Tuesday

Our Trip to Europe

Our 40th wedding anniversary was June 2. To celebrate this milestone we took a river cruise through Europe on the Rhine River. It was magical. I will never forget the wonderful memories we made and the incredible sites we saw during this trip.

Day 1: Basel Switzerland
We took a leisurely walk through the streets of Basel. Basel is modern and history-rich. The buildings reflect the splendor of the Gothic, Renaissance and baroque traditions and the city blends the traditions of Switzerland, Germany and France since it sits on the Rhine River where these three countries meet.

Day 2: Breisach, Germany
Breisach dates back to the 11th century and has been devastated twice; once during the French Revolutionary War and again during World War II. Some old buildings still remain the rest were rebuilt to resemble the medieval structures that survived.

The Black Forest
The region is associated with the Grimm Brothers fairy tales since their inspiration came from this area. The area has romantic castles, farmhouses unchanged for centuries, and dark mist-filled woods associated with Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Snow White. The Black Forest is also associated with cuckoo clocks and Black Forest cake. We enjoyed watching a demo from a chef making the delicious cake.

Colmar, France
Colmar is in the Alsace region of France. The city was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1940 and then returned to France after the battle of the Colmar Pocket in 1945. This is where the war hero Audie Murphy single-handedly held off the Nazi forces until help arrived. There is a movie about it called "To Hell and Back".  After a solemn tour of the area once devastated by the Nazis, a tour of the gorgeous region shows a town rebuilt. The region is known for great wines and picturesque buildings that date back to the 13th century.

Day 3: Strasbourg, France
Strasbourg blends German and French influences in its charming architecture. There's an amazing cathedral with a magnificent astronomical clock that has a mechanism that dates back to 1842. The city has many amazing shops and restaurants as well as museums.



We stopped at a French bakery and picked up some sweets before heading over to the Strasbourg Modern Art Museum.

At the Modern Art Museum we were thrilled to see masterpieces from Kandinsky, Renoir, Picasso and there was an original writing from Edgar Allan Poe.


Day 4: Heidelberg and Rudesheim, Germany

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