We overslept (very comfortable bed) and missed the 0845 tour. But we figured out the shower and got clean. We took our cough drops and other medicines.
We took a light breakfast in the dining room. Eggs, berries, etc. Good coffee. Most passengers went ashore on the walking tour of Trier but there are a few of us left roaming around the ship.
At 1000 we got underway downstream for Bernkastle, where we will have a wine tasting event this evening. We pulled up space in the lounge to witness the transit.
Much of the transit was done backing because the river is too narrow to turn around. At Trier-Pfalzel the river became wide enough to turn around. Then we proceeded normally to some little place just downstream of Schweik and tied up at a proprietary Viking lay-by, with a "camel" tied to the shore and a gangway to an area with a dumpster.
The crew off-loaded trash & garbage from the bow. Then the ship moved a few rods downstream so our tour group could use the gangway to come into the reception area. The tour group came back aboard.
At 1400 the safety drill was conducted. We found only one lifejacket in our cabin. So I went up to the sun deck with all the others and reported the circumstance. Soon an officer handed me a lifejacket. When we got back to the cabin, we found another one. So now we have three.
Since we were up, we attended the Captain's lecture on Things Nautical with emphasis on Long Ships. Quite fluent, very outgoing, and authoritative. Excellent lecture.
That was followed by the lecture on Tomorrow by the Cruise Director during which D fell asleep. Tomorrow looks to be more our "thing" so we decided to forego the wine and walk event today. We'll just rest and get better.
So we dined, then listened to a classical duet that was not as good as La Strada on Vantage ships. And went to bed.
Our 48th wedding anniversary. 4/11/18
Overslept. Very comfortable bed. Ship is underway to reach Cochem. Not much on the agenda today.
A beautiful day - around 70* with mostly sunny skies.
We took the tour of Cochem. First we walked over the bridge to the center of the small town. Then part of the group was bussed up to the Castle for a tour there. We elected to stay in town, in the shopping area.
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I got cash from the ATM and lozenges for my still-sore throat. D bought a new pair of sunglasses to replace those that were broken - very modern design. We also found a few grandson things.
We took a break to sit at table in the town square while we had beer and wine, then an apfel strudel.
Busses came along to take us to a wine-tasting in a large room that is also a museum of wine tools. The owner (11th generation) gave a nice talk with some humor. The first taste was good, the last was really off. The museum is chock-a-block with tools and pictures.
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The busses couldn't get to the ship due to construction so we were dropped at the town bus station, from where we walked back over the bridge to the ship - not too hard but we were happy to get back and sit.
We ate dinner (german food tasting event, and D got to do the chicken-dance) and returned to our cabin, where we found an anniversary cake. Nice touch.
And finally to bed with the ship underway.
Koblenz, at the junction of the Moselle and Rhine.
4/12/18
We awoke on the Moselle but soon turned the corner onto the Rhine at the "German Corner". Huge statue of Kaiser Wilhelm on the point.
The ship tied up right there. We had breakfast and thought about the walking tour. Finally we decided not to go with the crowd so that we don't aggravate our colds.
But then I discovered I couldn't find my spare hearing-aid batteries. I found a local map that showed an "Apotek" not far away. I walked to it and they had the batteries. So I got a good walk out of it after all.
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