river cruise

Heidelberg At Last 6/15/15

 in Grand Eastern European River Cruise  tagged Charlemagne / Heidelberg Bridge / Heidelberg Castle / Rhine River / river cruise by

I knew Heidelberg would be bliss because my dad served there during the WWII Allied occupation, and I studied descriptions of the city to color my recounting of his story.  The bridge and city have been calling me ever since, but I was blown away all the same.  My historic sources painted the castle as a fading ruin above the city.  Clearly that was before the restoration.  The palace is now everything you could want in a castle, except maybe knights on horseback.  Actually the red sandstone fortress offers more than I’d have thought to request—an apothecary museum, the world’s largest wine […]

Castles of the Rhine Gorge 6/14/15

 in Grand Eastern European River Cruise  tagged castles / Niederwald Monument / Rhine River / river cruise by

I looked up from a lively breakfast conversation and thrilled to see a castle peering down on us from a tree-covered hill.  On the upper deck we spotted one hilltop castle after another.   Our cruise director, Veronika, told us their stories along with a sad one about Loreley Rock.  Loreley was a beautiful maiden who threw herself into the river over a knave and became a siren, luring fishermen overboard.  Between castles were charming terracotta-tiled villages, each with at least one lovely, spired church.  In the Rhine Gorge, where fairy tales got their start, even the entrances to train tunnels look like […]