Amsterdam, canals and carnal....

Isn't Amsterdam fun?
So many canals on our last day on the APT tour of the Rhine etc.
A quick tour of canals plus a brief look at the famous Red Light District. Interesting. Really interesting 'coffee shops' selling some strange smelling plant/weed. Holland is big on plants like tulips and some weed.

Farewell dinner and one of us finally got close to the captain, the youngest person on the boat. It was a sad goodbye to some great new friends.



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Cologne ( eau de)

On Friday we were in Cologne and saw the amazing cathedral of Cologne which took hundreds of years to complete. Gorgeous stained glass windows, some from Middle Ages, then some from 18h century and then the last modern window.
Also tried Kolsch, their famous beer which we both enjoyed.
Included photo of an archeological dig of very old stuff. And also a photo of a towel animal. ( the cleaning staff do animals with the clean towels each day. Boring job cleaning)

Cologne also famous for its perfume from the middle ages.

Rudesheim

On Thursday we cruised to Rudesheim, our first city on the Rhine, famous for its vineyards. We were forced to do wine tasting in the vineyards themselves. ( vineyards in these towns are all built on sides of hills to take advantage of sun, making them all quite steep). We had to walk up a steep path before we could taste our first wine and then another hill and another etc to receive our final taste. It was a very warm day and we definitely needed a drink. The wine was probably OK. Also a cable car ride to the top of another hill was without incident. A few wines must help. A specialty of the town is a coffee made with brandy and enormous amounts of cream. See photo.

We then proceeded to Koblenz and on the way down the Rhine passed lots of old castles which are mainly still in use as hotels and youth hostels. Lots of photos.

After dinner we were able to leave our boat to watch the soccer match, Italy versus Germany, with the locals. Turns out, locals are scary, particularly if their team is losing. We were not allowed into an open air screening due to fear of bad stuff happening. We eventually found a Cuban pub to watch the Italians beat the Germans (with our English and New Zealander friends).

Wertheim

On Wednesday we continued on the Main river to Wertheim, a small picturesque town with Germany's 2nd largest castle ruin.


Germany has an interesting history which it does not attempt to hide. See photos of witch's house and Jewish memorials on the road. Also photo of town's skinniest house. Anything to get a frontage on the market place.




There was a free glass of wine if you made it to the castle at the top of the hill. One of us practically sprinted to the castle and we both were able to enjoy a glass.

See the photo of the outside loo on the side of the castle wall. That looked scary.

We also did a major climb up the over 200 steps to the top of the castle's tower. Spectacular views as we were very high. A scene ensued: think ferris wheel story. We were both hysterical, one of us with laughter.