The 41-mile (65km) section of the Rhine River known as the Rhine Gorge was named a UNESCO World Heritage site for its castles, historic views and vineyards. This dramatic stretch of waterway has 40 castles, among the greatest concentration in the world, and was featured in The Learning Channel’s Great Castles of Europe Rhine Castles…
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Rudesheim, Germany
Rudesheim am Rhein has been a German winemaking town for a thousand years, and today is known especially for its high-quality Reislings. After touring Heidelberg, Germany, we arrived in Rudesheim that evening and enjoyed a post-dinner wine tasting. The following morning, we walked up through the vineyards to enjoy the views to the Rhine River…
Heidelberg, Germany
The city of Heidelberg lies along the Neckar River in southwest Germany beneath the expansive and scenic ruins of Heidelberg castle. The city also is the home of Germany’s oldest university, founded in 1386, and one of the oldest surviving universities in the world. The philosphors and university professors were fond of walking a path…
Strasbourg, France
The spectacular cathedral in Strasbourg, France is considered one of the best examples of Gothic architecture in the world. The outside of the huge structure is covered with incredibly complex and ornate sculptures, adding to the splendour. Strasbourg also is known for being the home of several European institutions, including the the headquarters of the…
Windshield Wiper Replacement
On investigating a windshield wiper problem a few weeks back, the wiper arm literally fell apart in our hands due to corrosion. So we needed four new Exalto EX2108 adjustable length pantograph wiper arms. We searched on-line but all the listings we found were up over $200. Paying $800 to replace 4 wiper arms just…
Colmar, France
On the second day of our Rhine River cruise, we visited beautiful Colmar in France’s Alsace region. The city is full of centuries-old half-timbered buildings lining winding cobblestone lanes. And when we were there, the Christmas markets were in full swing with holiday decorations everywhere. Colmar also is notable for being the hometown of Frederic-Auguste…
Samsung QN55Q70RA
When we ordered Dirona back in 2009, we replaced the standard port-side settee with a custom TV lift sized to handle a 46-inch flat-screen. And during commissioning in Seattle, we installed a Samsung LN46B750 46-inch TV, which was reasonably state-of-the-art at the time. While we’ve had some troubles with the TV lift, the Samsung TV…
Basel, Switzerland
In late December we flew to Basel, Switzerland to embark on a week-long Rhine River cruise back to Amsterdam. Lying just south of the Rhine River border between France and Germany, Basel is the second-largest economic center in the country and the third-highest in population. We arrived mid-morning for a 10pm ship departure and spent…
2019 Summary
For us, 2019 was the “Year of the Canal”. We spent much of the year cruising the Baltic Sea, and passed through an incredible 98 locks while transiting several major and minor canal systems, including the Kiel Canal across Germany, the Saimaa Canal through Russia to Finland’s Great Lake Saimaa system, and the Gota and…
Return to US
Following METS, we spent a relatively quiet week in Amsterdam, completing a few boat projects and hosting some visitors. In early December, we returned to the US for a couple of weeks where James spent a week at the AWS re:Invent conference in Las Vegas and a couple of days at the AWS data centers…
