ddaley822

I forgot to mention! I bought The Rhine by Ben Coates before the trip (because it wasn’t in the system at our library 😆) and loved it. Very funny for a travel book, great to chuckle while learning! A nice combination of history, geography and culture. Highly recommend.

Day 13 - Monday September 2, 2024 - Travel Day Oops, sorry for the delay, work got busy upon my return. Our flight home this day didn’t depart until 1:30pm so we had some time in the morning without rushing off to the airport. The location of this hotel couldn’t be more convenient, we walked from the hotel onto our waiting train in a record 5 minutes! Check out would’ve been quicker but my husband realized at the desk he’d left our haul of Swiss chocolates in the room fridge and had to run back up to get them. That would’ve been sooo sad, and a loss of at least $100 haha. I enjoyed my last Wurstweggen from the Coop across the street before we headed to the train station. The train ride was super quick and no one came through checking tickets this time. The train station is directly under the airport so you just hop a few escalators to get to security, this day ended up being the day of hauling our suitcases on 18 different escalators! We waited in a super long line for customs and were waiting at the gate in about an hour. Polaris Business Class did not disappoint, I loved having the ability to lay completely flat and actually fell asleep on our 12 hour journey to San Francisco. Because of our tickets, we were able to “save” some airport money by using the United Club lounge for a few snacks before our final leg to San Diego. Finally made it home at 9:30pm PST, only 6:30am to us! But after a travel day like that it was easy to fall right to sleep and get back on our time schedule without jet lag. AMA Thoughts AmaWaterways was great, the food was all fantastic. I also loved the rotating wines each night! I’d say the worst part about AMA was sailing as such a young couple. We were almost entirely ignored by the cruise manager; he would fawn greatly over the people before and after us in the re-boarding line and barely even give us a smile. I like a little schmoozing and we certainly weren’t coming off uninterested. The other guests came around and eventually socialized with us by the middle of the trip and we made some good friends to chat in the pool and on excursions with. We both had birthdays on board and while other couples got cakes and the like for their special days, we got nothing in the dining room. We did get a lovely card signed by the hotel manager in our room, though! We never went to the Sip and Sail talks but were still able to grab free drinks during this time which was nice. Overall I loved the small ship, low guest count, and being so close to the water line while sitting on our balcony. I would definitely recommend the double balcony to others! Worthwhile Purchases We brought one AirFly Duo headphone adapter and we were able to use one QuietVox set for the two of us on all our tours. It enables you to connect Bluetooth headphones to the provided QuietVox instead of needing to wear cabled headphones that drape across your body as you walk the towns. We were cable free and loved only needing to bring one of the two sets they provide. Less to carry! Free arms, hands and neck! A win-win-win-win. Once our Bluetooth headphones were connected, I just placed the QuietVox/Airfly in my purse and we could still hear everything perfectly. I bought a new travel purse for this trip with the intention of having room for a water bottle without having to carry a backpack and the Lo & Sons Nouvelle bag was absolutely perfect. I fit so many things in this purse and it never felt heavy. It has a million pockets, a key clip and room for a full 12-16oz water bottle with plenty of extra room on top. It’s supremely well made, the zippers go both ways or can meet in the middle. We bought alcohol in several ports and loved being able to easily bring this on board for in-room and on-deck drinks without buying them individually from the bar. To facilitate better use, we brought insulated tumblers so we could bring a cocktail on excursions with us as well. Other Thoughts We both learned German for this trip and I was very happy to have done so. We used Duolingo and learned plenty to be able to navigate public transportation, order meals and ask for the check at restaurants. At dinner in Basel the waiter was sassing my husband about the bathrooms being “located in the alley” (aka just go outside) and the German couple next to us was laughing too. I was happy to be able to turn to them and agree it was “sehr lustig!” Turns out die toiletten was downstairs. Hahah. Words that came in the most handy were all train and direction related – left right, go straight, track, delay, canceled! Public transportation was AMAZING in all cities visited. In the Netherlands we used trains to travel between the airport and the city, went out to Zaanse Schans in Zaandijk and took one to meet up with the ship in Zaandam. In Switzerland, we were also able to take 2 electric trams in addition to the trains from Basel > Lucerne > Zürich and found those clean, quick and convenient as well. Everyone vacating AmaLucia on disembarkation day told me they had cars lined up to drive them to Zürich. Their loss, the trains were one of my favorite parts of our journey. I bought all of our train tickets ahead of time on their respective websites: Nederlandse Spoorwegen - Netherlands, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) - Switzerland and found this to be very convenient and easy to use while en route. In the Netherlands you scan your ticket (phone) on entry and exit to the station and on Swiss trains they’ll come by in the cabin checking for them. My favorite location was definitely Switzerland so I am happy to have traveled that direction, from Basel to Amsterdam, ending with the best experiences. My absolute favorite outing was our Golden Round Trip to Mt Pilatus. We did the gondola first and got to ride the alpine slide Frakigaudi right at 10am when it opened. We got to ride twice before a line started to build up, very cool. I would also HEARTILY recommend a swim in the Rhine for anyone staying in Basel in the summer, that was such a fun experience and wish I could’ve done it more than once! Switzerland was definitely more expensive than I thought; people say to expect Switzerland to be expensive but as a Californian, I didn’t believe it. When we went to Greece people were complaining how expensive it was, but to us it was cheaper than CA! Not true for Schweiz! Haha. This was my first time using a travel agent since when we booked there was no way to reserve an AMA cruise online. I liked having this resource! She was able to get me some great trip insurance that I otherwise would’ve missed and is now managing our trip to Asia next year. Here is a recap of all the activity, hotel and restaurant links I sprinkled throughout these posts in case you’re stumbling across this as a future cruiser - Amsterdam Hotel: Park Plaza Victoria Amsterdam Restaurants: The Grasshopper, Café P96, Café de Regent van Amsterdam, The Bulldog Attractions: Canal Cruise, Zaanse Schans, Rijksmuseum Basel Hotel: Hotel Märthof Restaurant: Restaurant Schnabel Attractions: Rhine Swim + Bach App (for water temp and zones) Lucerne Hotel: Ameron Luzern Hotel Flora Restaurants: Schiffrestaurant Wilhelm Tell, Fondue House Du Pont, Restaurant Fritschi, Penthouse Rooftop Bar Attractions: Mount Pilatus Golden Round Trip, Fräkiguadi Toboggan Ride (in the post I said this was 18CHF - it’s only 9CHF! I was misremembering since I bought two tickets, twice) Zürich Hotel: Central Plaza Hotel Zürich Restaurants: Restaurant Zeughauskeller, Bauschänzli Beer Garden Thanks for reading! I enjoyed writing this and am glad to have it to look back upon once I start forgetting all the details of this amazing trip.

Day 12 - Sunday September 1, 2024 - Zürich Finally got to sleep in this morning after many days of go, go, go! We checked out of our hotel around 9:30am so we could grab some more Migros breakfast items (AKA my 4th Wurstweggen) before getting to the train station for our 10am train to Zürich. Morning Pilatus view Wasserturm tower slightly marred by construction At this point we were hauling nearly 5 pounds in souvenir merchandise so I had to get out my tiny packable tote bag to carry it all. Worth it. The train ride from Lucerne to Zürich was only 50 minutes and had more scenic views along the way. Lake Zürich is HUGE! Our final hotel Central Plaza Hotel Zürich was just across the Bahnhof Brücke from the train station, so we walked directly across the bridge with our luggage, straight inside and were in our room within 20 minutes from our train arrival. Really spectacular view down the Limmat from our room! That white building on the other side of the river is another Coop supermarket, perfect for wurstweggen retrieval on our way back to the train station the next morning. Haha We hung out (cooling down) in the AC in our room for awhile since it was another incredibly scorching day. After about an hour we headed out for a walking tour down to the lake front and back. Predigerkirche Predigerkirche with a swan! The Rathaus Kirche Fraumünster St. Peter Swan Paradise Lakefront on Zürichsee Found a lakeside wurst stand and had one more Currywurst for the road! Some more interesting Swiss design Beauties! From the lake we walked across the Quaibrücke and decided to stop for a beer at the Bauschänzli Beer Garden, situated on an artificial island leftover from city fortifications in the 17th century. You can see the raised fortification on the left of this pic. We had some beers and a water here, this CUP of water cost us 6.50CHF... for that price I was expecting a bottle. Hahaha when they say Switzerland is expensive they truly mean it! All 4 of our Swiss dinners were over 150CHF each time we sat down. Next we passed the Frauenbad (Women’s only pool) and it was packed! Another bronze city model Grossmünster and the Münsterbrücke Looking back towards St. Peter From here we went up a slight hill to see the view from the Lindenhof From here we wandered back up the other side of the Limmat to our hotel and saw thunderheads brewing overhead. A sign of what’s to come! Central Plaza is on the right in this photo. We hung out in the room for a bit cooling off from the crazy heat and humidity and headed back out around 6:30pm for dinner. The clouds had gotten bigger and closer! We decided on Restaurant Zeughauskeller for dinner after having seen an entire page of sausages on their menu in my pre-travel research. The wurst (mit kartoffelsalat) did not disappoint! I also pocketed that tube of senf in case my airline food was bland the next day. Haha We ate on the outdoor patio and while we were eating, it started to get super blustery. The wind gusts were picking up fallen leaves and messing with the paper placemats the servers had on the tables for incoming guests. We saw them start to pack up all the unoccupied tables and we knew they were expecting the rain soon! We walked back to our hotel and could see the storm was imminent. When we got back to the Central Plaza we sat at an outdoor table to have a drink while we waited on the storm but the second we sat down, the rain came! We hustled inside and got a drink at the bar to bring to the room. We made it just in time!! I sat in our open window watching the storm for about two hours (I did get a pillow from the bed to sit on after an hour). It was incredible! The lightning hit the nearby antenna on top of Mount Uetliberg at least 4 times. I have never seen a storm like this! I got the lightning on video Timelapse, not sure if CC allows videos. IMG_2088.MOV My most pressing question during all of this, where are the swans? Are they okay? What a fantastic way to end such a great trip. I would come back to Switzerland at the drop of a hat. There is so much more to see! Here is my Zürich walking map. I will be back with our final morning and some overall AmaWaterways thoughts.

Day 11 - Saturday August 31, 2024 - Lucerne / Mount Pilatus Mount Pilatus day! I have been looking forward to this day for so long! A) because of the gondola rides, B) scenic vistas, C) Alpine slide! The toboggan run Fräkigaudi is the longest in Switzerland and is located halfway up the mountain in Fräkmüntegg. [Holy cow, I navigated to that website to link it in here and it’s currently closed due to SNOW! What!? We were just there 2 weeks ago and it was scorching hot, even at the summit! Crazy.] I read on these boards the suggestion to go “backwards” from the traditional Golden Round Trip direction, starting in Kriens and ending with the steam boat ride back across the lake and I am so glad we did. This was a way less popular direction and we got to ride the Alpine slide twice on opening before a line built up. Morning Pilatus view from our balcony Around 9am, we walked over to the Migros by the train station to pick up some breakfast items as well as chips and sandwiches for lunch on the mountain. Very glad we did this since a single hot dog goes for 22CHF up there and our sandwiches were only 6-7CHF each. We saw a lot of large groups sharing one serving of fries, further evidence of the steep pricing up there! We took bus no. 1 from the Lucerne Train Station (Platform A) in the direction of Kriens-Obernau-Dorf and got off at the Zentrum Pilatus stop. Then we followed the red signs about 10 minutes to the valley station of the Pilatus cable car in Kriens. We boarded in Kriens at 9:45am and made it to Fräkmüntegg by 10:12am. We rode up with a Swiss national who we spoke with in a combination of disjointed German and English. Always fun to practice. You have to do a bit of hiking to get to the toboggan from the gondola drop off point. You can see the ride starting point through the trees on the right of this picture. There is a lovely seating area if you’re just watching the more reckless members of your traveling party. Each ride will cost you €18.00, we bought one ride and immediately returned to the top and bought a second go. You use a hand brake to regulate speed, by the second trip down we were flying! When you get to the bottom you exit and push your toboggan along a conveyer. The ride operator hooks it up to the return line and you re-board for a backward tow ride up the mountain. There are cows along the tow! By the time we were waiting for our second ride, a line built up behind us. This happens when people go suuuuper slow in front of you. And since it’s individually controlled, the line builds up waiting for riders to be farther enough along the track. After our second toboggan run it was 11:15am and we headed back to catch the Dragon Ride gondola to the top of the mountain. This last huge section takes just 4 minutes to ascend the rest of the way and holds 55 people. The Fräkigaudi toboggan run from above Tiny Klimsenkappelle surrounded by tiny hikers. We went through a cloud! We made it to the summit by 11:30am. There is a nice outdoor patio at the summit where we enjoyed our packed water, cocktails, chips and sandwiches. Paraglider Photo bombed by this Alpine crow After lunch we took a stroll through the Dragon’s Path trail which is accessed from the lower level of the main gondola/cog trail building. Adrian Leans on Mt Pilatus This trail connects back around to the other side after a steep stair, rock and ladder climb. There is an all-flat option that connects straight into the Hotel Pilatus-Kulm. At this point we made a cogwheel train reservation for the return trip to Alpnachstad so spent some more time idling around on the sun deck waiting for our 1:20pm return trip. The train reservations cost €10 each on top of your normal ticket price but helps you skip a major line for the descent. This view is so incredible! We boarded right before 1:20 and were glad we had reservations as we skipped a giant line of people waiting to board with no reservations. The ceilings open! Made it to Alpnachstad by 1:55pm, set to catch the 2:10pm Lake Lucerne ferry. We’d bought the first class Golden Round Trip tickets which meant we got to sit in first class on the boat, only. The first class is the second level with slightly better views and less people. The boat makes 3 stops on its journey across the Vierwaldstättersee (named for the 4 forest regions that surround the lake). First stop is in Stansstad, just after you cross under the bridge, followed by Hergiswil, and finally Kehrsiten Dorf before arriving back to the center of Lucerne. We got back to town at around 3:30pm after having left at 9am. We headed straight for a respite at our hotel before venturing out again around 6pm for dinner. Crossing the Kapellbrücke on our way back to the hotel. Our AC chilled room was just what we needed after this absolutely scorching day. Even the cogwheel train down the mountain was stifling and nearly unenjoyable due to the heat. The steamboat ride was incredibly hot too, which was surprising since we were on the water and should’ve been able to enjoy a breeze while in motion. This was not the case, we eventually gave up on our outdoor seating and went to sit inside on the approach to Lucerne for a bit of a reprieve from the sun. At 6pm it was still hot but more bearable so we headed out to find Restaurant Fritschi for some more traditional Swiss food. While we were eating, we noticed a ton of tourists snapping pictures of the facade of our restaurant and the building next door. They were right, it looks pretty cool. I ended up getting another serving of fondue at this restaurant since I knew we wouldn’t be in Switzerland for a lot longer! My fondue was perfectly accompanied by a wurst/rösti combination. Adrian got another round of the Café de Paris beef/butter but it wasn’t quite as good as Restaurant Schnabel in Basel. After dinner we wandered over to the Penthouse Rooftop Bar as they were advertising a 360º view over Lucerne. From the patio we were on, we were being sassy saying they only have MAAAYYYBE 270º of view but we later found out there is a second patio off the other end of that upper level that completes the view. Oops. These summery cocktails were fantastic. We watched a lovely sunset over the Chateau Gütsch before walking back to our hotel. However, when we got there we heard a lot of loud music from our patio and decided to go back out and see what was going on. It was a pride march! No wonder they had such catchy music blasting. Got a few more dusky pics of the Reuss and called it a night. Here is a link to the Golden Round Trip Pilatus tickets and information. They also offer a Silver Round Trip that involves a normal train from Alpnachstad to Lucerne in place of the steamboat ride. Very enjoyable, I would highly recommend this excursion if you’re in the Lake Lucerne region! Our AMA compatriots did Mount Rigi on their Lucerne extension tour with our cruise manager, but I am happy we got to try the toboggan ride and the cogwheel train on Pilatus. Recap of our last day in Zürich to come.

Day 10 - Friday August 30, 2024 - Lucerne [Just realized I missed posting yesterday’s Basel Walking Tour map. I also marked the locations we got in and out of the Rhine for our float.] Had the most fantastic sleep at the Märthof, they have an incredible pillow menu and we ordered some lavender scented pillows for the heck of it. Wow, they sure made a difference! The bedding was phenomenal after roughing it out on the AmaLucia mattress for 7 nights (FYI I did get our cabin attendant to put on a mattress topper which definitely helped!). We checked out of our hotel around 10:30am, grabbed another wurstweggen from the Coop across the street and jumped a #11 electric tram right on the Marktplatz bound for Basel SBB. The tram wasn’t very full so we had an easy time finding two seats with room in front of us for our two carry on bags. No one checked for tickets but I was prepared to show our Baselcard code from the hotel (one code was good for 2 people). I believe the tram left around 10:45am and we got to der Bahnhof by 11. This worked out perfectly for catching the 11:16am train to Lucerne. The train ride took 1hr 14min and was particularly scenic! The train car we chose was completely empty so we had our pick of the first class seats. We chose the second level for maximum views and found a luggage rack there to store our large bags on. I had all our pre-purchased tickets ready in the SBB app on my phone, someone did come through the car checking for them about halfway through the trip. Heading straight for the train station on the #11 tram Basel SBB (Helvetica Wonderland) Embroidered Helvetica! We ended up spreading out since the car was empty. My husband never gets the window seat (sorry, amigo) so he was happy to have his own for once! Helvetica even on a battered Cargo train! Easy way to tell Helvetica from other sans-serif fonts - check the ‘a.’ It’s a dead giveaway. Lovely rural views during the ride Pulled into the Lucerne station at 12:30pm. Swiss trains are all perfectly on time! We walked straight to our next hotel, AMERON Luzern Hotel Flora, and ran into another couple from AmaLucia (the same couple we saw while swimming the Rhine the previous day)! We’d seen 4 couples from our cruise at the Hotel Märthof too, seems like we all have similar tastes when it comes to picking a hotel! Funny. I chose this hotel because of the ratings, scenic rooms available and the simple fact that the rooms all have AC! Our hotel in Basel also had AC but it wasn’t strong enough to battle 90ºF temps.. we ended up borrowing a fan from them to get by. This room could handle the heat and we were eternally thankful when we showed up to fully check in later this afternoon. As it turned out, this was the one out of four hotels where our room wasn’t ready on check in, so we left our bags with them and headed out for a walking tour of the city at 12:45pm. The hotel is situated directly adjacent to the Kappelbrücke Wasserturm (Chapel Bridge Water Tower). You turn right out of the hotel, walk a quarter of a block to the edge of the Reuss river and the tower is right in front of you. We’re coming for you, Chateau Gütsch! That’s the white castle (hotel) you see on the hill in the background. We walked along this side of the river for awhile, stopping for pictures of the Jesuitenkirche (Jesuit Church). By 1pm we were at the funicular to the Chateau Gütsch Hotel. It’s free and 100% worth a trip up for the absolutely stunning view over the city. Here it comes to pick us up. We rode up with a woman who was going to take her dog for a walk around the trails at the top of the hill. First glimpse of the view We walked inside to check out the view from their restaurant and bar as well. We nearly sat down for a cocktail but it was absolutely scorching hot up here and the bar had no AC. Somehow even on a hill the air was completely still. Just wildly hot, nothing I am used to being from Southern California. Restaurant terrace Cool etching art in the hall showing the funicular when the train cars had seats. Swiss Gütsch design Previously mentioned trails that spring off from the top of the funicular There is an outdoor event space up here with seating. We saw posters advertising for live music under the stars. We spent about 45 minutes at the top and sat on the patio for awhile conversing with an American woman showing her family around, she’d moved to Kriens 8 months ago from Colorado. The voyage back down the funicular. You call it to you with the push of a button like an elevator. From the bottom of the funicular, we crossed a bridge to see the old city walls, the Museggmauer. It was too hot to climb the steps but we walked along the bottom seeing it from different angles. And we eventually saw the main tower from our hotel room patio later, making up for not hiking up there during the heat of the day. Looking back at the Gütsch The next stop on our slightly heat-altered tour was the second most famous covered bridge on the Reuss, the Spreuerbrücke. Cool views from here. We continued our walk through the Altstadt’s shopping area, stopping at the Max Chocolatier along the way for our first supply of Swiss chocolates. We’re still enjoying some of these 2 weeks later! We got a box set of Sommer flavors as well as a box of the newly released Herbst (fall) flavors. We’re more summer flavors fans, as it turns out. Next stop was the weeping Lion monument, or Löwendenkmal. When we viewed it, they were just refilling the pool, you can see there’s about a foot of water left to go. He’s so sad! He is commemorating the Swiss Guard lives lost in the French Revolution. Here is the building from the ad above today. It has a diorama of the Alps! I didn’t know this until later or we would’ve gone in. Hofkirche St. Leodegar Our walk brought us down to the edge of the lake. Pictured is the Schiffrestaurant Wilhelm Tell, more on that later. First up close swan sighting! By this time (3pm) we were hungry so we chose a restaurant along the Reuss to have some late lunch at. We chose Restaurant Pfistern since it was on my list and had some seating available by the water. If you’re not a bee person, best stay away from Rhine-adjacent Germany, Alsace and Switzerland in August, the entire place was covered in bees. All the sweets in the bakery windows in Rüdesheim and Strasbourg were completely coated with bees and they were hounding all the restaurant patrons along the water. I later learned to cover my wine with a napkin! haha I don’t usually care about bees but there really were a TON. We shared a bee-friendly meat and cheese board since it was so close to dinner time. Since it was now nearing 4pm, we knew our room should be ready back at the Ameron, so we took the Kappelbrücke back across to our hotel. Got our room keys and went up to find this majestic beast above the bed. I was only slightly concerned with it toppling off the wall and beheading me in the night. Our room had a patio with a gorgeous view of Mount Pilatus And the city walls on the hill in the other direction We hung out here for awhile, it was still hot but not nearly as bad as mid-afternoon. The balcony came with some great 6th floor weeds! haha Around 6:30 we headed out to find some fondue! First try was at the Schiffrestaurant Wilhelm Tell that we saw earlier. (Ship Restaurant) We were seated immediately and went to order – that’s when we found out about the wedding party on board who had reserved all the cheese in the place for themselves. Haha, the only thing on the menu we couldn’t get was the fondue, so we sadly left. Not before a peek at the engine! We’d had a second place in mind in case the Wilhelm Tell was packed, and headed for Fondue House Du Pont. Success! We got one serving of traditional fondue and one serving of meat you cook in a pot of oil. A perfect combination, we could try meats in the cheese as well as the normal offerings of boiled potatoes, vegetables and bread chunks. Delicious! After dinner we took the "long" walk back to our hotel. By that I mean we crossed the Seebrücke instead of the shorter Kapellbrücke which would’ve been a direct shot to our street. You can see the Fondue House Du Port neon sign near the center, just under Chateau Gütsch. One last Museggmauer shot before bed! Even with the light pollution we could still see stars from the balcony. And before I forget it again, here is the Lucerne Walking Tour map. Mt Pilatus Golden Round Trip up next!

Haha! I love that!

I got the Rhine map on Amazon. These are available in Rüdesheim in the town and at the top of the monument but by then we’d already passed through the castles section. If you’re traveling downriver you could pick one up there without paying shipping. The ship also had a different style Rhine map available in the gift shop. I believe Stolichnaya was the free Sip and Sail brand, then it jumped to Absolut and then to Grey Goose if you were paying per drink outside of Sip and Sail time (6-7pm). We tipped our usual bartender Lynn €2 or €3 here and there throughout the duration of the cruise and sometimes he didn’t charge us for our cocktails!

Day 9 - Thursday August 29, 2024 - Basel We rose early in Basel to find another Viking ship rafted up to our port side cabin. Our first rafting of the trip and it happened on disembarkation day! This made it super dark for packing so maybe packing last night was the ticket after all. Haha. While we were packing up we could watch the room attendants on the Viking ship cleaning the 3 cabins opposite ours. We made it to breakfast around 8:30am and had the full sit-down experience in the dining room which meant I could have my traditional omelette again! The place was completely empty but I didn’t feel guilty since we were told to vacate by 9 and it wasn’t that late yet. After breakfast we left the ship and called an Uber to bring us to our first Swiss hotel, Hotel Märthof on the Marktplatz. It was only about a 5 min car ride but with the daunting hill and the oppressive heat, we opted not to walk (this Uber ran me €7). This hotel was absolutely fantastic. An amazing location, amenities, service. The room was gorgeous and had a big functioning swing-hinge window that faced the street. There was a rooftop terrace with a view of the Rathaus and Marktplatz, and they give you a bar of Swiss chocolate on check out! During check in we found out they also loan wickelfisch bags for swimming in the Rhine. I’d brought one 10L dry bag for this purpose but it would be even nicer for us each to have a floating bundle in the river, so we took him up on it. Our room was ready immediately (we went 3/4 on room-available check ins on this trip) so we went up and had a bit of a lie down decompressing from the river cruise before we hit the Altstadt for a walk around. All Basel hotel reservations include use of the Baselcard for free public transport and 50% coupons for experiences in the city. Goodbye AmaLucia! Amazing window in our huge room Adrian Leans in Switzerland! Our first stop on our walking tour was to check out the rooftop terrace. You can use the elevator to access the 5th floor but to get to the roof on the 6th, you must navigate one flight of stairs. View over the Marktplatz, with a market going on! It was a Thursday. Later this evening, the Marktplatz would be empty. We popped into the Coop supermarket across the street for some snacks, namely a Wurstweggen and a Schinkengipfeli. The Swiss love wrapping their meats up in dough! I came to enjoy a Wurstweggen every morning that we were in Switzerland. If you want a fresh, somewhat affordable, grab and go meal while in Switzerland, check your area for a Coop or a Migros. First stop Mittlere Brücke We walked across the bridge to get a lovely view of the river and the Münster from the opposite bank. Basiliskenbrunnen. The Basilisk is the mascot of Basel, there are a bunch of Basilisk fountains in the city but this one is the most scenic! We jokingly took this photo only to later find out EVERY brunnen (fountain) in Switzerland is a host of fresh, potable drinking water. The first time I saw someone fill up their bottle from a fountain I was shocked! Only after seeing a bunch more people do this did we realize it was acceptable behavior (although I still question those who filled from the basin instead of the spigot, I saw plenty of people wading in the fountains since it was so hot!) Tiny Basel model near the Basiliskenbrunnen, we found one of these bronze models in Lucerne and Zürich, too. One of several tethered ferries that go back and forth across the Rhine using tow-power. Wettsteinbrücke Walking across the Wettsteinbrücke was pure torture due to the lack of shade. It was just scorching hot and humid. Getting closer to the Münster! We took a walk through the open areas and found ourselves behind the church on the Basler Pfalz viewing platform. This area had a mister so we spent some time under that and sat trying to cool down from our (nearly flat) stroll for awhile. A school group was here enjoying their lunch. This is the first fountain we saw people filling their reusable bottles from. At this point it was killer hot (and high noon) so we abandoned the rest of our walking tour and headed back to the hotel to change into bathing suits for our Rhine swim. We decided to finish up the remaining sightseeing in the evening when it was a bit cooler. The hands down coolest design was to be found in Switzerland. The Swiss basically invented modern graphic design (Gestalt Design) with the use of minimalistic graphics, a modular grid system, asymmetrical layout and sans-serif fonts. Helvetica (world renowned sans-serif typeface you have no doubt seen countless times) was designed in Switzerland and they use it on all of their transportation signage. Hotel Märthof center, you can see the umbrellas on the roof terrace We rested in our room from 12-2pm ish during the hottest part of the day and then headed out again crossing the Mittlere Brücke once more and walking all the way up to the Tinguely Museum to enter the water for our Rhine swim. There is an app (BachApp) for seeing the swimming zones and temperature of the water ahead of your swim. Swim map Walking to the museum One lone swimmer (there were way more people swimming by, I just happened to only catch one in this shot) Rocky beach entry at the Tinguely Wickelfisched and ready to go! I did wear my hat and glasses the whole swim. The water felt cold at first but eventually felt just right as we got used to it. The air was so hot, the chilly dip was just what we needed. Since my phone was all bundled up in my bag, our first mid-Rhine photo comes from just past the Mittlere Brücke again. First of many Swiss swan sightings. We jumped back in and kept floating, getting out at the Promenade Unterer Rheinweg where we saw a slippery ramp and steps to easily get out of the river. We went in at 2:30pm and were out by 3:30 so it does take some time to float down (we did take a quick break halfway through where we spotted some fellow AmaLucia guests and chatted them up). We enjoyed a beer and cider on the promenade from Oetlinger Buvette, a tiny beer stand made from old shipping containers. We floated so far we were back adjacent to AmaLucia (and her Viking rafter) again! After sitting for a bit enjoying the afternoon, we walked back to our hotel to shower and get ready for dinner. Rhine swimmers! By 6:30pm we were dressed and ready for a Swiss meal. We walked through the empty Marktplatz for a real look at the Rathaus. We settled on Restaurant Schnabel for dinner and are so happy we did. We kept chasing the high from their Falsche Schnecken «Café de Paris» (Faux Escargots) for the rest of the trip. This beef dish was outstanding!! I also enjoyed a Buure Potato Rösti with ham and a sunny-side up egg that was terrific as well. We sat outside and while it was still hot, it wasn’t so bad seated in the shade of the street. After dinner we took a walkabout to see the Spalentor Gate that we had missed due to the extreme heat earlier. Spalenbrunnen We walked back to the hotel through the Petersplatz and saw real break dancers doing their thing n the park! Cool to see since we had just experienced Breaking in the Olympics a few weeks prior. We ended our night with a rooftop sit enjoying the view and some drinks from the included mini bar. We enjoyed the view for over an hour before going down to bed. Lovely seeing the city lights come on. We could see 13 construction cranes from this rooftop! Crazy.

Day 8 - Wednesday August 28, 2024 - Breisach / Riquewihr This morning we were again docked on the French side of the Rhine and not in Breisach proper. We were situated right on front of the Piscine Sirénia on the Grand Canal d’Alsace. Our tour started again at 9 so we grabbed our quick lounge breakfast and headed out with the Regular walking tour of Riquewihr. There was no Active pace tour available since the town is so compact. On this day we got to have Alexandra as our tour guide again! There were actually two buses going on the same tours and we were about to hop on the first bus when we saw her. We asked if it was okay to switch and got to ride on her bus instead! We mentioned this to fellow guests in front of us and they later agreed she was a great guide and understood why we wanted to switch. Along the way, we got to pass by the outskirts of Colmar on D83 and through the heart of several small picturesque towns on the approach. Namely, Bennwihr and Mittelwihr. With the vineyards and the mountains, it reminded me of the central coast of California! Olympique! We arrived in Riquewihr at 9:45am and they gave us a bathroom break before the tour began. This quaint town inspired Disney Animation Studios when they were designing the town in Beauty and the Beast. Alexandra walked us through some fun alleys in addition to the main street through town. More storks! Belle’s fountain and the Dolder Gate. Bad photo of this statue but there is a latrine in the background. After the tour ended (9:45am - 10:45am) we were left with just a bit of free time, needing to meet back at the bus by noon. We decided to hike up the hill a bit to get an overview look at the town. There is a loop that hits two overlooks but it was so scorching hot we didn’t make it to both. There was a guy up here trimming all the weeds around the bases of the grape plants, not sure if it was for looks or to protect the plants but it really looks nice. We walked back down through the Dolder gate and straight to the Alexandra-recommended bakery, Kouglopf & Cie, for a chocolate croissant and ended up with that and a chorizo pretzel and also a caramel croissant. All for under €5. They were all fantastic! The bakery was sweltering, outside was 88ºF and inside the bakery it had to be at least 10 degrees hotter. This weather would follow us for the rest of the trip. Switzerland was excruciating! Bakery in the center of this pic After collecting our baked goods (we didn’t eat them just yet), we stopped at La Grenouille for another tarte flambée and Riesling while we could still get them! As the French say, ríbbet ríbbet. After lunch we hustled to buy a few souvenirs and make it back to the bus by 12:00pm. We ended up boarding last at exactly 11:59am, sorry fellow passengers! The bus brought us back to the docking station and we were afforded one glimpse at the Breisacher Münster St. Stephan. I wish we had more time in this port so we could’ve walked through Breisach too! Sadly, the ship left at 1:30pm which I’m sure is just in case there are trouble at the four locks along the way. We of course made it through all the locks as quickly as possible and docked in Basel at 7pm. I understand why they do this but sad that we could’ve easily stayed in Breisach another hour or two and still had plenty of time to make it to Basel by dawn. Our docking location was positioned directly in front of the first lock of the afternoon, Écluses EDF de Vogelgrun. Since it was so sweltering and we’d already had lunch, we put on our swimsuits and went straight to the top deck for some pool time during our afternoon sail. Adrian Leans in a Lock I have a bone to pick with AMA about this “swim up bar.” Literally never open any of the days we were on board. Even on this last afternoon in 90ºF weather, with at least 20 people eventually hanging in and around the edges of the pool, we couldn’t get any drink service. Does look nice, though! Soon we were at Ecluse de Fessenheim, our second lock of the afternoon voyage to Switzerland. So cool to see how tight we get to the wall! We hung out in the pool for hours as we sailed the Grand Canal d’Alsace and watched two more locks go by, Écluses EDF d’Ottmarsheim and Écluses EDF de Kembs before joining back up with the Rhine and pulling into Basel just ahead of dinner time around 7pm. We docked at Passagierbootterminal "St. Johann” halfway between the Dreirosenbrücke and the Johanniterbrücke. From here we could see sooo many people swimming and relaxing along the banks of the Rhine which further excited me for our Rhine swim the next day. On this night we showed up to dinner about 10 minutes late (packing woes, oops) and found there was no where for us to sit! Strange! The labeled “Captain’s Table” had some seats but the couple sitting there had sat on the outer edges meaning we’d have to force them up to squeeze into the remaining booth space and the maître d’ just brought us upstairs to the lounge instead. Apparently they are used to this since we got the full menu available there, including bread and accoutrements. Plus we had a great view over the bow, almost better than sitting in the dining room if you ask me! We called it an early night and went back to our cabin to pack some more. We didn’t have an early departure the next morning so we vowed to finish then and went to sleep. No Daily Cruiser for today but port time was about 7am-1:30pm. Here is my Riquewihr walking map with the hill overlook walk also marked, and one for Breisach. This one went unused but just in case you’re traveling the opposite direction, I bet you’d have more time in this port.

Day 7 - Tuesday August 27, 2024 - Strasbourg Woke up this morning in France! I thought we’d be docking on the German side at Kehl but we were on the French side in a shipping basin. The Bassin du Commerce if you’re interested. Haha Our excursion into Strasbourg and Petite France left this morning at 9am so we were dressed by 8:30 and went to have breakfast in the lounge. In you’re in a hurry the lounge has scrambled eggs, bacon, and assorted pastries available quickly. Glamorous docking situation this morning This meant you exited the ship from the 3rd floor instead of the normal lobby entrance. We left for our tour at 9 and were walking with our amazing tour guide Alexandra by 9:15am. First stop was the Parc de L’Orangerie where we walked along a tree-lined boulevard to the Pavillon Joséphine. Alexandra was wearing sandals like me, this put me at ease for our “5 mile” Active walk. We were dropped off by the Zoo de L’Orangerie and ended at the Cathedral after a swing by Petite France, overall it was just over 4 miles. What’s that on the roof? A stork nest! and our first stork sighting. We’d seen some in the trees on the walk over here but this one was easily viewable in his fully supported nest. Stork merchandise is available everywhere you look in the Alsace! I ended up with a stork Christmas ornament, magnet, shot glass and tiny wooden figurine. (He lords over my tiny Mykonos figurine) We walked through the park and spent some time in front of the Palais de l’Europe, hearing about the seat of the Council of Europe. We walked out of the park and along the river to see the curved Parliament building as well. We were walking along some tram tracks covered in grass. Turns out the trams have grass cutters on the bottom so they’re always trimming it up. Nice to look at, good for the environment, what’s not to like? From Parliament, we turned onto Rue du Levant, passing by a neighborhood of tiny government housing. From here we turned right and walked along the Ill river on the Quai Mullenheim. Lots of things in Strasbourg have German names, because they used to be Germany! Our guide was telling us that if you were born in Strasbourg at the right time in the 1600s you could’ve been born German and died French. Our riverside walk ended at the Église réformée Saint-Paul From here we walked down the Av de la Liberté to the Palais du Rhin. From the Palais we crossed a canal and were on the Grande-Île de Strasbourg! Home to the Cathedral and Petite France. We made it to the Place Kléber, a large central square where we got a bathroom break! By now it was 10:30am. Soon the buildings began to be half-timbered and you knew we were in Petite France! Stork merch! We walked along the Ill again and got to peek into Église Saint-Thomas because we were ahead of walking-pace schedule at 11:15am. We continued on, passing through Place Gutenberg and seeing the Gutenberg statue. Letterpress king! Stork art Finally, the Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Strasbourg! It only has one of its twin spires because the entire island is built on wooden pilings and they feared it would be too heavy. We visited the Glace spot on the right in this photo later in the day and it was fantastic. We had a basil flavored scoop that was really delicious. This area has its own tourist “Choo Choo” seen center. Alexandra was the best! From here the tour ended (9:15-11:45am) and we decided to walk back to Petite France for more sightseeing and lunch on the river. We could meet back at the Cathedral at 2:40, 3:40, 4:40, or 5:40pm for a chaperoned walk to the Place de l’Etoile where they can park the buses for a ride back to the ship. We ate at Au Pont Saint-Martin right on the Ill with a view of the tiny central lock system the tourist boats go through. Enjoyed another amazing Riesling and our first Tarte Flambée! Also a Cordon Bleu. Great atmosphere and location! After lunch we wandered some more and did some souvenir shopping. The design was suddenly infinitely better in France than it had been in the Netherlands and Germany. Can you imagine an uptight exec approving these? Adrian Leans in Petite France! We eventually found ourselves back at the Cathedral but not yet ready to walk/bus back to the ship. Instead, we enjoyed another Riesling at Cafe de la Kammerzell and sat and people watched for awhile on the Place de la Cathédrale. Please note the special Alsatian wine glasses! Buttress'd We walked back to the bus with the 4:40pm group. Made it back to the ship well in time for the 6:30pm all aboard. We watched the sail out of the shipping channel and back into the Rhine for awhile before heading down to the Captain’s Gala Dinner. I didn’t notice anything special about this dinner aside from the captain being present at the head table! Rhine spaceship! During dinner we were treated to another lock! Ecluses EDF de Strasbourg. Another! This one is the Ecluses Gerstheim. The shipping vessel Camaro showed up too! We’d been in the lock at dinner with them. One more lock before bed, 11:30pm at Schleuse EDF de Rhinau. Fun seeing the water rise from bed! Loved this tiny corner of France. I would love to come back and see more of this area! Here is the day’s Daily Cruiser Here is my Strasbourg walking map. I also went back and edited in the exact route the Active Pace walkers took from Parc de L’Orangerie to the cathedral. Very excited for tiny Riquewihr tomorrow, after Strasbourg a small town should be fun and easy to navigate.

Haha, I warned you!! It only works out to a measly 250 or so photos per day of the vacation. 😆

Day 6 - Monday August 26, 2024 - Ludwigshafen / Heidelberg Slept in a bit and when we woke up we were still sailing towards Ludwigshafen; we didn’t dock this morning until 11:30am. There was a fun Frühschoppen happening at 11am so we skipped breakfast to try this out. En route to Ludwigshafen Frühschoppen is the German tradition of meeting at a pub for morning beers, usually on Sundays. Aside from Bitburgers, we were treated to some German snacks including pretzels, different kinds of wurst and pretzel bun sandwiches. They lowered the gangway by 11:35am but our tour to Heidelberg didn’t depart until 12:45pm. AmaLucia docks at the Rhein Gallerie shopping center The ride took about an hour and we met up with our guide by 1:50pm. Here is our guide with an illustration of what Heidelberg looked like before it was destroyed by two wars in the 17th century. I thought it was interesting that after that, a lightning strike damaged it even further! Elisabethentor Krautturm Sweet lil sundial Great Heidelberg Tun (Huge wine vat) Schloss vistas over the Nekar From there, it was time to head down to see the Altstadt. We again chose the Active version of this tour which meant that instead of being bussed to town, we walked down the hill. It did have cobblestones but it wasn’t particularly hard since we were going down, not up! We made it down in about 10 minutes and our first stop was the Kornmarkt to see the Muttergottesbrunnen (Madonna) looking lovely with Heidelberg Castle behind. Heiliggeistkirche on the Heidelberger Marktplatz Nächste halter Alte Brücke! Flood lines marked on the left side of the bridge. Brückenaffe Looking back at Schloss Heidelberg After the bridge we walked back to the front of the Heiliggeistkirche and were set free with some free time. The tour ended at 3:07pm and we were told to meet back at the Heidelberger Marktplatz at 5pm. We decided to walk back across the Alte Brücke to get a wider river view with the castle in the background. We had some currywurst and beers and wandered around some more. Walking to the buses. We were back aboard having the Sip and Sail cocktail of the night, French Martinis, by 6:30pm. Caught a beautiful sunset after dinner!

Day 5 - Sunday August 25, 2024 - Rhine Gorge / Rüdesheim (Part II) We docked in Rüdesheim at 2pm with our Seilbahn trip to the Niederwalddenkmal set for 2:15pm. We opted for the Active version of the gondola excursion which meant that instead of taking the “Choo Choo” (Literally everyone referred to it as that, it was a tiny train seen in the right of this pic) to town, we walked. We walked up the Drosselgasse (the main shopping street) to the Seilbahn entrance. This took from about 2:30-3pm. When we got there the line was outrageous – down three flights of stairs, out to the street and down at least a city block. Our guide was able to let us skip a portion of this queue and go straight into the building. We waited a bit (slowly going up the three flights) and were airborne by 3:25pm. Our tour group made it to the top and were back listening to our guide at the base of the monument by 3:45pm. Our guide Christian was fantastic. He released us around 4:05pm and we chose to stay on the top of the hill and do some trail walking before taking the return trip. He left us with vouchers for this so when the time came we hopped right in line. There were some great hiking trails up here! They have a cool round trip option (if you're spending more time in the area) that goes from Rüdesheim up the gondola to the monument, hike over to the Assmanshausen gondola, take that down and then grab a ferry back to Rüdesheim. We hiked over to the Ermitage to see a pretty view up the Nahe river. Apparently these pics are on my husbands phone. Oops! But it was a nice little walk, not too strenuous. We were back on the return trip to Rüdesheim at 4:50pm. The ship didn’t leave until 2am so we decided to stay in town awhile longer. Saw the Musikkabinett but didn’t go inside. We’d chosen the kaffee option later so wanted to at least see the facade. Boosenburg (left) and Brömserburg (oldest castle on the Rhine!) We decided to forgo the free ship dinner for some German cuisine and settled for the riverside restaurant at the Hotel Rheinstein. This schnitzel was awesome! The Reislings were all so delicious, too. We walked back to the ship after this to meet back up with our cruise manager for the second excursion of the day, trying authentic Rüdesheimer Kaffee. The second excursion left at 8:15pm. This time we got to ride the “Choo Choo,” haha. The restaurant that hosted us was right on the Drosselgasse and was fully closed except for serving our group. This experience ended around 9:15pm and we set out to explore once more. We ended up having another Riesling at the Wirtshaus Hannelore which was still open and lively with a live musician and dancing. The Rüdesheimer Kaffee cups were available here for sale. Great price! We were back on board by 10:30pm and enjoyed the local artist the ship had brought on board. She was so so fantastic, we stayed and watched the rest of her set. Great way to end a great day! Here is the day’s Daily Cruiser. Here is my Rüdesheim walking map. The ship was docked at the last docking location in front of Hafenpark. We got the last slot since we arrived so late in the afternoon. Schloss Heidelberg tomorrow!

Day 5 - Sunday August 25, 2024 - Rhine Gorge / Rüdesheim (Part I) This was my husbands birthday! We woke up somewhat later around 7:45am and meandered up to the top deck just in time to see our first castle of the day, Schloss Stolzenfels. We ended up skipping breakfast this morning and just gathering some pastries from the lounge area to sustain us. I went upstairs prepared with my binoculars, digital camera, hat, Rhine River map, water and spf umbrella ready to stake out my claim for all the castle viewing! Turns out no one was up there so I didn’t need to rush and had my pick of the seating. I bought this Rhine Map ahead of our trip (A suggestion from @notamermaid! Thank you!) and everyone came up asking for details about what we were seeing or where we were currently located. The cruise manager narrated a bit during the morning’s sail but the map had details on everything! Towns, castles and other monuments along the way. Loved this fun resource. Also, at ~7 ft tall, it was fun to shuffle through looking for our location. Here are a million Schloss photos! Get ready! First was Schloss Stolzenfels Approaching Braubach Home of Marksburg Spay across the way Schloss Liebeneck above the town of Osterspai Hilly vineyards just north of Boppard Boppard Burg Liebenstein above Kamp-Bornhofen Town of Hirzenach Burg Maus above Wellmich Burg Rheinfels Sankt Goarhausen ferry St. Goar Burg Katz (one hill down from Burg Maus!) The Lorelei!! The Lorelei, the Map and I Everyone angled their chairs to better see what’s coming up. Approaching Oberwesel Adrian Leans in Oberwesel! Burg Schönburg above Oberwesel Burg Gutenfels above Kaub (Home of the Infamous Kaub Gauge) Burg Pfalzgrafenstein! My favorite castle of the bunch. Originally built as a toll station. Looking back towards Burg Gutenfels Burg Stahleck above Bacharach Quick Monte Cristo break in the lounge. Lorchhausen (greener because this is through the lounge windows) Burg Fürstenberg Back to the cabin for Assmanshausen (getting close to Rüdesheim!) Burg Ehrenfels Sadly, a ship was in the way so I couldn’t get a great pic of the Binger Mäuseturm. A great Rhine folk tales surrounds this tower - Evil Archbishop Hatto II used the tower for archers, shooting at ships that did not pay tribute. During a famine he kept all the food for himself (or sold at high prices) and when the peasants were set to riot, told them to meet at his grain barn where he’d feed them. Instead, he locked them inside and burned them alive, supposedly saying “Hear the mice squeak!” as they screamed. When he got home, he was immediately attacked by an army of mice! He swam across to the tower to escape them but he found out mice can swim. They gnawed through the door and ate him alive. Not sure why the mice sought revenge but a great story nonetheless. First peek at the Niederwalddenkmal Soon to arrive in Rüdesheim! Since the castle portion was so lengthy I will continue our port day in Rüdesheim in the next post.

Day 4 - Saturday August 24, 2024 - Düsseldorf / Köln Woke up early again to prepare for our 9am excursion into Cologne from Düsseldorf. Strangely at home we have no trouble rising each morning by 5-6am but on this trip we struggled to rise daily when the clock chimed 7:30! Unheard of. We hustled down to breakfast and heard over the loud speakers that our cruise manager would need to gather us at 9 in the lounge for some itinerary changes. Toooo bad we scarfed breakfast because we found out we’d be arriving about 2.5 hours late to Düsseldorf. This meant the half day excursion to Cologne would be cancelled and could only be the full day version. Fine with me! Bad for the people wanting to stay in Düsseldorf though, they only got 2 hours and 15 minutes in the city before they had to be back onboard at 1:30pm to start sailing to collect the Cologne excursioneers in Monheim am Rhein. So we headed to the sundeck to take in the views as we continued on our way to Düsseldorf. The sun came out and it was finally warm enough for shorts after the chilly Sommer im Amsterdam! Soon I spotted the Rheinturm on the horizon and I knew we were getting close. We finally docked (super quickly of course!) and were off the ship on our way to Cologne at 11:15am. We met our tour guide Benny upon arriving into Köln/Cologne. We really enjoyed his commentary and mentioned him in our post-cruise survey along with our guide Alexandra from Strasbourg & Riquewihr. Our tour started with a peek at the Kölner Dom! Next stop was the Zeughaus (festival hall). It has a car on the roof! Portal Notariat Decker. “Original” Cologne of Cologne store – 4711. Turns out the actual Original Cologne is Farina, which actually smelled better to me! We ended up with a tiny bottle from their store. Fastnachtsbrunnen. Finally it was time for the piece de resistance – but first a crane was in the way. The Kölner Dom took 600 years to complete, and was once the tallest building in the world. During WWII, its twin-spires were tall enough that Allied aerial bombing crews found it useful to spare the structure during bombing runs and used it instead as an easy navigational aid! Cool. From here the guide set us free for a few hours. We needed to meet back at the front of the Dom by 4pm and we were released at 1:45pm. I think this would be a lot longer if the ship had not been late docking. We took a quick trip around the interior, which was wild. So huge and impressive. One replaced stained glass window has a more modern look. Shrine of the Three Kings Afterwards we headed out to try some Kölsch that we’d heard so much about. Düsseldorf brews Altbier so make sure not to ask for Kölsch there or vice versa. We settled on Brauhaus Früh am Dom near the Cathedral and had some schnitzel and wurst for lunch. The Kölsch was cold and delicious.. I am not a huge beer drinker but had two! Afterwards, we stopped by the front of the Heinzelmännchenbrunnen we could see from the Früh patio seating. We walked around some more seeing the Fischmarkt and had some eis before meeting back up at the Dom. That lock-covered train bridge from Amazing Race (Hohenzollernbrücke). We walked back to the buses from the Dom and headed to meet back up with AmaLucia in Monheim (different than Mannheim!). We had some scenic sailing and headed down to dinner which was AMAZING from what I remember. The appetizer I ordered was called Watermelon Carpaccio and was one of the best things I ate on board all week. Beets, watermelon and cream cheese? Garlic? Not sure but it was life changing. During dinner we passed Kölner Dom again! This time with dramatic back lighting. After dinner we saw a lightning storm from the top deck and got back to the room just in time for it to start pouring. Bliss. Lovely first day in Germany. Rhine gorge coming up in the morning so we headed off to bed. Here are the walking maps for today. Cologne map & Düsseldorf map (I didn’t use this one but had it just in case!)

I realized I’ve already missed the first two Daily Cruisers with those first posts, and I am missing Day 3 and Day 7 so I don’t have a full set like I thought. Here are the two I missed for Embarkation and Amsterdam / Sailing to Germany. On Day 2 all aboard was 12:30pm. Day 1 Day 2 I also meant to share my personally compiled walking maps for various cities. Here is Amsterdam. I made these on mymaps.google.com, you can duplicate mine and change out your hotel, places of interest, etc if you’re so inclined. I had originally found a public walking tour map created this way for Zürich and ended up making one for each of the cities we visited. Nice to know what you want to go look at before you’re out walking! My husband downloaded Google maps on his phone for each city to use offline in case we had service issues.

A potato croquette - staple of all cruise buffets I have ever been to - is like a triangle of mashed potato filling with a crusty battered coating, sorta? They look like this.

Day 3 - Friday August 23, 2024 - Amsterdam We were up early to have breakfast on the ship before being bused back to Amsterdam for our canal cruise at 8:45am. We learned later to do breakfast in the lounge area but this morning we did the full shebang, I had my traditional omelette and all the usual American fixings, sausage, croquettes and the like. By 9:20 we were cruising away from the main cruise terminal docking area (would be super convenient if your ship happens to dock by the passenger terminal). We saw several river ships docked here along with Norwegian Prima. This time we sailed around the Prinsengracht and from the opposite direction - ending our tour in the general vicinity where our first canal tour began. Nemo Science Museum We wound our way back around to the cruise terminal and hopped buses back to meet up with AmaLucia again in Zaandam. We enjoyed our first lunch on board in the main dining room and had these amazing Dutch meatballs that I could not stop raving about. During lunch we started sailing and by the time we were finished with the three course affair, we were nearly back in Amsterdam. Back of the Centraal Station Happy to have my rain jacket! Amsterdam was low 60s the entire time. This photo is part of a series I call Adrian Leans because I realized I had a tonnn of photos of him doing just that. So now we go out of our way to take Adrian Leans pics in different places. Dutch cows! We sailed through a bit of rain! Not giving up on our top deck position just yet. Okay maybe a trip back to the room to grab our cocktails. We’d purchased some vodka and juice in Amsterdam and brought them back to the sun deck. Here we enjoyed some Connect Four while sailing. Soon we made it just outside our first dock! Prinses Irenesluis. Excitement was high! But we just waited and waited. After about an hour of waiting we eventually we were sadly docked to the side of the lock awaiting clearance. Turns out a local had been walking on the gate! We stayed out there as long as we could (3+ hours!) but had to go in for dinner. Luckily during dinner we entered the lock! We were able to finish up and run upstairs as we were pulling out. First lock experience was truly exciting, even with the 3 hour delay. Unfortunately this made us late into Düsseldorf the next morning but we didn’t know that yet. Lovely sunset leaving the lock. Soon we were at our second lock! Prins Bernhardsluis. Having missed the first half of the first one, tons of people were back on deck to see the full process. One of our fellow guests took this photo of us sneakily and then asked to AirDrop it to me. Cute! It’s go time. After finally getting to see the full process we called it a night. Düsseldorf and the Cathedral in Cologne awaits!

Lucerne was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. Definitely worth it, although we did it on our own instead of through AMA. At the time the savings was pretty hefty!

Day 2 - Thursday August 22, 2024 - Amsterdam Our ship was set to embark in Zaandam instead of Amsterdam but we had some more sightseeing to do before heading out to meet up with the ship. This day was my birthday and we had 9:30am tickets for the Rijksmuseum to see some Dutch Golden Age art. As a graphic design major I was enrolled in no less than 6 art history courses over the span of my college career, one of which focused heavily on the Dutch masters, so seeing some work by Rembrandt and Vermeer was at the top of my Amsterdam sightseeing list. We walked the 1.9 miles from our hotel and made it around 9:40am where they made no fuss about us being “late” - I believe my window was until 9:45 - and hit the museum cafe for a quick breakfast snack (and a vacation beer!) before heading off to the Gallery of Honour. Had to wear these same jeans 3 days in a row because it was much colder in Amsterdam than I anticipated! The Night Watch was undergoing restoration so there was a big rigging between us and the work but it was still impressive to see. WAY bigger than I thought it was!! That was true of several of the pieces. When you memorize them at 1” wide on a note card its definitely something to see the scale in person. Favorite detail: After seeing two full floors we called it quits to be able to get back to our hotel and pack up before checkout at noon. After checking out, we left the bags with the hotel so we could do a bit more walking around before taking the train to Zaandam. We stopped for lunch at Cafe de Regent Van Amsterdam for savory pancakes! Mine had gouda, bacon and onion and was fantastic, a preview to the many Flammkuchen/Tarte Flambee’s to come. This cafe is in a great location at a crossroads with a canal-side seating area. We strolled by the Anne Frank house but didn’t procure tickets as we’d both been before on past trips. I’d forgotten how close to the church it was, would love to re-read looking for references to hearing the bells chime. After another Coffee Shop stop (The Bulldog is an Amsterdam institution!) and another stroopwaffel, we headed back to collect our bags and take the train to meet the ship in Zaandam. Zaandam is so cute! We hopped off the train at 3pm and walked to board a few blocks away. First glimpse of AmaLucia! We walked right on board, checking in like a hotel and were in our cabin by 3:50pm. Dinner was fantastic right off the bat. River cruising cuisine is a faarrrr cry from ocean cruising dining! Just amazing. The included wines changed every night to match our location and were also great, even as a non-usual-wine drinker I found all of them to be delicious. Crane-laden view from our cabin. Excessive cranes became a common theme on this trip, absolutely everywhere we docked was under major construction. Our Basel hotel rooftop had 13 cranes viewable from that vantage! Lovely first afternoon on the ship, as the youngest couple (35-ish) we were mostly ignored by the other guests but they came around and socialized with us later in the cruise. Haha! Same can be said for the cruise manager who would completely ignore us and then fawn grandly over whoever was before or after us in the boarding line. 🤣 I like a little schmoozing too!!

Day 1 - Wednesday August 21, 2024 - Amsterdam We arrived at Schipol at 9:30am and waited in a super long line to go through customs. After a quick train ride, we made it to Centraal Station at 11am. The building is so gorgeous and is very reminiscent of the Rijksmusem we would visit the next day. Turns out there were designed by the same architect! I’d purchased all my NL and Swiss train tickets before arrival and used them all very easily with their respective apps on my phone. On the Netherlands trains you need to scan the tickets on entering and exiting the station so have them out and ready. I had all our tickets on my phone which meant I needed to scan my husband through, then swap the ticket and scan myself through the turnstiles. We walked straight from the train station across the street to our first hotel, Park Plaza Victoria Amsterdam and were able to go straight to our room after check-in. I definitely didn’t expect this but it was a welcome turn of events so we could change and compile our outing accoutrements before journeying out to Zaandijk/Zaanse Schans. Our room was on the first floor and had an amazing canal view. Unfortunately the area directly outside the hotel was under construction so our view was somewhat marred by a huge net protecting the building. After collecting ourselves we made a first stop at a Coffee Shop (we’re from California, remember) before heading back out to the Centraal Station to hop a train to Zaandijk. The train ride from Amsterdam to Zaandijk is 17 minutes, plus a 10-15min walk from the station to the entrance of Zaanse Schans historical village. This open-air museum costs €17.50 each and includes entrance to all museums and exhibits on site. This place was so awesome. Definitely touristy but amazing if you want to see functioning windmills in person. There were also exhibits for cheese and clog making and a pewter foundry which were pretty interesting. I was thinking of it as a Dutch Plymouth Plantation (which I have loved since I was a child) and it was very much like that, showcasing the every day lives of people in the Netherlands in the 18th and 19th centuries. Clog ice and roller skates! Amazing. The full site is fairly large and took around two hours to walk through, this could easily be a quicker stop if you skip some exhibits and just walk along between all the windmills. Here is a badly photographed image of the site map so you can see the size! We hopped another train back to the Centraal Station and were back cruising Amsterdam around 3:20pm. At this point we decided to take a bit of a break at our hotel to recuperate for our first canal cruise at 5pm. We ended up hungry prior to our planned outing so we ran over to The Grasshopper for a quick schnitzel before our tour. We figured we’d be exhausted afterwards so getting some real food sounded like a good plan (perhaps one too many stroopwaffels came before this). Lovely view from this restaurant’s patio. At 5pm we hopped our Flagship canal cruise across the street from our hotel and had an hour’s tour through the Herengracht, looping back to our starting point by the Centraal Station. This turned out great as the AMA-hosted canal cruise excursion took the Prinsengracht so we got to see different things on both cruises. For this tour the boat was uncovered, the AMA cruise was in a boat with the windows/open ceiling. In this spot, seven bridges line up perfectly: I loved the tour, Amsterdam is so picturesque! We heard some great stories about the buildings and why they’re designed the way they are. The thin homes are the result of only being taxed for the width of your property! Only the mega rich and businesses could enjoy the wider 5-windows-across style. After our tour we did some more walking (this day ended up over 10+ miles of walking!) to find a little more food and some scenic views and we settled on Cafe P96 that had a floating barge in the Prinsengracht with restaurant seating. Here we enjoyed some Bitterballen and drinks and enjoyed a lovely view of the canal. We were getting tired at just the right time to smoothly transition to European time but did a bit more walking to see the Red Light District juuust start to get going. Lovely Royal Palace Amsterdam at night. With that we called it a night, excited to be embarking AmaLucia the next day!

Day 0 - Tuesday August 20, 2024 - Travel Day We walked our schön Hund (Shadow the Husky) and left him at home with his Abuela who also housesat for us while we were away. We got a surprisingly good Uber driver and arrived at Lindbergh Field around 8:30am for our 10:45am flight. The first leg was from San Diego to Chicago O’Hare and was smooth and uneventful; we flew first class and were able to get all our luggage on board without a fuss. We travel with two Away soft-sided carryons and a personal item each but every once in awhile they try and check these for us. Upon arriving at O’Hare I realized it was the airport where they filmed all the running scenes in the Home Alone franchise. Makes sense as it was set in Chicago, but I had never been there before! After an hour-15 layover we boarded our second flight from Chicago to Amsterdam. On this leg we went with Premium Economy as the upgrade to Polaris would’ve put the price of flights over that of the (notoriously expensive) river cruise which didn’t feel right. Haha We got maybe an hour or two of sleep but who cares, we’re on European Holiday now!! This flight provided both a dinner and a breakfast, both of which were pretty good for airline food. I saw the sun rise over the curve of the Earth which was truly something to see (the photo looks pretty lame though).

This was our first ever river cruise after 10+ ocean cruises together, not sure I’ll be able to go back to big brand cruising now (although I have several booked). I loved the small ship, low guest count and being so close to the water line with sights on both banks of the river. Itinerary I knew I wanted to see all the castles along the Rhine after seeing too many Viking commercials during the football season! We ended up going with AMA for a number of reasons, the biggest of which being final payment at 3 months out instead of immediately with Viking. I also really liked the slightly lower pax count which contributes to AMA being able to sail in low water when Viking is hauling in buses and making transfers to their other ships. We chose the Amsterdam to Basel direction because ending the trip with Switzerland sounded ideal to me, we could spend a few days exploring before our flight home. The AmaLucia sailing beginning August 22nd was perfect for us as that was my birthday, with my husband’s following 3 days later on the 25th! Day 0 - Tuesday - Flight from San Diego to Schipol Day 1 - Wednesday - Arrive in Amsterdam 🇳🇱 Day 2 - Thursday - Embark AmaLucia in Zaandam (My Birthday!) Day 3 - Friday - Amsterdam canal cruise / Afternoon sailing to Germany Day 4 - Saturday - Docked in Düsseldorf / Tour to Köln 🇩🇪 Day 5 - Sunday - Rhine Gorge sailing / Rüdesheim (Husband’s Birthday!) Day 6 - Monday - Docked in Ludwigshafen / Tour to Heidelberg Day 7 - Tuesday - Strasbourg 🇫🇷 Day 8 - Wednesday - Docked in Breisach / Tour to Riquewihr / Afternoon sailing to Switzerland Day 9 - Thursday - Arrive in Basel 🇨🇭 Day 10 - Friday - Train to Lucerne Day 11 - Saturday - Mount Pilatus Golden Round Trip Day 12 - Sunday - Train to Zürich Day 13 - Monday - Fly home to San Diego Travelers - my husband (Adrian) and I (Daryl) Cabin We chose the BB category with the twin balconies and got cabin 218 on the port side. It was one of very few connecting cabins on this ship but we didn’t notice any noise through our shared door. Flights We flew SAN to AMS on United, cruised up the Rhine to Basel, took 2 immaculate Swiss trains (Basel > Lucerne > Zürich) and flew home ZRH to SAN in United’s Polaris Business Class which was totally worth the upgrade price. The first leg home was 12 hours from Zürich to San Francisco and being able to actually fall asleep on the way there (my first time ever sleeping on a plane) was a godsend for our jet lag recovery this week. I took 3,000+ photos (oops!) so these posts will be sprinkled with lot of images. Feel free to ask any questions! I intend to post our Daily Cruisers and rough times spent in port because these were hard to find ahead of our trip.

Exciting delay aboard AmaLucia last night, we got stuck at the Prinses Irenesluis in the Netherlands for three hours while police dealt with a local walking on top of the lock gates! We heard he fell in but possibly that was just a rumor. 😂 Arriving about 2.5 hours late to Düsseldorf this morning.

I was hoping someone would know! I am departing Amsterdam Aug 23 so I will try and figure it out from our GPS.