Category: Trips to Europe
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Old Town Tours in Heidelberg and Strasbourg
In the part of Europe we were in as of August 14, one of the first things tour guides talk about is the percentage of a city that was bombed out in World War II. In much the same way that a guide in Manhattan might mention the average value of homes along a certain road, the…
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Cathedrals and Kolsch in Cologne and Castles on the Rhine
On August 13, we visited our first city in Germany, and the following day we sailed down castle row on the Rhine. To visit the German city of Cologne, we got our first taste of a more extended excursion from our river cruise boat. The boat dropped us off north of Cologne to take fancy double-decker…
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Windmills are awesome and other takeaways from the start of a European River Cruise
On August 12th, our cruise with Viking down the Rhine and its tributaries truly began, and it would last for a week. The week we would spend on the cruise ship would be the first time Laura and I would stay in same place for a week straight since July, so we were eager to…
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Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum and Red Light District – two great things that go great together
On our second day in Amsterdam, we had to move to the Viking boat at the harbor to begin our cruise down the Rhine the next day. We dragged our luggage back down the road toward the harbor by the train station, stored it on the boat, grabbed the free lunch that was offered, and…
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Amsterdam’s Bikes, Boats, and Coffee Shops
Last Monday we moved on to Amsterdam, which was terrific. It was much better than I was expecting, and I was expecting, well, Amsterdam. It is a very fun city, with a lot to do, and with many friendly people, most of whom seem to speak English fluently. The first sign that Amsterdam would…
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In Bruges with Thousands of Our Closest Friends
On Sunday we woke up early to take the train to Bruges. We managed to navigate both the metro by the hotel and the train station, in spite of naming conventions used by both that seemed designed to confuse tourists. For example, our train left from the “Midi” station in Bruselles (their central station), but…
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A day of Bees and Beers in Brussels
On Saturday morning, we woke up fairly early to take the train to the main Paris train station. We thought it would be a good idea to grab a baguette and some coffee for the ride, so I headed to the local bakery, which supposedly opened at 8 am, at a little after 8. Apparently…
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Two days in Paris without kids
A couple of years ago, I won a grant to be used to study the parts of Europe that were centrally responsible for historic European conflict and for European unity today: France, Germany, and the Low Countries in between. The trip for that grant began on August 5th. In order to maintain my marriage, Laura…
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Athenian Monuments, Heat, and Shopping
Our final day of the tour involved a bus tour and a trip to the Acropolis, as well as free time in the city center. We started at the Parliament building, and got there just in time to see the changing of the guard. Amazingly, the Greeks allow people to take pictures with the guards,…