So from Amsterdam we headed to Cologne overnight and the day was mostly spent on the boat. We ate way too much food and hung out on the ship visiting the gym every so often. At around three in the afternoon, we arrived in Cologne where we were greeted by a local tour guide. The tour guide showed us around town and he w as hilarious! He was German, and he was actually completely fluent in Chinese which was pretty awesome xD .
After we got back on board and had a tasting dinner with small portions of different foods as the ship left the dock towards Rüdesheim overnight.
In the morning we continued along the river to Rüdesheim which was an incredibly scenic morning with castles, vineyards and statutes along the shore of the river. Our guide provided commentary over the speaker system talking about the history of the area. We arrived in Rüdesheim after lunch and went on a tour of a musical instrument museum and had a Rüdesheimer Kaffee tasting (aka a LOT of brandy with coffee). We spent about two hours in the city before boarding the ship again...onwards to Miltenberg!
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| Cologne |
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| On the way to Rüdesheim |
-M
Amsterdam is fantastic! The city is full of young people (who know english), the "coffee shops" are where they sell weed (not that I smoke...but I like to think this has to do with why everyone's so laid back), and the buildings are georgeous! Definitely a city I'll have to come back and visit!
We arrived in the city early in the afternoon and boarded the boat before dinner. I've never been on a cruise before, and so far this one is great! It's quite small (less than 140 people), and generally the people here are quite a bit older than me, mostly from Australia and New Zealand. The food is ridiculously good, and there's just so much of it; they literally feed us every three hours, and there's a coffee machine and cookie upstairs! Our bedroom looks out into a full size window (which currently faces another boat; but once we start moving I think it'll be amazing!). There's a fitness room which I've already had to visit (ALL THIS FOOD), a lounge, and a great deck with a giant chess game (Harry Potter style) and a mini hot tub.
On the second day of the cruise we started off with a canal tour where we saw Amsterdam's amazing architecture. We then had the option for a walking tour, but my sister and I headed off on our own to find the famous "Fault in our Stars" bench. On our way back to the ship for lunch, we passed the tulip market, a giant food market, we sort of wandered past the Red Light district, as well as Chinatown! In the afternoon we did a tour of the Anne Frank House before sailing off to Cologne Germany!
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| Floating Flower Market |
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| Chinatown |
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-M
So newest relatively last minute adventure has started! Europe trip 2k15!! This time it's much different; my family is going on a river cruise aboard Avalon Waterways! The entire trip is 17 days (15 for the cruise and 2 on our own). Its a bit weird not having control of an itinerary but I have to admit it definitely makes it more relaxing. I feel almost a bit guilty for not doing the research and planning...
Anyways, this is our itinerary:
- Amsterdam to Cologne
- Cologne to Rudesheim
- Rudesheim to Miltenberg
- Miltenberg to Wurzburg
- Wurzburg to Bamberg
- Bamberg to Nuremberg
- Nuremberg to Regensberg
- Regensberg to Passau
- Passau to Linz
- Linz to Melk
- Melk to Durnstein
- Durnstein to Vienna
- Vienna to Bratislava
- Bratislava to Budapest
-M
