Today (Thursday) we went on a cruise down the Rhine river - it was exquisite. Once again, the weather has been perfect. The river was a deep, deep green with beautiful forests rising up from both sides, and quaint houses and villages, as well as hill top castles. The boat was a floating palace, more like an elegant restaurant downstairs, with open air tables on the top deck. Along the riverside, we saw vineyards planted on steep hillsides. When there is so much flat ground around I am not sure why they do this, but it looked like it would be very hard work.
We explored Heidelberg today also, and enjoyed the contrast between that (a small town, and one of the very few in this area without extensive damage from Second World War bombing) and Cologne, which is a big town. In Cologne we looked at a cathedral of enormous proportions, that is supposedly home to the remains of the three wise men. The exterior was black with the effects of the pollution they have here, such a contrast with the very green countryside.
One thing about Europe that takes a bit of getting used to is the public toilets (or lack thereof)! Most are not the most pleasant, and many you have to pay to use. Even McDonalds in Cologne charged 1 Euro to use their toilet, we hadn’t budgeted for that! Fortunately, our tour guide knows where the best ones are, but she had some interesting stories of toilet misadventures from other tours to tell us!
The tour party is loosening up as we get to know each other better, and we are having some hilarious conversations trying to explain some of our Kiwi expressions (“drive around the roundabout”) particularly to the Americans. They’re a great bunch of people.
The tour party is loosening up as we get to know each other better, and we are having some hilarious conversations trying to explain some of our Kiwi expressions (“drive around the roundabout”) particularly to the Americans. They’re a great bunch of people.
No comments:
Post a Comment