What's For Dinner Avalon Artistry II Cologne

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Enjoying 

Another Great Dinner Onboard

Avalon Artistry II

Every great meal begins with tasty starters. After an enjoyable day sightseeing in Cologne and enjoying the scenery along the Rhine River, it was time for some socialization with our new friends over another special dinner in the main dining room.

Have You Ever Tried Cream of Green Apple Soup? 


We've had many tasty meals on cruises over the last 30+ years. Some of those meals are quite memorable for various reasons - the food, the company, the great wait staff. I think what I'll remember most about the Artistry II dinners and lunches will be the homemade soups. Tonight's Cream of Green Apple Soup was very refreshing.

Chef's Choice

The featured Chef's Choice was the selection we opted for. It was a Chicken Breast Stuffed with Spinach and Mozzarella Cheese. It was served in a Vegetable Sauce with Broccoli and Creamy Potatoes.

Leave Room for Dessert 

Always leave room for dessert. The Creme Brulee was always a favorite as was the Fresh Fruit Plate.

Additional photos can be found on our Rhine & Moselle Shutterfly page

 

Artistry II Dinner - Cologne

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Sailing From Cologne

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All Aboard 

Artistry II 

Sails from Cologne

Onboard lunch was served starting at 12:30 PM with final all aboard at 1 PM.  Shortly after that, the ship sailed from Cologne.

We had the usual buffet lunch in the main dining room with a selection of entrees, soups, and desserts.

Afternoon Activities - Sights Along the Rhine

The Largest Fair on the Rhine is a fair in Düsseldorf, drawing more than 4 million visitors annually. It is one of Germany’s biggest fairs. It took place the third week in July (2015 dates: July 17-26) on the left bank of the Rhine River, in the district Düsseldorf-Oberkassel. The fair features beer and food tents, amusement park rides, vendors, all of which we could see from our vantage point onboard our ship.

Shown here is Alpina Bahn, a transportable classic eight roller-coaster for families. It is possible to operate up to five trains simultaneously. The five trains consist of five cars for four people in two rows.  This was just one of the many sights seen along the Rhine River as we sailed away.

Galley Tour

Besides watching the scenery along the Rhine River, we took a peek inside the ship's kitchen where all the fantastic meals were prepared in a small space.  Go behind the scenes in our article: Avalon Artistry II Galley Tour.

Wheel House Visit

There was also an open house in the wheel house.  Here we were able to see how the ship is operated.  The First Captain was on hand to answer questions.   

It was a very enjoyable afternoon sailing along the Rhine River on our way to our next port of call in The Netherlands.

Additional photos can be found on our Rhine & Moselle Shutterfly page

 

Cologne Sail-away

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Inside a Kinderdijk Windmill

Welcome to Windmill 2

Kinderdijk

Journey with me to South Holland to Kinderdijk, which is situated in a polder in the Alblasserwaard, at the confluence of the Lek and Noord rivers.  Here you can step back in time to the 1740s where you'll find 19 windmills that were built to control the water levels in the area.   Today, these are no longer in use, but they have been preserved and are part of a UNESCO Heritage site.

What Was Life Like in a Windmill

You've probably seen the television commercial where a boy is telling his grandpa how good kids have it these days.   That made me think back to many centuries ago and wonder just what was it like to live in a windmill?

We visited the Kinderdijk during our Rhine & Moselle River Cruise last July and also on our Tulip Time river cruise a few years ago. We dusted off these pictures from the first trip to share them with you.  Click here for more images.

Approaching the windmill, you see signs of life in the shuttered windows - it looks cheerful and very inviting.

Stepping inside the windmill, the first thing you notice is a very small, but functional living space.  A lamp supplements the lighting coming in through the windows.  The room is filled with living essentials. There's a sewing machine, chairs, stove, pots and pans, and a table to name a few things you see.  In fact everything you need is neatly in its place.

A made-up bed is tucked into an alcove in the wall with just enough room for someone to sleep comfortably. Everyone has their private "bedroom" in the walls.

There are no squared corners in this house inside a windmill.   The rounded structure necessitates organizing belongings such that it fits in the small area.   The walls are part of the storage space with boots hanging there for easy access.

It was necessary for the occupants to get access to the top of the windmill, to make repairs for example.   Wooden staircases provide access to the upper stories of the windmill.

This was a working structure primarily with the family accommodations required so that the windmill could be monitored constantly.   The other people in the area depended on these families.    Before the windmills, there were problems with the water level.   Keeping these windmills working was very critical.

We hope you've enjoyed your short visit to this windmill in Kinderdijk. 

Additional photos can be found on our Rhine & Moselle Shutterfly page:

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How to Solve Mystery Photos

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Have you ever been on vacation, seen an interesting building, and decided to take a photo, only to look at it later and wonder ....

What Is This Building?

It's possible that at the time the photo was taken, you might even have known what it was (thanks to your tour guide for example).

But now that you are back home, processing your pictures, you just don't have a clue.

Do you like solving puzzles?

If so, you may become obsessed with finding the answer to what you are looking at.  You'll need to do some searching to find the answer.  Are you ready to give it a try?   We figured this one out - can you?

Start With What You Know

If you are like us, you've put your trip photos into albums by day and / or location.   So you already know where you were when you took this photo.    

Location:  We were in Cologne, Germany the day this photo was taken

Still no help? Look closer at the other photos in the album.  In particular, look at those immediately before and after this image.  In this case there was another mystery building before and a second view of the mystery photo after it.
Not much help, so back to the drawing board.

Any Hints in Photos?  

The photo was taken just before 1 PM so that means we were at lunch and about to sail from Cologne on the Rhine River.  There appears to be writing on the building and a Globus bus in the parking lot.  

Enlarging the photo in an editor, we can make out some letters which appear to end in "astei". Taking a closer look the first letter appears to be "B".  We won't give you the answer just yet in case you want to solve this on your own.   

Solve This Puzzle - Get an OBC on an Avalon River Cruise Booked through Us
 
Go forth and use Google or your favorite search engine to solve this puzzle and tweet us your answer.  We can tell you it is not a bridge (in case that is one of your possible answers).   

Tweet your answer to us by Feb 5th for a chance at the OBC onboard any 2016 or 2017 Avalon Waterways river cruise.   (you can contact us via email if you don't use Twitter)

Additional photos can be found on our Rhine & Moselle Shutterfly page:

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Avalon Artistry II Galley Tour

Chef Takes Us

Behind the Scenes

What does it take to feed the passengers and crew of Avalon Artistry II?

A small galley crew prepares fresh meals from regional menus each day of the cruise.  Each dinner menu consists of appetizers & starters, a main entree, and desserts.  Breakfast and lunches have several choices which are served buffet style.  It is also possible to order from a daily menu of optional choices.

We got the opportunity to go behinds the scenes for a closeup look at the galley.  It's much smaller than galleys on ocean ships, as you might expect.   What it lacks in size is made up by talented chefs and assistants with the desire to make every meal special for their guests.  Click on the image below for a closer look at the galley.
 

Additional photos can be found on our Rhine & Moselle Shutterfly page:

Avalon Artistry II Galley

 

Artistry II - Chef's Dinner

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