The Rhine River, Basel to Breisach
I’m behind on my posting now – it’s been very busy, and the Internet connection on the ship is very poor except when everyone else is on bed, and then only from the lounge, not ship-wide as they claim. Anyway, back to Basel for a final 2/3 of a day, then board the ship and sail away…
We had fun with this young fellow at the farmers’ market in the aptly-named Marktplatz. We got several samples of different types of sausages, and walked away with an extremely dense small loaf of bread.
Our main stop was at the Kunstmuseum Basel. We spent a couple of hours there, until the details of all the great art starting blurring, then went back to the Hotel Basel and had the desk call us a taxi.
Our ship was docked off in an industrial area far from public transport. We had hoped to check in and then go for a walk but there wasn’t really anywhere to go. We arrived at about 2:00 pm and didn’t expect our cabin to be ready until 3:00. Our wet weather continues – not constant rain, but frequent rain.
Some of the differences between ocean cruising and river cruising were certainly evident immediately. People arrive a couple at a time, and one crew member takes your luggage into the ship while you go to the reception desk where there’s no lineup to check in. I like it! 🙂
Our cabin is very small, but lovely. We’re on Uniworld’s River Queen, an extremely highly-rated ship. There are no balcony cabins, but our Category 1 had almost floor-to-ceiling windows so viewing of the world gliding by is easy.
We sailed from Basel at about midnight. I woke up at about 2:00 am as we were going though a lock, and went up top to get a few shots. It turns out that I’d have many more opportunities to take night lock shots, though we haven’t been through any during the day yet (the vast majority of our cruising is at night – days are spent in port).
The ship’s navigation charts are broadcast on the TV – very detailed, though the writing (town names and such) is difficult or impossible to see.
For our first day in port, on the French side of the river, there were a couple of tour options included at no extra cost – one to Colmar, the other to a couple of Alsation wine villages, Kaysersberg and Riquewihr. We chose the wine villages. The day started off very wet. This is our ship from the motorcoach.
We had very little time in either of the villages – the Albert Schweitzer Museum in Kaysersberg was a walk-by. Schweitzer(1875-1965) was born here.
I quickly ran out of descriptive words for these villages – the long and complex histories, and the architecture, are fascinating. Kaysersberg is generally considered one of the most beautiful communities on the famous Wine Route.
The Constantine Fountain was built in 1521.
The medieval church in Kayserberg.
The church’s Gothic altar.
Cathy just can’t walk by an attractive bakery 🙂
Kayserberg has been producing wine since the 17th Century.
Two of our people got lost in Kayserberg, so our stop in Riquewihr was a half-hour short than had been planned. Our walking tours are done with the aid of a Quietvox headset, so you can hear everything the guide says even if she is several hundred feet away.
The main surviving fortification at Riquewihr is very impressive. Most of these villages have been extensively damaged in various wars over the centuries – we’re lucky that anything survives.
Photos of windows and doors are taking up much of my memory card space 🙂
We were back at the ship just after 12:30. We had lunch, then walked into Breisach (which is on the German side of the Rhine). To dock at Breisach, we go up a side channel that dead-ends at this weir.
This city was 85% destroyed during World War II, and it’s very impressive that it’s hard to tell in many areas. This is the road up to the St. Stephen’s Cathderal.
St. Stephen’s Cathderal.
These murals in St. Stephen’s have been heavily damaged by both war and poor restoration attempts.
These stones on the north side of the cathedral were from a Roman settlement from 260 A.D.
There were several very interesting cars in Breisach!
Looking down from the cathedral.
Detail from a memorial to the World War II destruction.
The grand view from the cathedral.
This unusual detail sticks out from the main defensive wall on the cathderal hill.
We found a lovely cafe high on the hill and stopped for a local beer, Waldhaus – very nice.
The view from downtown Breisach.
Back at the ship. When there are more ships than docks, they dock side-by-side, and passengers from the outer ships walk through the inner ships. It’s great advertising when the inner ship is really deluxe 🙂
Next stop, Strasbourg…
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