Cruise Day 2 - Breisach, Germany
Monday 1st April 2013
Waking up nice and early I took a wee stroll up to the lounge deck where early risers can make themselves a cuppa or juice and have a pastry or muffin. Suitably sustained I have time
to enjoy the scenery before heading back to our room for a shower and the days preparations.
Last night we purchased two add-on tours so with the daily tours included in our booking we will be busy. Today’s tour cost 39 euro.
After a substantial breakfast in the dining room we wrap up warm for our first tour, one we eagerly await.
Black Forest Bus Tour. There’s no time to admire the medieval city of Breisach, considered by many to be the most beautiful in Germany. We’re off to the land of fairy tales and gateau - Hansel & Gretel country.
On the way we stop at a Monastry of St Peter, a baroque style church where I lit a candle.
I’d read online that this tour wasn’t worth doing so had mixed feelings about it. Previous travelers had commented that you are ‘highjacked’ and left at a cuckoo clock workshop where you feel obligated to buy.
By 8.30 am the 5 or 6 buses are full of travelers and we set off. As the bus wends it way higher up the hills the view is magical with the weak winter sun reflecting off a heavy fall of fresh snow.
No matter what the rest of the trip brings it will be worth it for this part alone. It’s everything I’ve imagined and I wish I could spend the rest of my holiday here hiking in the pine and fir forests. Tracks criss-cross the landscape, used by cross-country skiers and hikers in summer.
The sparsely populated landscape is dotted with chalets. Once again I’m struck by the firewood perfectly stacked outside the houses. Our guide informs us that in Germany it is common for a potential husband to visit the family home of his intended. There he will check out the firewood stack as the wife of the house take on this responsibility. If the stack is no good he will know that the girl will not make a good housewife. If the stack is strong and tidy he knows he will be getting a capable wife. Mothers only pass on the responsibility to a daughter as she nears marriage age. So check out your firewood stacks! As the firewood saga is something we’ve grown up with I’m not sure how our Dad would ever have got 4 daughters married off. Imagine the stacks of firewood then.
We arrive at the cuckoo clock village where we find we have options: a walk into the forest; shopping at gift shops; café for a bite to eat; cuckoo clock making demonstration; gateau making demonstration. As much as my mind is saying take the walk, my body is saying get into the warmth. It is very cold! So we opt for the café where we just have to try the gateau. Looking at all that cream I opt for apple strudel and hot chocolate, 5.50 euro.
While enjoying our delights I spy antler lights overhead and take pictures for Dad. I’m sure he must have originated from this area in another life.
You must need to eat a lot of fat here to keep warm. This was reinforced when watching the cake making demonstration. A huge bowl of whipped cream was all used. Kirsch was poured over the top two layers, jam and whole cherries covered the bottom layer with cream between each layer and completely covering the cake. Then it was lavishly covered with chocolate shavings and the cherry on top, well that was lots of cherries on top.
It was a fabulous bus tour and I’d highly recommend it.
Back to the ship for lunch - spinach soup and a bun.
Just time for a short rest before we head off on our ‘optional’ tour at 2pm. This is a WW11 tour through the Alsace Wine Trail. It’s still freezing cold but our Kiwi guide, Malcolm Waddell, is welcoming and extremely knowledgeable.
We retraced the steps of American soldiers in the campaign to liberate France. Obviously we had to cross over the Rhine river to do this. Morning in Germany, afternoon in France.
I felt as if I was home in Marlborough while standing beside the many vineyards. The hills shimmered blue and I could have been standing in a vineyard in Wrekin Road surveying the countryside, apart from the cold which seeped into my bones.
As we drove through narrow village streets you expected a tank to come around the next corner.
It was very moving to stand at Audie Murphy’s memorial and listen to the story behind the man and his heroism. Flat land all around and no cover other than stands of forest. What carnage and waste of lives. The land was ploughed ready for crops and I can imagine it frozen then thawing and becoming a bog.
We visited a museum and too many villages to remember even trying our hand at some raspberry snapps drinking, 8 euro. Wow. It’s nothing like Prenzels! In fact it was difficult to finish it as it was so strong.
Back to the warm ship and time to dress for dinner. Tonight it’s raviolli, scallops & a desert platter for me. Plus some wine to wash it down.
The entertainment tonight is a musical evening with local entertainers brought onboard. They sing about the Rhine to the Seine.
Did you know that the Rhine originates in Switzerland? Although it’s most often associated with Germany it springs from two sources in Switzerland converging just west of Chur, forming a border with Lichtenstein before flowing into Lake Constance, a shimmering jewel surrounded by Austria, Switzerland and Germany.
Already I’ve visited 3 countries and “Father Rhine” - Lifeblood of Europe is living up to his reputation and allowing me to trace the history and culture of civilizations.
Check out the sisters guest entry:
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