My plan on this cruise was to get my daily exercise in early in the morning by going up onto the Sun Deck of the River boat. Yesterday when I went up at 6 AM it was dark cold and rainy so I made it one time around the track and went back down to my room where I did the best I could with the limited floor space in doing my stretches and calisthenics. Today, based on our expected late arrival into Cologne, I went up on deck at about 6:40, after the sun was up and not only was it not raining, it was also about 70°, so much more pleasant than yesterday. I walked a mile on the track, which equates to 13 times around and just as I finished I was joined by cousin Pete and Nancy, who arrived at 7 AM, which was our agreed time. Having spent the next 40 minutes doing my exercises on the deck, including all of my arm, shoulder back and leg stretches, I felt ready for the day with 3,500 steps in my pocket before breakfast.
It’s now late afternoon and my step count is at about 10,000 and my back is getting a much needed rest back in our cabin on the boat. Viking is our choice of cruise lines and this cabin is a big part why. Their designers have got it precisely right when it comes to to use of space. Given that it’s a river long-boat, as opposed to an ocean ship, the cabin sizes are appropriately smaller. The cabin gradations are more or less similar ranging from a multi-room owner’s suites to more modest cabins with porthole windows. Viking has no interior cabins. There are several suite levels, and several veranda room levels in between. The last river cruise we took (on the Danube) we had a suite, but this time we got a room with a Juliet balcony. It is proving to be just right for an eight day tour. There is just enough of everything from bed size to counter space to TV size and selection to plugs to drawers to closet space to bathroom space. Everything is just big enough including the shower. And everything is comfortable and tasteful. We love traveling on Viking and it feels like nothing goes to waste.
There are only 4 decks if you include the upper sun deck. There is one lounge, one terrace restaurant, one forward viewing deck and one regular restaurant. For 150 passengers, it’s perfect and comfortable.
Today we visited the old town of Cologne and took a walking tour around and about, ending at the Gothic Cologne Cathedral. Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom), dedicated to St. Peter and the Virgin Mary, is one of the world’s tallest and most famous Gothic cathedrals. Construction started in 1248, but wasn’t completed until 1880, over 600 years later, following the original medieval plans. It has twin spires that reach about 157 meters (515 ft), making it one of the tallest churches in the world and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Germany’s most-visited landmark. It houses the Shrine of the Three Kings, a reliquary believed to hold the remains of the Biblical Magi. It survived WWII bombing raids largely intact while the surrounding city was devastated and it’s said that Allied navigators used its towers as a landmark. It’s right in the old city center with lots of hustle and bustle around it.
At that point, cousin Pete and Nancy went their own way while Kim and I took a bike rickshaw to the Imhoff-Schokoladenmuseum (Chocolate Museum) that sits right on the Rhine in Cologne’s old town, very near where the Viking Sigrun was docked. The museum traces the history of chocolate from Mayan/Aztec origins through European trade to modern production. It features a working chocolate factory line you can watch in action and has a “chocolate fountain” where staff dip wafers for tasting. It includes a tropical greenhouse showing cacao trees growing, a gift shop and café selling fresh chocolate on-site.
That was all of Cologne that my back could handle, so it was back to the ship. We have been told the plans for our transfer to the sister ship in Strasbourg on Saturday and it basically left us with a spare day Sunday in Strasbourg. The Viking option to take a bus ride for several hours to Speyer for the day was totally unappealing, so we needed an option. With the help of Claude, I decided to rent a car/driver to take us for the day to Baden-Baden, which is a mere 38 km away from where our new boat will be docked. Baden-Baden, in the Black Forest region of southwestern Germany, has one of Europe’s longest continuous histories as a spa town. The Romans discovered the area’s hot mineral springs and built baths here around the 1st century AD, naming the settlement “Aquae” (later “Aurelia Aquensis” under Emperor Caracalla, who reportedly visited for his own ailments). The town took its name (“Baden” = “baths”) from the Margraves of Baden, who made it their residence starting in the 12th century. The old Baden-Baden castle (Hohenbaden) dates to this era. In the 19th-century golden age Baden-Baden became Europe’s most fashionable spa resort, drawing royalty, aristocrats, and artists like Bismarck, Queen Victoria, Wilhelm I, and writers like Dostoevsky, Turgenev, and Mark Twain, who all visited or stayed there. It earned the nickname “Europe’s summer capital.” The casino (Kurhaus), built in this period, became legendary. In the 20th century the town continued as a wellness and cultural destination, home to the Friedrichsbad (a famous Roman-Irish bath) and the Festspielhaus, one of Europe’s largest opera and concert houses. In 2021, Baden-Baden was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the “Great Spa Towns of Europe.” I got a big enough vehicle that I have invited a nice old pair of Australian school teachers who we have met to join us for the day. Kim has booked lunch at the restaurant at the Altes Schloss (Old Hohenbaden Castle), just above Baden-Baden. It’s located within the ruins of Hohenbaden Old Castle, whose history reaches back to the 12th century, once home to the Margraves of Baden. It’s setting is dramatic as from the tower, on a clear day you can see across the Rhine to the Vosges mountains. It will be a scenic combo of castle ruins, forest views, and a meal or drink with a panorama over Baden-Baden. I like to think we’ve not just filled in, but actually improved the itinerary with this plan. So, after a day in Koblenz tomorrow, Baden-Baden will be on deck.