What a busy day. After a cold and rainy morning in Amsterdam, we drove off early to beat the traffic on the German autobahn.
By the way, the world famous autobahn is just a normal, everyday highway/freeway. Well, the part we travelled on anyway.
As much as we tried, we got caught up in a huge traffic jam after a car accident but, good old Giordano took a detour and got us to Cologne just in time. We had about 50 minutes at Cologne and I spent it inside the Cologne cathedral – another magnificent structure. As the time neared 12pm, the priests inside started to usher all tourists out as they were about to perform a service.For our group, it was back on the bus. Everyone seemed to have spent the time getting something to eat but the thought didn’t even cross my mind – I wanted to go inside and see the famous cathedral rather than eat. I’ll never see it again.
From Cologne, it was off to a small town of St Goar where we met our boat for a fantastic Rhine river cruise. Miraculously, the weather cleared and warmed up just in time for our cruise. I sat at a table on the top floor with Jo and Paul and had a most wonderful time – and I didn’t throw up! The whole scenery is breathtakingly beautiful to behold with lots of castles, vineyard terraces growing from the edges of the hills and pretty German houses. I took as many pictures as possible but they can’t do it justice. It was such a nice break from the bus!Our tour ended at a town I can’t pronounce about 1 hour down stream from our starting point. Another small, beautiful town. Unfortunately, it was back on the bus to our next destination. Everyone just wanted to continue on the boat.
We next arrived at Steffi Graff’s home town of Heidelberg. We had a look at the Heidelberg castle from down below but, unfortunately, didn’t get to go up and actually see it up close. I walked Heidelberg’s small, cobblestoned streets and every little lane way/street branching off the main strip had its charm – houses and buildings that just screamed Germany. Taking photos, I was almost late for the bus!
Then, it was off to our hotel for dinner and some rest. I got to sit with an American couple from Tennessee who were also travelling with the wife’s friend from California. Not as chatty as the good ‘ole Aussies and the wife was slightly annoying – whinging about the food. The husband, Dave, and her friend were not fussed about the food; they were willing to try anything new and different.
The only thing that spoilt this day was the bad hay fever that struck me from the time I woke up until now as I type.
