Just Back from the Rhine on Uniworld SS Antoinette!

[acwmom]

We are loving seeing all your photos. So fun to look at and follow you on this wonderful trip. Looks like you have had some really nice weather too. We can hardly wait for our Rhine Cruise in Sept. Thank you so much for the time and work you have done to share with all of us.

 

 

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Our weather couldn't have been any better. I just wish I had done a better job packing! We definitely didn't need the long underwear, and could have used some shorts!

 

Robin

[jpalbny]

Robin, great picture of you two going through the lock! You should print and frame it as a nice memento of the trip.

 

The food on SS Antoinette looks as good as I remember. The mushroom cappuccino sounds very familiar, as does the chocolate extravaganza.

 

Glad you got to the Alsatian villages but bummer about Colmar.

[beesKate]

Robin, what was the latest you arrived at dinner? I know we normally show up when they open the doors (after cocktails), but it's nice to know we have options if we want to linger.

[acwmom]

Robin, what was the latest you arrived at dinner? I know we normally show up when they open the doors (after cocktails), but it's nice to know we have options if we want to linger.

 

 

I'm fairly certain this was the latest we, personally, arrived. I didn't keep track, quite honestly, but I would say 8-8:30? was the latest that people arrived.

 

Robin

 

 

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[acwmom]

The next day, we found ourselves in Strasbourg. The two options for the morning were a walking tour, or canal tour. Since we had the afternoon on our own there, we opted for the canal tour in the morning. Apologies for the quality of pictures, the canal cruise was a glass covered vessel, so there was some discoloration, and reflection

 

Not all of what we saw was "old." One of the first buildings we passed was the EU parliament building

 

 

The beginning of the "loop" around old town

 

 

The Palais des Rohan

 

 

I believe this is in the Petite France area

 

 

The barrage vauban

 

 

And, I think this was a prison, in the past?

 

[acwmom]

For lunch, in Strasbourg, we had two options. Take the bus back to the ship, or stay in town. I would have been happy to stay in town, but my husband wanted to return to the ship, so back we went. Because of the size of the ship, we were unable to dock near the old town. A Tauck ship and Viking longship were in the same general area. They estimated a travel time of 10 minutes. It was consistent at 25 minutes, for each of our four trips. The good news is, they were completing a train station, which should be open any day now, which was a true 10 minutes. This was walking distance to the ship. In addition, the area where we were docked was rather industrial.

 

 

I should also add that, because we were docked in Germany, and went to France for excursions, we were told to travel with our passports the first two days of the cruise. On our late afternoon return from Strasbourg, our bus was stopped by the German police. After about a minute, they were satisfied that we were, indeed, a tour group, and were allowed to pass through.

 

We had a few goals for our independent afternoon time. One, take pictures, two, have a beer outside, and three, climb the tower of the Strasbourg Cathedral.

 

 

 

 

 

[acwmom]

A few more views from the top of the Cathedral:

 

 

 

Then we headed down. Church tower stairs are always so much fun.

 

 

Various pictures from the old town:

 

 

 

[acwmom]

The petite France area:

 

 

Looking the other direction:

 

 

And, yes, there are locks around the old town!

 

 

 

One last view, from water level, before heading back to the ship

 

[acwmom]

Dinner, night 3. Another solid, well prepared, tasty meal.

 

 

 

 

 

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[notamermaid]

That is a very nice meal indeed from the look of the menu. Regional but with "American favourites" and vegetarian options to choose from. And for dessert a well-presented combination of black forest cake slice with ice-cream. :)

 

Did you notice the name on the building "Le Baeckeoffe d'Alsace"? The true mix of the regional German-Alemmanisch with the French that is the Alsatian dialect. Love it! It is also a traditional dish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baeckeoffe

 

Would love to go back to Riquewihr, I have such fond memories of it.

 

notamermaid

[acwmom]

The next day, we arrived in Mannheim. We were docked right next door to a hotel/outdoor restaurant. There didn't appear to be much of anything else within walking distance. We had the choice of a walking tour of Speyer, or a visit to the Vinegar "farm" for vinegar tasting. Both required about a 30 minute bus ride. After reading many reviews, we opted for the vinegar tasting. It turned out to be quite an experience.

 

We were the first of two buses to arrive, which meant our tour was led by the owner-nice!

 

The courtyard area (this is on a very small residential street, in a small village)

 

 

 

 

 

In order to "protect" the vinegar, we had to don these robes. Very Hogwart's like!

 

 

Robin

[acwmom]

We were led down some dark, candle lit steps, into the cellar:

 

 

The Quietvox lights provided some added ambience:

 

 

Not the best picture, but, I like the effect. Each barrel had its own candle. I was scared to death I was going to catch my robe on fire.

 

 

We went through 3-4 separate rooms

 

 

This is the vinegar mother

 

 

Robin

[acwmom]

We next moved into an area where the owner talked about the herbs and spices they also harvested

 

 

 

We were treated to a sample of their mustard with fig...delicious.....some from the cruise purchased in the gift shop

 

Then, there was this-within the mask, is a space for the herbs/spices/vinegar, to help "heal" the body.

 

 

We finished the tour, and moved on to the tasting. The tasting glasses were very unique. They are handblown specifically for the estate. I purchased one.

 

 

The secret is, to drink it a "drop" at a time. In between tastings, we had palate cleansers of bread and sweets, depending on the vinegar

 

[jpalbny]

Then, there was this-within the mask, is a space for the herbs/spices/vinegar, to help "heal" the body.

 

 

What a cool excursion! I'm bummed that we didn't do this excursion on our cruise. It was offered but Chris does not really like the taste of vinegar so she didn't want to go.

 

I like the picture in your robes. Acwdad looks a little bit like Snape in that photo.

 

The picture above looks very much like a plague mask, as worn by doctors during outbreaks in the Middle Ages. The long "nose" held herbs and other aromatics, as you pointed out. This was supposed to purify the air they breathed.

 

This was back in the day when the miasma theory of disease was current, i.e., that putrid air carried disease, and improving the smell was thought to prevent transmission.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_doctor_costume

 

 

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[acwmom]

What a cool excursion! I'm bummed that we didn't do this excursion on our cruise. It was offered but Chris does not really like the taste of vinegar so she didn't want to go.

 

I like the picture in your robes. Acwdad looks a little bit like Snape in that photo.

 

The picture above looks very much like a plague mask, as worn by doctors during outbreaks in the Middle Ages. The long "nose" held herbs and other aromatics, as you pointed out. This was supposed to purify the air they breathed.

 

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That's too bad. There were a few on our tour that weren't psyched about it either. I'll admit, four of the five samples really didn't taste like vinegar.

 

I told my husband I needed some of those masks for my patients-or for me (though I'm pretty immune, at this point). But, I figured I would scare the kids:-)

 

I noticed my husband smelled like vinegar, later that night. Not sure if it was due to being in the cellar, or from the consumption. I ended up buying a bottle of "Angels Kissing the Night," the Cinnamon vinegar, and the Vanilla with bourbon vanilla.

 

Here is the literature we received, in case anyone doing this tour in the future wants to plan ahead, for flavors they may want to purchase:

 

First, the five samples we tried.

 

 

 

And, the full brochure:

 

 

 

 

[papa B me]

This was one of our favorite excursions of the trip. I came really close to not going because I generally don't like vinegar either. But as you said, many didn't taste like vinegar. Would love to go again if I'm ever in the area. We bought quite a bit to take home. Have never been able to find anything even close to this in the states. Great photos!!

[acwmom]

This was one of our favorite excursions of the trip. I came really close to not going because I generally don't like vinegar either. But as you said, many didn't taste like vinegar. Would love to go again if I'm ever in the area. We bought quite a bit to take home. Have never been able to find anything even close to this in the states. Great photos!!

 

I would have bought more, but my husband thought 3 was enough, and figured I wouldn't use it, once we got home:-)

[acwmom]

We returned from the vinegar tasting, and headed to the dining room for a quick lunch, before our afternoon trip to Heidelberg.

 

The dessert selection was great!

 

 

 

We boarded the bus and left for Heidelberg. The trip took about 20 minutes. Our guide, who joined us on the bus, should have been a stand-up comedienne. Very good sense of humor. The weather was perfect for our trip to the castle, and there were no crowds when we were there.

 

 

 

 

[Lois R]

Robin, your pictures are just so awesome:D....and that Vinegar tasting looks like so much fun:D

[acwmom]

More pictures-I highly recommend visiting, if this excursion is offered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[acwmom]

Robin, your pictures are just so awesome:D....and that Vinegar tasting looks like so much fun:D

 

Thanks, Lois.

 

The vinegar tasting was a very unique experience, and I really enjoyed it.

 

I love taking vacation pictures, and, I've found a camera I really like, which does a great job. Now to figure out photoshop, though the weather was so good on this trip, I won't need to alter much, if anything!

 

Robin

[Lois R]

Robin, what is the actual name of the cruise you are reviewing? I mean on the Uniworld Website?

[acwmom]

Robin, what is the actual name of the cruise you are reviewing? I mean on the Uniworld Website?

 

This year, it's Castles Along the Rhine. Next year, it looks like they named the Basel to Amsterdam route the Remarkable Rhine. Since the cruise left on Sunday, that also allowed me to add on my Lucerne trip on the front end, and didn't have to miss as much work.

 

As we cruised past the castles, I think the light from the afternoon sun was better than the morning sun would be, so I'm glad we chose the direction we did. In addition, we sailed into Cologne around 11pm, and sailing past the Cathedral, all lit up at night, was beautiful! OTOH, I'm not sure how they handle the reverse route, with regard to where you overnight around the Rhine Gorge/castles sailing. Boppard was a little too "sleepy" for me, and I would have preferred overnighting in Rudesheim.

 

Robin

[Gourmet Gal]

Nice to see photos of Heidelberg Castle on a sunny day! It was pouring rain when we were there. Also, glad you had a good guide, too. Ours was a dud...one of only two bad tour guides we had on our Uniworld cruise.

[gnome12]

I was also in Heidelberg in the pouring rain. It does put a damper on an excursion.:D