In October, 2003, we booked our first “big” trip – a two week outing on a riverboat on the Rhine, Mainz, and Danube rivers from Amsterdam to Vienna. The trip was even more special because we were able to go with our friends, Chuck and Freda Gerrish. Actually, Freda discovered the trip on the internet at 5:00 AM one morning, and by the end of the day, we were all booked to go! The cruise was run by Grand CircleTours (GCT) and was just the first of many wonderful trips wewere to take with this company.
Our first stop was Brussels where we spent a few days seeing the sights and enjoying the food. Since this was the first time in a long while either of us had been to Europe, we thoroughly enjoyed just walking around this bustling city. Perhaps the high point, though, came when Freda and Adele ordered appetizer-sized portions of Brussels’s famous mussels for dinner. When the waiter brought a couple of 2-quart buckets full of shellfish, they were a bit intimidated, but figured that for seven euros, it was a pretty good deal. They both were completely stuffed when the waiter brought the bill. It was for 21 euros each! The waiter insisted that was what they had ordered. However, he didn’t know who he was tangling with! After Freda and Adele finished with him (and the manager), the restaurant was glad to see the last of us (needless to say, we only paid the 7 euros). However, neither girl ordered mussels again on this trip.
The next event was a bus tour of Bruges and a ride to Amsterdam where we met our boat. The boat and the accommodations were both very nice. Our program director offered to take us on an evening walking tour of Amsterdam’s famous red-light district, which we enthusiastically accepted, although one of us (I’m not naming any names, but her initials are AB) asked the guide “Why would anyone want to go see a bunch of red lights?” which kind of stopped the discussion for a while. The tour was definitely interesting. Some of the folks hawking the merchandise offered “blue hair specials” as a tribute to the large percentage of seasoned citizens on our trip.
The next morning, we left Amsterdam and headed up the Rhine River toward Germany. We quickly concluded that river boat travel is the only way to see Europe! We traveled in relaxed comfort from town to town, never having to pack or unpack or run to catch a bus. The boat tied up at a different small town each day and passengers got off to take a leisurely walk around, and were able to return to the boat whenever hunger or fatigue set in. Since most of the older towns in that part of Europe are on, or close to, the Rhine, we saw a lot of country with a minimum of effort. In fact, there were so many small, quaint towns that I won’t attempt to describe them all. Please look at the pictures and captions for some highlights.
Every day was a new experience. The October weather was chilly, but mostly clear, and there was always a warm beer hall or coffee house where we could refresh ourselves. One of the fun parts of the trip was tasting the different beers in each city and region. Bill’s favorite was the Grolsch Bier in Regensburg.
We ended the trip with a few days in the famous city of Vienna where we saw the sights and sampled the food (hmm, sounds like the trip ended as it began – however, without mussels). Both the sights and tastes were what you would expect in this delightful city. Adele led a diligent search for the best cup of hot chocolate and best pastry. I’m not sure we found the best, but it sure was fun looking!