It was a cold, misty morning as we arrived in Kehl, Germany.  We were soon on a tour bus to Stasbourg, France – a short distance away on the other side of the Rhine River. Our Viking tour guide took us on a two hour walking tour of this old city – founded by the Romans in 12 B.C.  We …

I opened our stateroom window to see this sunrise over the Rhine River.  We were ready for another day of seeing castles, German towns, and cathedrals! Most of the day we were in Heidelberg.  Here we are shown in front of the old castle, “considered the most magnificent castle ruin in Germany” according to our guide. Our Viking guide, a …

Today we visited one of the best preserved fortresses overlooking the Rhine – Marksburg Castle. The castle, high on a hill, is over 700 years old.  Its location made it difficult for attackers to reach it over the years, hence it had far less damage than other Rhine castles. Viking River Cruises arranged for an excellent guide to show us …

Our river cruise brought us to Cologne this morning – Germany’s fourth largest city. As we approached Cologne the massive cathedral dominated the skyline. Before venturing out into the city we had breakfast in our ship’s dining room.  We try to get a window table each time.  The food at all meals has been excellent! Our German tour guide led …

It was a cold, windy morning in Holland where we visited Kinderdijk and its windmills. Our Dutch guide Margriet led us on a two hour tour.  We learned of the inner workings of windmills.  Most of the windmills we saw this day dated back to the 1700’s.  We went inside one windmill surprised to find it once was a family …

We arrived in Holland early Saturday morning on our overnight ferry from Harwich, UK.  We forgot to account for the one hour time difference (Holland is one hour ahead of London) but fortunately we awoke earlier than planned so it wasn’t a problem.  We exited the ferry, boarded a train to Rotterdam adjacent to the Ferry terminal, and then switched …

We wrapped up our four days in London in style visiting the current Royalty’s residence at Windsor Castle and a past English monarchy castle at Hampton Court. Windsor Castle is where Queen Elizabeth resides most of the time, about 20 miles outside of London.  We found it fascinating to get a behind the scenes look at the Royal Family, seeing …

On day three of our London trip we saw many highlights of the city that we had missed two days earlier. Here I am in front of “Big Ben” – though it really isn’t named that.  We learned this is the Elizabeth Tower.  “Big Ben” is the large bell within the tower. Here is Anne receiving guidance from our bus …

Today we ventured outside of the London city limits to see some of the sights in the English countryside. Our first stop was Salisbury.  Here I am in front of the impressive cathedral, with the tallest church spire in the United Kingdom (404 feet).  My favorite dead British architect, Christopher Wren whom I mentioned yesterday, was said to be upset …

Greetings from London! Anne and I arrived early this morning after a 7 hour transatlantic flight from Washington DC.  Here I am standing outside of our hotel – the Lancaster Gate Hotel near Hyde Park.  This is a good location, close to the major transit hubs. After checking in to our hotel, we immediately started touring.  Though tired from the …