Winter Vacation 2022
We flew Delta One from NYC-JFK to Zurich without any drama!
December 9, 2022 Zurich!
Arrival into Zurich at 11am was a bit shocking. It was snowing with snow already on the ground and Zero degrees Celsius. We checked in to the Zurich Marriott and was told that "it never snows in Zurich in December".
From our hotel window we saw this man swimming in the Limmat River behind our hotel. He was just treading water for a few minutes then got out and casually walked away.
We walked around the city center and visited a couple of popup Christmas markets. Lots of sweets, drinks, hot chocolate, Christmas ornaments and people! Saw the largest Swaroski Christmas tree anywhere.
December 10, 2022
We took a small group tour (4 people) to Jungfrau, Top of Europe. The weather was a bit challenging for viewing but once we reached the top of the mountain (cable car, then train, then steps) it cleared for a few photos!
On the way up the mountain on the lift.
Visibility was a bit low!
At the top! Me trying to keep my eyes open looking into the bright sunshine. Brought my sunglasses with me to Europe just for this picture and left them at the hotel. At the top we were at an altitude of 3454 meters (11,332 feet). Jim and I felt the altitude with some dizziness and a bit short of breath walking up steps.
The Ice Palace was started in 1934 and is carved out of the ice on the mountain. It is a maze of carvings of mostly animals. It has to be constantly recut due to the movement.
This was a waterfall.... Apparently, it is quite magnificent in the spring and summer.
This was at Interlaken Lake. The lake is two lakes, Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. The water was turquoise due to the tiny glacier particles, that sink slowly to the bottom. We may not look like it...but it was very cold and windy.
December 11, 2022
This morning the snow had stopped and everything looked grey from our hotel window. Today we took a tour to Liechtenstein. It started out with a tour around Zurich then headed east.
We visited the village of Rapperswil with a walking tour of the castle and made our way through a large Christmas market. The city is located on the East side of Lake Zurich. We could see Roger Federer's home he is building on the other side of the lake.
This is in the smallest village of Switzerland, Werdenberg. The structures are all medieval wooden housing and built from 1625 to 1700. The population is about 65 today. This house is now a museum and is called Schlangenhaus (the snake house). It is decorated with creatures to protect it. You can see the serpent drawing on the left eave.
The village website link: News – Schloss Werdenberg (schloss-werdenberg.ch)
The white blur is the welcome to Liechtenstein crossing the Rhine River from Switzerland into the City of Vaduz.
Selfie with the Castle of Vaduz behind us. The flags are flying so the family is in residence. It is the house of the monarchy for over 300 years. Hans-Adam II is the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein, since 1989.
December 12, 2022
Today we are headed back to the airport for our transfer to the boat in Basel, Switzerland. We are on the Scenic Opal.
December 13, 2022 Strasbourg
Today we are in Strasbourg, France. The home of the 2nd largest port on the Rhine River. The city center is a UNESCO World Heritage site called Grande Ile (Grand Island). The town is actually on an island surrounded by a canal.
Christmas Markets!
The town is decorated magnificently. The store fronts are very imaginative and pictures don't really do them justice.
I took this picture for Ali as it is her favorite (NOT) Christmas depiction with polar bears and penguins! LOL...
The Strasbourg Cathdral construction was completed in 1439. picture coming
This astronomical clock is second to the one in Prague. It is inside the Cathedral.
Unfortunately, I lost one of my diamond earring studs that was a gift from Jim a few years ago. I hope someone in Strasbourg finds it and appreciates it like I did.
December 14, 2022 Baden Baden
The town was developed in 69-79AD due to the thermal springs and was originally called "Aquae". Later, it was named Baden which means "bath". There were a lot of German towns with the name Baden so they decided to call it Baden Baden. The town lies next to the Black Forest. This is a picture of a Bath House, Friedrichsbad, that has been in existence since 19th century.
We visited a well-preserved ancient Roman bathing complex that was discovered when they started excavating for a parking garage. The bath originally dates back to 69-79AD.
The snow was coming down in those large fluffy flakes. It was really pretty...they keep saying "it never snows here in December"!
An English couple had stopped for a cup of gluenwein and asked us to join them. We sat outside on a sheepskin with a blanket over our legs and next to the fire, watching the snow fall. Gluenwein is a hot spicy wine that is common at this time of year. Jim opted for hot chocolate with whipped cream and I had the hot chocolate with Baileys. Yum.
This picture is for Jim's sister, Ruth. Here is what a real fir looks like with actual snow...opposed to an artificial with flocking. Yours is very close!
This was a great Christmas market as it was the start of the day so not a lot of people. I found something special for Alison that was accidentally destroyed a few years ago. She had bought a Christmas pickle ornament, and we found a replacement.
Jim bought me the most unique ring made of silver from a guy that cuts and makes all his own jewelry.
We visited Rastatt Palace for a private concert. The soprano, Svena Gabler; Tenor, Shichao Cheng and Pianist Fan Yang were excellent. The palace was exquisite!
Me in front of the castle
Inside the Castle
December 15, 2022 Heidelberg
We visited a renaissance castle, called Heidelberger Schloss. We had to ride a cable car (funicular railway) or walk the steps that would take an hour. The Castle was built by Frederick the Victorious. The gate was built for his 17 year-old bride Katherine. Construction was started in 1214. The palace was partially destroyed in the 17th and 18th centuries. The castle sits above the Neckar Valley.
Our obligatory selvie!
We are now in for some late evening Christmas Markets in Rudesheim.
Soooo cold! There are enough Christmas trees around here to make a Hallmark Christmas movie.
Tonight, we dined at the invitation only restaurant on the boat. Fun evening with a very talented violinist following dinner.
December 16, 2022
Beautiful cruise down the Rheine River Gorge. The boat has an app that gives a commentary on the 30+ castles that line the river. It was too cold for me on the "sundeck". I viewed them from my indoor balcony. The white one is Castle Pfalzgrafenstein that made everyone pay a toll to pass on the river and the one in the background, Castle Gutenfels, helped support that extortion.
Jim took this off the port side of the boat as we cruised through the Rhine today.
Next stop Koblenz. It is one of Germany's oldest cities and straddles two of Europe's Rivers the Rhine and the Moselle. This picture is at the "German Corner" where the rivers meet.
Jim wasn't feeling well, so I went by myself on the walking tour. Had to take a selfie with the monument commemorating the 2nd Reich.
These 3 slabs were taken from the Berlin wall after it was torn down in 1989.
The city has ~130 plaques embedded in the sidewalks commemorating the Jewish citizens that were murdered by the Nazi's.
We had an onboard singer tonight. Her name is Bethany and she is a music graduate from Indiana University.
December 17, 2022 Cologne
Most of Cologne was destroyed in WW2. These houses are decorated to show what they probably looked like before the war. The church is from 12 to 13th century and is called the Church Gross St Martin.
The church behind us is the Cologne Cathedral. It was not severely damaged during the war due to its construction. It took 632 years to build and was the tallest building in the world prior to the Washington Monument.
December 18, 2022 Amsterdam
We stopped at the Henri Willig cheese farm and learned how cheese was produced and of course sampled some.
We opted to take a tour outside the city of Amsterdam to the fishing village of Volendam. It was a quaint village of wooden houses and a beautiful harbor.
We then went to the town of Edam that is popular for its world-famous cheese. Interesting fact, they do not make Edam cheese anymore but rather Gouda. This was the old cheese market where the cheese was brought, tested, weighed and sold.
December 19, 2022 AMS to ATL to MIA
We enjoyed our Delta One seats back to ATL. We were delayed a couple of hours and missed our connection. While going through security in ATL for our connecting flight...I was feeling a bit cranky with trying to manage everything and Jim abandoned me to go through "known crew" line. While queued up... the young man behind me started talking to me. His name is Jay Dref and he is the tenor for Sarah Brightman on a break from their Asian tour.
December 2023: Alison bought us tickets to Sarah Brightman's tour and Jay Dref was still her tenor. Sarah Brightman can still hit all those notes from Phantom of the Opera! Jay Dref was amazing!