Europe River Cruise - 2018: Cruising down the Rhine and Cologne

Oct. 15

We had a good first night on the ship, breakfast, and then a canal cruise of Amsterdam.  That was one thing Ellen and I had not done during our stay and we saw a lot of different things - old section of town, lots of little scenic canals going off of our canal, houseboats (next time staying in one of these), leaning houses, small houses, expensive houses.  

On the canal cruise

Lots of houseboats

Beautiful canals

Leaning houses

We got off of the boat and took a short walk to a very private courtyard where the Beguines lived - pious Catholic single women who performed good deeds but did not want to live in a convent and did not take vows.  This was a Roman Catholic enclave in predominantly Protestant Amsterdam for over 200 years from 1578 to 1795.  Today there are still only women living in this area.

Next we walked to the floating flower market.  Lots of bulbs were for sale but we did not think we could take them back to the states.  Besides, the deer would just eat the bulbs when they bloomed in Prescott.

Floating flower market

Beautiful flowers 

I did bring home some cheese

We took the bus back and the ship set sail on the Rhine.  The ship was so smooth and we had our big window closed, we did not even know we were underway.  

We saw a couple of windmills

We had a leisure afternoon.  I walked on the upper deck walking path and swam in the small pool.  Ellen took a nap.

Walking track is the brown area.

During our trip on the Rhine we went through one lock and 2 cargo boats passed us in the lock.

P

There was a Captain's reception where all the officers were introduced and then a lovely evening.  We sat with our new friends from Perth, Australia and had a wonderful dinner of lamb.  Afterwards we enjoyed the live entertainment in the Horizon lounge.

Oct. 16,    Cologne 

We motored all night and arrived in Cologne, Germany the next day.  We pulled up next to another ship and anchored to it.  We had to walk across their deck to get to shore.

Our ship on the right and AMAventa on the left-

This is our walkway across the AMA boat.

Getting ready for our Cologne excursion 

We had a short tour of the Cathedral area.  This is Germany's most visited building. The interior largely dates from the 13th century but it wasn't until 1880 that the exterior with its two 510 ft spires was completed.

Skyline of Cologne 

The Cathedral 

Our tour guide

The interior of the Cathedral 

Street chalk artist in front of Cathedral 

Ellen and I decided to walk back to our ship.  We walked thru old town which has a lot of sidewalk cafes. In fact, Cologne boasts of over 3000 bars and taverns.  They are famous for their beer.  

Cute houses of Cologne 

We stopped at the chocolate museum for some samples

We had a port talk with the cruise director when we returned.  It does not look good for traveling on the rivers since they are so low.  We will probably be on the ship 3 more nights and then hotels the last week.  At least they are offering compensation for the inconvenience. We are motoring tonight to Andernach, Germany.