Romance of the Rhine & Mosel River Cruise
An unforgettable journey down Europe’s majestic rivers.
Today, I am thrilled to introduce you to Margie Carpenter, a fellow traveler, passionate member of our community, and my beloved Mom.
Living in the vibrant culture of Mexico, Margie has embraced the spirit of a world traveler. Today, she’s sharing an incredible journey that many of us can only dream of—a European river cruise!
May 2024
Exploring Switzerland: Lucerne and Basel
The Rhine River flows through the borders of Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. It is 740 miles long, with 540 miles navigable, and its source of water is the Swiss Alps. We enjoyed several pre-cruise days in Lucerne, Switzerland at the base of the Alps. Lucerne straddles the Reuss River and has the oldest long-covered wooden bridge in Europe. Originally built in 1333, much of it had to be replaced after a fire in 1993, allegedly caused by a careless smoker. While still in Lucerne, our small tour group enjoyed a gorgeous panoramic train ride to one of the highest Alps - the Klein Scheidegg.
Our river cruise embarked a few days later in Basel, Switzerland. It’s the third-largest city in Switzerland and borders Swiss, French, and German borders. From there we sailed overnight to Strasbourg, France. The city is equal parts German and French, strategically important since ancient times. It’s home to the magnificent Strasbourg Cathedral, one of the finest of Europe’s great Gothic cathedrals.
Historic Cities and Scenic Views
We moved from France to Speyer, Germany, founded by the Romans in AD 50. Much of the city has been destroyed over the ages, with the exception of their Cathedral. It survived and is the largest Romanesque Basilica in Europe. They are most notable for inventing the “Brezel” (pretzel). Even their traffic lights show a pretzel on the light when it turns green!
On our way to Boppard, Germany, we cruised through a gorge to the most beautiful part of The Rhine River with gorgeous scenery, including magnificent castles whichever way you turn and an imposing rock rising 440 feet above the river. A Greek mythology tale tells of sweet songs (such as Lorelei) that lured sailors to their deaths at the reef below the rock!
We continued our scenic cruise along the Mosel River to the picturesque town of Bernkastel, one of the prettiest villages in the Mosel Valley. Everybody enjoyed shopping for Birkenstock shoes and Gummy Bears (Haribo Company), both originating in this lovely city!
Luxembourg and Beyond
The next full-day tour was to Luxembourg, located between Belgium, France, and Germany. It is less than 1,000 square miles and is one of the smallest countries in the world! The Battle of the Bulge was considered the greatest American battle of the Second World War, in which American troops suffered tremendous losses.
Most impressive but very sad was the Luxembourg American War Cemetery. The cemetery was beautiful with green manicured lawns and all white crosses and stars in perfect alignment. It gave us a different perspective on the conflict when we visited the depressing German War Cemetery. It had black crosses, no grass or landscape, and the soldiers were buried four deep. Most of their boys had no choice but to be in the war.
We were not able to sail to our next destination, Cochem, Germany, as the water was too high! It rained mostly at night, and we hadn’t noticed that the water was up to the top of the banks! We had to go through dozens of locks on the cruise but couldn’t make it through this last one! Our captain said it was just in time as we were turning around and heading to Bonn, our last stop in Germany!
The Netherlands and Belgium
Onto The Netherlands with their beautiful windmills, and then our last stop in Antwerp, Belgium. Medieval architectural heritage weaves through many of the cities we visited. There is so much history in all of these 2,000+ year-old countries we visited. Also equally, if not most enjoyable, were all the nice people we met! Not only guests but also the ship’s staff who took such good care of us! The most important and memorable one was our tour director, Julia. How she kept everything in her head with no written notes was impressive. Her knowledge of the geography and history of the world, as well as the stories she told us every day, were unbelievable!
Such an excellent guest writer you hosted this week! Thanks Kacey