Rhein Cruise Tag Funf

Going with the German spelling of Rhein now.  Today was Strasbourg in the morning.  It is a medium sized city on the French side of the Rhein but at various times in history, it has been German.  Our day started out with a cruise on the river that surrounds the town, looking at the amazing architecture, then to the Cathedral,  It dates from the late 1400s and is massive.  Big lunch of bouillabaisse for me and veal shank for Dean.  He also ate sauerkraut soup.  Uh, no. The afternoon was a trip to the Maginot Line.  There is a well preserved bunker here that housed 580 men at a time.  It is quite the engineering marvel, but as so often happens, they were preparing for the last war.  There were decontamination showers and air purification systems in case they got gassed. Sadly, they were no match for the blitzkrieg,. They surrendered without firing a shot.  Since this part of France had been part of Germany in the past, the men were conscripted into the German Army and sent to the Russian front where 40% died.  On a lighter note, in the kitchen were 3 huge pressure cookers - Dean has found his new Instant Pot!
Dinner with some new friends who seem to enjoy (?) my urology stories.

Dean with his new Instant Pot
(Actually a pressure cooker in the kitchen on the Maginot Line)

Cathedral Strasbourg

Operating Room Maginot Line

Astronomical Clock Cathedral Strasbourg

Altar Cathedral Strasbourg

Operating Room Maginot Line

Decontamination Equipment Maginot Line

Cathedral Strasbourg

Cathedral Strasbourg

Rose Window Cathedral Strasbourg

Entrance to the Bunkers Maginot Line

Interior view of Strasbourg Cathedral

City View Strasbourg

Entrance to Cathedral Strasbourg

Rhine Cruise Tag Vier

Another day of no photos.  Grrr.  I think the internet on the boat is just painfully slow and can’t handle the transfer of photos.  Maybe when we get to a town with an Internet cafe, I’ll have better luck.
The day however was glorious!  Sitting on the top deck of the boat now and it is about 75 degrees and sunny.  Our day was spent in the Black Forest and it was just as beautiful as you can imagine.  Rolling hills, pastures, quaint houses in cozy villages.  We went to an outdoor museum where they have taken old farmhouses and restored them enough so you can get an idea of what life was like back in the day.  Some were from the 1400s and 1500s.  What was weird is that they did not have chimneys.  The kitchens were very smoky and women died of lung cancer at a rate higher than men.  Most of the house was unheated except for the parlor where there was a ceramic stove.  There was a grist mill where the bran was separated from the wheat and was “puked out” of a carved face.  (Photo to follow).  The “traditional” costume of unmarried women includes a ridiculous looking black hat with large red pompoms on it.
Lunch was at a restaurant in a small town with schropfnudlen a kind of spatzel made from potato flour.  Dean says his mother made them.  Look for that on an upcoming Bensen menu.  We then went to a cuckoo clock place where there is a giant clock with bigger than life sized figures in various tableaux.  Inside are hundreds of cuckoo clocks for sale.  A common theme is the wife beating her husband with a rolling pin. (Again photos to follow).  There we feasted on Black Forest Cake and cherry wine.  When I was in high school German, I had to describe Black Forest Cake to the class using only German.  No one knew the word for cherry and I couldn’t draw one of the blackboard that looked liked anything.  So in German, I said George Washington shneiden ein kirsch Baum.  Frau Feinberg, that cake was for you!

Puking out the bran

Giant Cuckoo clock

Typical Black Forest Farm House

Cuckoo Clock Shop

Black Forest Cake

Volkswagen with typical Black Forest hat

Beautiful scene in the Black Forest 

Typical scene on a cuckoo clock
Check out the rolling pin

More rolling pin action 

My New Hat

Rhine Cruise Tag Drei

Today we left Zurich for Basel and the ship.  The countryside is so picturesque - rolling hills, farmland, occasional vineyards and livestock.  It’s all so clean.
Our boat is good sized and they had a light lunch for us (after a big breakfast at the hotel just a few hours before).  We opted for the guided tour of Basel which was very interesting and entertaining and far better than sitting on the boat waiting for our stateroom to be ready.  The city is a mishmash of buildings from medieval times to the present, bisected by the Rhine.  The Cathedral is huge with lovely tiled roofs and spires.  The town’s medical school is focused on cardiac surgery.  The major industries are pharmaceuticals.
Tonight will be our first meal on board.  Tomorrow we go to the Black Forest.

City Hall Basel

Window Detail Basel

Cathedral Basel

Water sculptures

Sculpture with tongue sticking out

Cathedral Basel

Roof Tiles Cathedral Basel

City Hall Basel

Street Sculpture Basel

Rhine Cruise Tag Zwei

Today we toured Zurich - thanks to our handy Rick Steves Guidebook.  we bought a Zurich Pass which gives you unlimited train, tram, boat travel and admissions to most museums.  Definitely the way to go,  We took the train from the airport to the downtown train station.  Then to the Swiss Museum where we were immersed in Swiss history from prehistoric times to the present.  They had great exhibits with some amazing use of current technology.  You could access everything in English by pressing E on the display.  As per usual, I found some bizarre ecclesiastical art.
Then it was down the Bahnhofstrasse (the Rodeo Drive of Zurich).  Sadly the Police Station with it’s art work was closed.  😕 We went along the river to the highest overlook and to several churches.  Due to Zwingli and his Protestant Reformation, the churches have lost all their statues, relics, etc.  This is definitely not Spain.  We took a 1.5 hour boat ride on Lake Zurich.  Did I mention the weather was gorgeous?  There is a lot of money here.  The lake shore homes look like Bainbridge Island and I am sure they are every bit as expensive.  On the way back, we stopped at Sprungli for macarons and had dinner at Restaurant Zur Knopf which was recommended by Jeremy Katz, one of our anesthesiologists.  It was wonderful. I had weiswurst and roti and Dean had Wienerschnitzel.  Dessert was apple fritters.  The ceiling in the restaurant is decorated with frescoes.  On the way home,  we stopped in a knife store and got a screaming deal on Henkels knives.  The chef in the family is very happy.
Tomorrow on to the boat.  

Restaurant ceiling

Zwingli, the Pope and Martin Luther
No one is happy

Wiesswurst and Roti

..

More bizarre ecclesiastical art 

Maccarrons at Sprungli 

Heidi Anime. 

Train Station

Rhine Cruise Tag Eins

Here we are in Zurich to start our river cruise of the Rhine.  Travel has been pretty easy - SEA to CDG then to Zurich.  Watched 2 movies: Yesterday which is a delightful fantasy of a failed British rock singer who gets into an accident during a cosmic ripple and he is the only one on earth who remembers the Beatles.  The other was Colette, a biopic of the author on whom I confess I knew very little.  Now I know too much.  Great acting but she was weird.
Speaking of weird, there are no customs or immigration when you arrive in Switzerland.  Just pick up your luggage and go.  Very civilized.
After a much needed shower, it's off to dinner at the hotel and an early bedtime.

Mexican Adventure Day 2

Gorgeous day in a beautiful city. Early morning walk around both the grande and chica plazas with lots of other walkers and joggers. After a fantastic hotel breakfast (mine was a sandwich on one o their fantastic baguettes) we went to the market.  It would put Pike Street Market to shame with stall after stall of beautifully presented produce. There were local indigenous women as well as more traditional farmers. Then off to the crafts people in Onces Patios as well as numerous other shops.  We stopped for a Frappuccino at a local cafe and a snack later of very salty cheese. There is a wonderful little museum where we were escorted by a docent who was telling us all about the exhibits- in Spanish. Got about 10% of what she said.  Tonight was Tarascan soup made with beans, tomatoes, chiles, with tortilla strips, cheese and crema on top. I had huchapos which are a kind of a sweet corn tamale.

Love the feel of this place!

                                              Tarascan soup

Frappuccino 

Mexican Adventure Day 1

We made it!   Took a 5 hour bus ride to Morelia.  The terrain looks like El Paso at first, but then morphs into Eastern Washington. Lots of mountains and even some pine trees. Saw a few vineyards. Morelia is a big city and the bus station is huge. There are 3 terminals.  Luckily my Spanish was good enough to get us to the right terminal to buy tickets to Patzcuaro. Another 1.5 hours on a bus watching a hilarious Mexican movie about a bride ditched at the altar.
Got to our hotel which is lovely, right on the main square.  Had a cheese plate and wine, walked around a little then had a fabulous street food dinner of grilled chicken, veggies and tortillas smothered in red sauce. Have met such nice people. Georgia bought a pair of shoes with Frieda Kahlo on them.