July 13
Today was a good day - but as you'll read below, in the end despite it being another good day, we'll give it "mixed reviews" .....and we'll get to that shortly! We sailed all night and arrived in Starusbourg right around 9am. Wasn't long before we disembarked and headed to the buses for about a 40 minute ride into town. The weather forecast was for temps in the upper 60s and a very slight chance of rain. Clouds in the sky as we left, but looked like - and we were told - it would be a mostly sunny day. We arrived outside the Old Town after passing by the big European government buildings of the European Parliament (governing body for 46 united Euro countries) and the headquarters for the European Council (governing body for 27 more exclusive countries). It's a complicated system with overlapping laws, but they make it work.
We also passed by many, MANY storks sitting atop only the most wealthy homes in the more modern part of the city. They arrive every spring and are here to next and deliver their young. The tradition is if a stork sits on your house and you feed him one sugar cube you will be blessed with a baby boy.....two sugar cubes and you'll have a baby girl soon. We continued on our walk until we came to the Old Town and after just a few side streets we came to the Cathedral. Side note.....I found this of interest, and perhaps it plays into the story of disappointment in a bit, but on the other two occasions I've visited here the Cathedral is the final stop before free time. Regardless....it's a massive structure that took over 100 years to build and is the 6th highest cathedral in all of Europe - it was the highest when it was completed. The detail on the building is just amazing to behold. Once inside we saw the original windows from the 1300's and 1400's (which were moved to the south of France during WWII) and the massive alter. And then we made our way to the Astrological Clock. The last time we were here the clock was under scaffolding, but today we had a clear look as the half hour struck and the pieces of the clock all moved and the bells rang out. As we headed for the door we could tell that it had begun to rain......quite unexpectantly!
So we set out for the rest of the walking tour, traveling through the small, quaint streets lined with the medieval homes of half-timber design. Very interesting. But then came the big disappointment. Anyone who know about visiting Strausbourg - like me - knows there are two very specific highlights. The first, obviously is the Cathedral. The other is "Petite France." It's an area that you round the corner and come upon a small river/large stream with the half-timber homes lining the waterway. You stroll along the path and then cross a bridge to come back into the town streets....and everyone poses for a selfie. I'd shared this highlight with out group, and even in the rain it would be a highlight. BUT....our guide walked us through the streets and came to a stop. He then announced that "this marked the end of the walking tour" and that we had an hour and a half of free time. He pointed out how to get back to the Cathedral, which was our meeting spot, and then said he was going there if anyone wanted to go with him. Then added, "....or if you want to wander around the streets and explore you can...." He concluded by pointing about a block over his shoulder and said, "....some people like to take a picture on a little bridge around the corner there...." and he pointed over his shoulder. And then he left. WAIT, this is THE HIGHLIGHT area....what's happening. Nearly everyone either followed him or took off in different directions. I held our group together and we went in search of the highlighted area. To my surprise we came out at "the end" of the experience, the little bridge. And in the rain, no one was really interested in walking the length of the water-lined neighborhood. Completely missed/botched the experience. When we returned to the ship I found Lucas, our program director and explained what had happened. I told him it WAS a good day, and that anyone who didn't know, they would not have said anything.....but having been there and knowing what to expect it was a disappointment. And he replied, "....so he didn't take you or explain to you about Petite France?" And shook his head, obviously unhappy. Sigh.....
As it was still raining we went in search of a small café to get a pastry and more importantly find a free bathroom, while getting out of the rain. We wandered the quaint streets for about fifteen minutes before we found the ideal little café and got our French pastries, had a bathroom break, and let the rain quit.
It was getting close to meeting time, and of course now the sun came out and we had crystal blue skies. We found our way to the Cathedral easily and were a bit early. Right there on the square was a little shop and I told Kim I was going to look for a minute.....there they were, my "travel socks" that have become a signature purchase for me on all our trips!
Long walk back to the bus and the "good day" came to an end. Like I said at the beginning - it WAS a "good day," not a great day because of the rain and certainly "missing" the one highlight. But we enjoyed our experience. The ship took off shortly after we returned as we settled in for lunch. As we were finishing lunch we began going through the first of ten locks on our way to Basel. Locks are always so interesting. And after we'd cleared the lock there was an "all you can eat" ice cream party in the lounge :)
Dinner tonite was the "Gala Farewell Dinner" even though we have another night on board - go figure. But because everyone was so nicely attired we decided it would be a good night to have our photo taken with our favorite waiter who we've had at nearly every meal since the cruise started. Maurius may very well be the waiter we've had more fun with as a group than any other waiter on any of our many cruises, and if you're reading this you KNOW we've been on "a few" cruises to compare! Every....EVERY meal we have good natured banter back and forth and it's made the cruise soooo much more enjoyable. So tonight when Maurius brough Kim her palate cleaner, the dish wobbled precariously for a moment and Kim purposely overreacted to be joking. SO Maurius played along and purposely wobbled the dish! ONLY....the dish tipped over and spilled on the table cloth and all over Kim's lap. He was horrified for the slightest moment but when our table, including Kim erupted with the loudest and longest belly-laughs of the week he knew it was all good. So when he brought the main course Kim, of course being Kim, had covered herself in napkins which resulted in even more laughter!
Tomorrow we will arrive in Basel and stay overnight. When we first booked the cruise, our travel agent, Nancy Nelson who'd put the group tour together noted that AMA did not offer an excursion up into the Swiss Alps so she called her AMA rep. Found out AMA DOES offer such a tour, but it has to be privately arranged and is dependent on there being enough guests to go. So she put out the word and we quickly filled the quota, so tomorrow a group of about 20 of us will have a private bus to take us to Lake Lucerne. We'll ride a cog train to the top of Mt. Pilatus and then a gondola back down after an hour of enjoying the panoramic sights. We'll have lunch in town and enjoy a short walking tour of the town before bussing back to the ship for the final dinner and night's sleep.
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