Along the Rhine and Mosel Rivers

sapphire73sapphire73 Registered Users, Super Moderators Posts: 1,942 moderator
edited September 6, 2016 in Journeys
We traveled along the Rhine and Mosel rivers in November on a relatively small river cruise vessel. We had been to Switzerland, Germany, France, Netherlands and Belgium before but it was different traveling on the water and sampling various ports. (Our travels are usually more adventurous but my fitbit was impressed with the amount of walking we did.)

Basel, Switzerland
We arrived in Basel and had a good tour of Basel the next day.

1. Basel, first night on the water (hand held)
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Sailing toward Strasbourg
At 4pm, we sailed for Strasbourg, France. We were up on the sun deck sipping wine with friends as the sun disappeared and we approached the first set of locks.

2. On our way to Strasbourg
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Strasbourg and Riquewihr France
The next morning, we took the canal boat ride in Strasbourg after stopping by Notre Dame Cathedral. That afternoon, we took an optional tour to a winery and to Riquewihr. Hope to explore this area again as we had very little time in Riquewihr and the light was fading fast.

3. In Strasbourg, wandering on our own
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4. Swans
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Baden-Baden
Spent the afternoon here and enjoyed visiting several shops. Lovely drive through the countryside to get here.

5. Baden-Baden - Fountain
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Speyer
Speyer is one of several ports that exceeded my expectations. I knew that I would enjoy visiting Strasbourg, Riquewihr, Kinderdijk and Bruges. But I hadn’t given much thought to Speyer. The town was founded by the Romans and is one of the oldest towns in Germany. The area we toured – between the cathedral and just past the Old Town Gate – was charming. Our walking tour led us through the domgarten (park by the cathedral) to the Imperial Cathedral and then down the main street.

That afternoon, six of us had an opportunity to visit an elderly woman in her home. She talked about her experiences trying to help refugees, and she told us about her experiences as a refugee from Prussia during WW2. It was a privilege to hear her story.

6. Speyer - The Pilgrim
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The Castle Stretch of the Rhine River
We sailed through the castle stretch early in the morning. It was windy and cool but the light was good for photos. The rain held off, and we enjoyed seeing the castles.

7. Rheinstein Castle
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8. Ehrenfels Castle Ruins
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Boppard
It started raining as we made a quick visit to Boppard after seeing the castles. I wish I had spent a little more time at the Roman ruins and inside St. Severus, a lovely Catholic church built in the 13th century. We continued on to Winnigen after lunch.

Cochem
After a short stay in Winnigen, we went on to Cochem. This was another port that took me by surprise. It was Sunday morning so not much was open, but there was plenty to see. We started off with a tour of the Reichsburg Castle, then had a walking tour of Cochem.

9. Cochem - City Wall with Reichsburg Castle in background
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Bernkastel and Trier
Our next port was Bernkastel, a lovely town in the Mosel Valley. This is another area I would like to visit again.

We visited Trier the next day. It was rainy and windy, so my camera was tucked away for most of that day. But we loved walking around and having lunch in town.

Zell and Luxembourg
Our next stop along the Mosel River was Zell but we took the optional tour to Luxembourg, an all day trip.

10. Luxembourg - Detail on door of a Cathedral
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11. Luxembourg - The American Cemetery
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Bonn and Nijmegen
We enjoyed visiting Bonn and Nijmegen. I limited myself to sharing 20 photos here and didn't choose any from those stops. Sometimes it is the experiences you savor more than the photos....

Kinderdijk
I was looking forward to seeing the windmills at Kinderdijk. The weather forecast was not promising, and we were deluged with rain as we took the boat ride along the canal. The rain continued as we made our way inside one of the windmills. But then it stopped. I was able to walk along the windmills with hardly anyone else in sight.

12. Kinderdijk - Windmills at dawn (before the tour)
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13. Kinderdijk - Windmills after the rain
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14. Kinderdijk - Welcoming the Sun
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Willemstad
15. Sailing from Kinderdijk to Willemstad
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We docked in Willemstad but went off to visit the Delta Works. As we were leaving, we noticed parents bringing their children to see Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) and Zwarte Piet (black Peter) who were arriving by boat.

Antwerp
We had a lovely walking tour of Antwerp, gradually making our way to the main square to view the cathedral and the guild houses. This was a good place to sample pomme frites and Belgian chocolates. (This was a repeat for us as we had been in Brussels last summer and enjoyed both treats there.)

16. Antwerp - Rising Moon
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Ghent
We spent a few extra days in Belgium before heading home. We toured Ghent one morning and found a lovely place to eat lunch by one of the canals. We sat outside, but had blankets and portable heaters to keep us warm. The food was delicious. (I had Gentse Waterzooi.)

17. Ghent
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Bruges and Ypres
Our next stop was Bruges where we had two full days. It was cold and rainy the first day. We toured Bruges in the moring and went to Ypres in the afternoon. We visited the In Flanders Field Museum and toured trenches, battlefields and cemeteries. The weather was a bit damp and chilly but this helped me empathize all the more with the soldiers who spent so much time in the trenches during World War 1.

18. Ypres WW1 Cemetery
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We had time the next day to tour Bruges in better weather. Looking forward to visiting Belgium again at a different time of year!

19. Bruges - Old Home on Canal
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20. Bruges - Canal with Dog at the window
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Camera Equipment
These photos were taken with a Canon 70D, 28 mm lens, 18-135 mm lens, and 10-22 mm. I could have left the 70-300 mm lens at home but did use it a bit. No tripod as we were doing a lot of walking, so low light shots were hand held.

Comments

  • slpollettslpollett Registered Users Posts: 1,189 Major grins
    edited August 19, 2016
    Looks like a wonderful trip. You have a wide variety of excellent compositions with beautiful scenery, great architecture, details, landmarks, and reflections. Very nice set of images.

    Sherry P.
  • The LeaderThe Leader Registered Users Posts: 85 Big grins
    edited August 19, 2016
    Lovely Pictures. My dream is to do the cruise down the Rhine!
  • sarasphotossarasphotos Registered Users Posts: 3,822 Major grins
    edited August 20, 2016
    Nice series Gretchen! It looks like you had a wonderful trip - how brave of you to travel in November when the weather here can be quite capricious and the days are relatively short. Nevertheless, judging by the photos you saw wonderful sights. My favorites are #11 and #15 - I love the light is both of them and am especially fond of the pastoral look of 15.
  • sapphire73sapphire73 Registered Users, Super Moderators Posts: 1,942 moderator
    edited August 23, 2016
    Thank you all for your comments on this thread!
    slpollett wrote: »
    Looks like a wonderful trip. You have a wide variety of excellent compositions with beautiful scenery, great architecture, details, landmarks, and reflections. Very nice set of images.

    Sherry P.

    Thank you, Sherry.
    The Leader wrote: »
    Lovely Pictures. My dream is to do the cruise down the Rhine!

    It is a lovely trip. We did a day trip on the Rhine when visiting Mainz a few years ago and knew we would like to return some day.
    Nice series Gretchen! It looks like you had a wonderful trip - how brave of you to travel in November when the weather here can be quite capricious and the days are relatively short. Nevertheless, judging by the photos you saw wonderful sights. My favorites are #11 and #15 - I love the light is both of them and am especially fond of the pastoral look of 15.

    Yes, we were rather brave to chance November weather but had lovely weather most days. I was worried about the days being so short but I was also able to get some photos of landmarks like the Porta Nigra in Trier with no one in the foreground. So there were pros and cons to traveling at this time. Hope to travel a little earlier in the autumn the next time we take a trip like this.
  • DKellyCDKellyC Registered Users Posts: 10 Big grins
    edited August 25, 2016
    #3 and #19 are my favorites.
  • sapphire73sapphire73 Registered Users, Super Moderators Posts: 1,942 moderator
    edited September 5, 2016
    DKellyC wrote: »
    #3 and #19 are my favorites.

    Thank you for commenting on this sampling of photos from our trip!
  • GSPePGSPeP Registered Users Posts: 3,728 Major grins
    edited September 6, 2016
    Nice trip and pictures thumb.gif

    You must have passed not very far from where I live (between Antwerp and Ghent)
  • sapphire73sapphire73 Registered Users, Super Moderators Posts: 1,942 moderator
    edited September 6, 2016
    GSPeP wrote: »
    Nice trip and pictures thumb.gif

    You must have passed not very far from where I live (between Antwerp and Ghent)

    Peter, thanks for you input on these pictures. It was great to see a bit more of Belgium! Our previous visit was just one night in Brussels on our way to Burkina Faso. Looking forward to visiting again sometime.
  • captnemocaptnemo Registered Users Posts: 186 Major grins

    Looks like a great trip, thanks for including details about your journey. Took me awhile to spot the dog in window :smile:

  • FlyNavyFlyNavy Registered Users Posts: 1,350 Major grins

    Splendid work! I feel like I was there with you. Excellent eye for the creative.

  • sapphire73sapphire73 Registered Users, Super Moderators Posts: 1,942 moderator

    Thank you all for your feedback on the photos from our journey!

    @FlyNavy said:
    Splendid work! I feel like I was there with you. Excellent eye for the creative.

    @jerryr said:
    Nice work !

    @captnemo said:
    Looks like a great trip, thanks for including details about your journey. Took me awhile to spot the dog in window :smile:

  • travelwaystravelways Registered Users Posts: 7,854 Major grins

    Wonderful trip and photos!!! Never went to a cruise, but I drove in many of these places :)

    Tatiana - Seeing the world through my camera
    TravelwaysPhotos.com ...... Facebook
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    Travelways.com
  • Awais YaqubAwais Yaqub Registered Users Posts: 10,572 Major grins

    Great set of photos, looks so quite and calm place.

    Thine is the beauty of light; mine is the song of fire. Thy beauty exalts the heart; my song inspires the soul. Allama Iqbal

    My Gallery
  • El GatoEl Gato Registered Users Posts: 1,242 Major grins

    Thank you for sharing these wonderful images and the details of your trip.

    I lived in Brussels in the early 80's and would often visit Bruges and Ghent on the weekends. Your images brought back fond memories of wandering the back lanes and cobbled streets of these enchanting cities. Image #20 is wonderful, as is the doggie in the window. Nice composition and well done, especially as you state, no tripod...all hand-held.

    Thanks again for sharing your wonderful images and adventure!

  • sapphire73sapphire73 Registered Users, Super Moderators Posts: 1,942 moderator

    @travelways Thank you, Tatiana. It was a fun trip. We weren't sure whether we would like a river cruise or not, but we chose a small company and appreciated the insights our program director provided, partly by randomly interviewing people we met along the way.

    @Awais Yaqub Thank you for taking the time to look at these and comment. This was a relaxing trip, and I think the timing (mid-November) helped us avoid the crowds.

    @El Gato Glad you enjoyed the photos. Hoping we get back to Belgium in the near future!

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