What a wonderful little town! We woke to a cool and foggy day, just the perfect day along the wine region of the Mosel. The cool temperatures and moist air make for the most perfect conditions for the Reisling grape. After breakfast, we took a walking tour into Bernkastel, seeing the castle in ruins at the top of the mountain in the mist. The streets are narrow, with a tower at the waterfront, once part of the city wall and now part of a church, a lock fo...

Now we are on the Mosel River, quite different from the Rhine. It winds in and out of mountains, grape vines yellowing on the hillside. Swans greet our boat at the mooring. It is a foggy morning. The little village of Cochem is nestled in the river valley. The Mosel takes a big bend here, like a horseshoe. At the top of one mountain stands the Reichsburg Castle, built in 1000 AD (photo in the fog). Much of it was later burned, and for 500 years, it sat e...

This morning we were SUPPOSED to get up at 6:30 to catch the walking tour of the town, but when the alarm went off, I simply couldn't move! So we had a "late" breakfast at 7:30 instead, before catching the bus for the Liberation Museum in Groesbeek, a few miles away. A very special treat awaited us on the bus. Our local tour guide was a man who at eight years old had welcomed the Allied forces to the town, and at the time, had his first taste of chewing gum ...

Our captain told us last night we could have a wake-up call as we approached Cologne, so that we could get up on the sundeck for a photo of the gorgeous Cathedral of Cologne lit up at night. However, D&I opted out of the 4:30 wake-up call - no way! We sauntered into the dining room for breakfast at the civilized hour of 8:00 instead. At 9:00, we were off for a walking-tour of Bonn. Steven led us down the quay, pointing out a cigarette machine, but wha...

I thought the cruise would be relaxing… Today we were up at six a.m. to get dressed and have a bite of breakfast before setting out for a walking tour of Willemstad, the Netherlands, in order to be back at the ship by 8:30 to take off on the bus to the Delta Works, the country's proudest achievement: holding back the North Sea. I never have time to blog - if I do, the internet is down - or everyone else is trying to get on-line. The signal is weak and spo...