Kinderdijk, Netherlands
My husband and I took a Viking Cruise on the Rhine River from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland. We were joined by our friends the Gesings and about 175 other people. It was a wonderful, relaxing, easy way to see parts of the Netherlands, Germany, and the Alsace region of France.
A Toll Castle
One afternoon was spent sitting in the lounge, drinking tea, and watching the Rhine River towns roll by with their steep, hilly vineyards, and their hilltop castles. According to our guides, most of the German castles were ravaged by the French and are now being made into luxury hotels by the Japanese. Go figure.
Colmar, France--La Petite Venise
I was very excited about setting foot in France for the first time. We went to Strasbourg and Colmar in the Alsace-Lorraine region. My great-grandparents on my mother's side came from this area. Trying to use my French at the Colmar Marche de Noel, I said, "Deux vin blanc chaud, s'il vous plait." But I forgot that I had to also pay for the returnable glasses, so I had the wrong amount of money and faltered when the merchant asked for more. So, I was ravaged by the French for my lack of math language skills.
2 comments:
Wow, I didn't know you went to Colmar! I love it there - in the spring there are storks clacking their beaks everywhere...I bet it was fabulous for a Christmas festival. Can't wait to hear more!!
Neil, Deb, and I quickly abandoned Rudolph our tour guide. Then Deb went into a yarn shop...we walked around and tried the vin blanc chaud, which we liked better than the German Gluwein (mulled red wine). The Christmas markets were very crowded on Saturday, but I enjoyed seeing the French Christmas scene. The booths at the market were filled with food & drink, candy, bread, decorations, candles, hats, toys, etc. Very festive!
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