Strasbourg Complimentary Visit

click images to enlarge

Avalon Artistry II
Strasbourg, France

We sailed from Breisach, Germany over night, arriving in Strasbourg around 3 AM.  When we awoke, we were greeted by a beautiful sunrise.

Situated on the border of France and Germany, this city blends the cultures of both countries in a delightful way. As capital of the Alsace region and seat of the Council of Europe and European Parliament, it is, without a doubt, an important city that manages to retain its historic charm.

Due to the early tour, which departed at 8 AM, buffet breakfast was a little earlier.

 Canal Boat Tour

Unlike the day before where we had to be transported by motor coach to the starting point of our tour, we didn't have far to go this day.

The canal boat pulled up a short distance from our ship and we all walked there to board it.   The canal boat tour was followed by a guided walking tour and some free time.


Walking Tour

We visited the monumental red-sandstone Strasbourg Cathedral de Notre-Dame with its ancient murals, stained-glass windows, and fascinating astronomical clock.   It is known as one of the most beautiful gothic cathedrals in Europe.

Another highlight of the tour was the magical LA PETITE FRANCE district, home to half-timbered houses, quaint shops, inviting bistros, and a waterfront promenade.

At the conclusion of the tour, we were transported back to our ship by motor coach.  We returned just in time for lunch.

When we returned, we found the captain and one of the crew members in a small boat working on the ship's hull.   They were always keeping things "ship shape" for us.

Inside the vessel, we'd sanitize our hands and were handed a wet towel, to refresh from the tour, along with a glass of fruit drink.  These were always waiting for us upon arrival.

After lunch we'd depart for our optional tour to the Maginot Line (which we will cover in another post).



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

Strasbourg - Canal Boat Tour

Strasbourg - Walking Tour

Strasbourg - Cathedral

Click on the image to the left for more Blog posts about this trip.

Follow us on Twitter: @ChrisPappinMCC  Pinterest: CruiseWithChris Pappin and Facebook: CruiseWithChris Pappin Cruises Inc

Port Information - Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the capital city of the country known as the Royal Kingdom of the Netherlands. Holland, as many believe the country to be called, is the name of 2 provinces within the Netherlands: North and South Holland.

The seat of the government is located in the Hague, Den Haag in Dutch. The Queen lives in the Hague and every April the biggest celebration of the year takes place on Queens Day. This year, it falls on April 30th. This national holiday honors the birthday of the current Queen Beatrix's mother, Queen Juliana.

Seventeen million people claim the Netherlands as their home while 20 million people in the world speak Dutch, the national language. Dutch is a Germanic language, so you may recognize some of the words and phrases.

Amsterdam is known as the "Venice of the North" due to the web of canals that encircle the city. It is easiest to get around by "tram", bicycle, or on foot. One of our guides told us that it is very costly to own an auto. You have to pay for your parking spot, if you can even get one.

We spent all day Saturday and part of Easter Sunday in Amsterdam. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are links to the first of many photo albums documenting our Tulip Time River Cruise on AMA Waterways Amalegro.

Amsterdam Photo Albums:

AMA-Amalegro
Amalegro - Amsterdam
Amsterdam - Canal & City Tour

The next post will include our Easter Sunday ports of call: Volendam and Edam.

Easter Sunday on Amalegro

After a good night sleep, we awoke Easter Sunday and had breakfast in Amalegro's main Restaurant. The Restaurant featured a full buffet breakfast each morning. Most mornings the buffet breakfast was served from 7:00 AM - 9:00 AM. Early risers could find pastries in the Lounge from 6:00 AM.

The breakfast menu included a large selection of pastries and breads, fruits, scrambled eggs, sausges, bacon, hashbrowns, cheeses, cold cut meats, various breakfast fish dishes, and a featured menu item. Other selections included omlettes made to order and waffles. Of course there were a variety of juices, milk, coffee, and teas to chose from. This isn't the complete menu, but it gives you an idea about the range of choices each morning.

Following breakfast, we met in the reception area for our first excursion. We departed at 8:30 AM by motorcoach for an Amsterdam City Tour followed by a Canal Boat Cruise. Local guides accompanied each group, explaining the sites along the way.

Amsterdam is known as "The Venice of the North". Canals encircle the city center like a spider web. The best way to enjoy the beautiful homes that line the water is by canal boat. The canal tour passes through all of the major canals the encircle the city. In the picture below, I've included one of the popular sites, Anne Frank's House. You'll see a long line waiting to get into the house. You can bypass that line by booking online in advance. Doing so you'll avoid the wait time of 45 minutes or longer to get in.

On a previous visit to Amsterdam, we took the Hop on Hop Off Canal Boat tour. A canal boat tour is a must see when you are in Amsterdam. This was one of the included tours on our river cruise.

At the conclusion of our canal boat tour, the motorcoaches were waiting to return us to the ship which wasn't far away. Everyone was back on board Amalegro by 11:45 AM and we then sailed for Volendam. Since it was a beautiful day, most passengers were on the sundeck watching as we sailed away from Amsterdam.

Lunch was served at 12:30 in the Amalegro Restaurant. Following lunch, at 2:00 PM, there was a mandatory Safety Drill by the Captain. After the drill, our Cruise Director, Bartel Tourny, gave a briefing about the afternoon activities. I'll continue the adventure in my next post.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam, Netherlands was the last port of our 12 Night British Isles / Norwegian Fjords cruise before returning to Harwich, England. It was a rainy day as we arrived in Amsterdam but that didn't dampen our excitement to explore this fabulous city.

Our day began by taking a short walk from our ship to a canal boat owned by the son of one of our traveling companions. Our guide showed us Amsterdam from the best vantage point of all, the canals.

Many people live on their canal boats which were docked along our path. It is an amazing sight to see flowers, lawn chairs, and other items that one might expect in a back yard, on the decks of these small boats. Traveling through the canals we'd see canal boat after boat on display as if in a contest. Of course, we knew better, they were simply homes on water that were decorated so that the inhabitants were comfortable.

Our first stop was at the Willet-Holthuysen Museum where we explored this 17th century mansion that shows how the wealthy lived in Amsterdam canal houses. We had a self-guided tour of the various art collections inside the old mansion. There were beautiful chandeliers, stained glass windows, and crystal on exhibit.

As you can see from this picture, we were able to view the gardens through the stained glass windows. For more pictures inside the museum, see our Amsterdam photo album. After we left the museum, we began the walking portion of our tour. We walked through the Red Light District, which is quite famous. You are not allowed to take photos once you are in the heart of the district. This is the oldest portion of the city.

Continuing our walking tour, we arrived at the Royal Palace on Dam Square. The picture on the right shows the interior of the palace. We've been to many palaces on our cruises, but this was one of the most impressive palaces we've seen. The Crystalline Chandeliers are amongst the most magnificent we've ever seen for example. The detailed marble interior, the massive hallways with towering ceilings, the various artwork and artifacts kept us in awe the entire time. Again, see our photo album for pictures inside the palace. If you have never been to Amsterdam, I'd highly recommend a visit to the Royal Palace.

After finishing our tour of the Royal Palace, we continued our walking tour of Amsterdam to another of the famous attractions, the Floating Flower Market. It was raining as we walked through the various shops in the market. We probably didn't spend as much time there as we would have if the weather were nicer.

We purchased some tulip bulbs to take back home. It is possible to bring the flower bulbs home to the United States as long as they have an inspection certificate on the package. When we arrived back in the U.S., we declared the bulbs, showed them to the customs agent, and had no problems. Unfortunately, we did plant the bulbs but the squirrels dug them up in the winter, so we never did see them bloom.

We walked to one of the nearby canals and once again boarded the canal boat for the final leg of our tour. The Jewel of the Seas was an awesome sight as we approached the pier. We had had a fabulous day in Amsterdam, despite the weather.

In a future article, I'll write about our second visit to Amsterdam where we explored more of this fabulous city. That time we had much more time because we spent two days there before our North Cape cruise. See our Cruise Website if you can't wait to read about it here.

Next up, I'll take you to the land of French Polynesia. The weather here is cold and snowy so I thought it would be fitting to talk about something warm and exotic.

Until then, happy sailing.
Chris