Cuckoo Clocks and War Memorials

Our first port was at Breisach, Germany where we took a morning tour up into the mountains to The House of Black Forest Cuckoo Clocks.  As a child I was fascinated with cuckoo clocks, although we never owned one ourselves.  As an adult, I am still impressed by the craftsmanship that goes into each individual clock.

Even the building itself is a giant cuckoo clock!

While I didn't purchase a clock for myself, I did bring home one each of these lovely carved Christmas ornaments for  my daughter and two daughter-in- laws.  After, I got home I wished I had brought home one for myself as well, but I will enjoy seeing them hanging on their Christmas trees each year.

 We took a walk up to the rustic little local St. Oswald's chapel which was first consecrated in 1148.

The Second World War still seems so close and real here as people continue to bring to our attention things like this railroad bridge which was destroyed by the Germans to slow down The Allies in 1945 and since rebuilt.

Thinking of the war, we took a second excursion after returning to the boat for lunch.  We were docked on the German side of the river, but our tour took us across the river to the French side to visit the Colmar WWII Museum and Memorial dedicated to the liberation of the Colmar Pocket. 

Upon leaving the museum grounds we were able to look around the neighboring area of Colmar before heading out to the U.S. Military memorial.

It was sobering as we looked out over this place where battles waged in the bitter cold winter of 1945.  All seems so peaceful now.

While there was no U.S, cemetery close by, there was a French National one across from the site of the memorial.  It was a great disappointment to us that we were not allowed to go and visit it.  We would have liked to pay tribute those fallen allies with whom our fathers had fought alongside

As I mentioned before, evidence of a land scarred by war are all around.  This wall is all that remained of a church that was bombed and left as another memorial to the fallen.

On a lighter note, we kept noticing these large nests perched on top of tall poles or chimneys and learned that they are home to what is known at the Strasbourg Storks.  The storks are considered a symbol for this Alsace area of France. They represent peace, happiness, fertility, birth and rebirth to an area that has been conquered over and over throughout its history. In fact, the region changed hands four times between  pre WW1 and post WW2 as it bounced back and forth between France and  Germany and we could see the influence of both cultures in the names of the streets and towns.

We didn't see any birds, as the nesting season was long over.  However, I did bring home a Strasbourg Stork for my youngest granddaughter, stuffed of course!

 Our final stop on our memorial tour was to see the place where the French remember and honor Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in American history. He was just 19 years old when he received the Medal of Honor for holding off a company of German soldiers single-handedly while he covered the retreat of his men at this very spot in January of 1945.

I am not usually interested in World War history all that much.  However, after spending the afternoon in the Colmar region I found this past Veteran's Day to be more moving than it had been in a long time.  Our men and women in uniform all over the world are truly remarkable heroes.  Until next time.

Adieu!

From Basel to the Boat

On our second day in Basel we had time to take a tour around the historic area before having lunch and boarding our boat. We only had a couple of hours and so we barely scratched the surface, of what there was to see, but we learned a lot in a short period of time. Basel is a very old community. It started out as a Celtic settlement and was first mention as a Roman fortress around 374 AD.  The city straddles the Rhine River at what is the river's farthest navigable point, and both sides are connected by a series of six bridges. It is definitely a mixture of both old and new.

An interesting note is that the majority of public fountains throughout the cities in Switzerland are considered drinkable unless otherwise noted.  Even so, I decided I would pass on the opportunity to try it out.

One of the largest and best known landmarks in the historic city is Basel Minster. Built of red sandstone between 1019-1500, it was originally a Catholic Church. Part of the original construction  collapsed during the Basel Earthquake of 1356 and had to be rebuilt,  It remained a Catholic Cathedral until the Reformation  when the building was stormed, all things Catholic were purged and the building was converted into the Reform Protestant Church in 1529.

The old cloister

.

Behind the church is an area known as the Pfalz, a viewing terrace that allowed us to look out over to the other side of the city.

Our boat was docked just around the bend of this bridge, and after lunch it was time for us to make our way there and check in.

There was one last place to visit before boarding. If you were to look up information on Basel you would learn that one of the things that Basel is known for is that it is the point where the corners of three countries, Germany, France and Switzerland meet. That spot was just a hundred yards from where our ship was docked. Naturally, we had to take a walk to check it out.  I guess you could say we were standing in three places at the same time!

Time to get on board!

Standing on the deck, the boat was long and flat like a barge.

Our room was spacious and full of light from the full sliding window that opened so we could enjoy the sights and sounds of the river. Best of all, we wouldn't have to pack and unpack for a whole week!

A view of the lobby, staircase to the lounge and the library.

When we weren't out seeing the sights we were being fed scrumptious four course meals in this beautiful dining room with views of the river.  

Today we settled in.  Tomorrow we will dock at our first port. Can't wait!

Adieu!