"All Inclusive" is an interesting concept - this is our first experience with an all inclusive cruise of any kind. Generally, we don't bother with cruise line offered excursions. We are experienced travelers and accustomed to finding our own way to the places we want to see. In a non-all inclusive environment, adding excursions means the price of your vacation just seems to keep going up. As a result, we've never seen the value of paying someone else to go see something. So what have we learned on our first all inclusive cruise?
First, we learned so much from our local guides -- we had no idea of the back and forth of France and Germany over the past 450+ years - we'd heard about this war and that war but you don't even begin to understand the effect of this much war until you understand how long this went on. All but two of the castles we saw on the Mosel and Rhine were completely destroyed by the armies of Louis 14th (leave no stone unturned) in the late 1600's and early 1700's.
Then there are the Netherlands whose King is connected directly back to France - Napoleonic period - a monarchy had no place in Dutch history until the early 1800's when Napoleon's brother was installed as King. I am sure this is all middle school history to students in Europe, but to a middle aged (ha!) American, this is what you end up learning when tours led by local guides are offered each and every day of your cruise. The places you see have infinitely more significance when they are place in historical context and you begin learning about people and places from the people from these places...
So, what were we seeing? Mainz and Rudesheim - two cities along the Rhine (or Rhein) - both to the north and east of where the Mosel meets the Rhine in Koblenz.
In Mainz, we did a "Tastes of the Rheinhesse Region" tour. Starting in Koblenz, and continuing into Mainz, Rudesheim, and Cologne -- in contrast to the German cities along the Mosel -- most of the cities on the Rhine were essentially destroyed by Allied bombing during WWII. When you consider their location - along a main line of communication (the Rhine) and most containing major rail yards, their importance to Germany's war effort and thus importance on Allied targeting lists is obvious. This meant that most of these cities along the Rhine have been rebuilt since WWII but in many cases, they have been restored to their traditional look using pictures that pre-date WWII.
Our Mainz tour was a complete blast because we were there on one of the most important party days of the year - the start of "Carnival" - the 11th day of the 11th month at 11:11 am. We saw all kinds of people in crazy costumes running around as we walked from AmaLyra through the downtown streets to our tasting location in downtown Mainz.
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| Historical District in Mainz, Germany |
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| Timber on Stone buildings (1400-1600 construction) in Mainz |
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| 11/11 at 11:11 party preparations |
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| Museum honoring the man who invented movable type printing - In Mainz |
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| Costumes Aplenty - but no beads... |
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| Main Church in downtown Mainz |
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| Getting ready for Christmas Market in downtown Mainz |
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Rhinelanders love a party
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| Tastes of the Rheinhesse Region location |
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| Yes - before lunch - good Red wine in Germany |
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| Feasting before lunch |
So after wading through the Carnival crowds back to the ship, we were greeted with warm towels and mulled wine on AmaLyra - I could get used to this kind of service. After a short lunch cruise, we reached Rudesheim - another picturesque town along the middle Rhine region - a place Valerie and I visited when we were stationed in Naples Italy.
Continuing on our wine journey along the Mosel and Rhine, we spent the afternoon tasting wine in the vineyards of a family owned winery (
Adolf Störzel) in the hills above the Rhine. On their web site, they call it a wine ramble - walking through the vineyards with your host - pictured below, providing informative and humorous commentary on wine, the region, and its history. He was truly good and is a "must not miss" if you are in the area. Their wines aren't bad either - we are bringing two bottles home with us
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| Narrating German humor in English |
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| Telling Valerie where to find the Lady's Room |
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| Val and June posing in fall fashion |
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The downtown streets of Rudesheim are quaint and inviting.
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| Beautiful fall grape leaves |
I guess one last thing I learned during our narrated tours along the Rhine and Mosel has to do with Germany's history and its peoples. Specifically, I always thought of Germans as by the book, hard working folks - turns out that people along the rivers Mosel and Rhine - are fun loving people more focused on fun than work - today rather than tomorrow. You can't believe the wine rations provided back in the day (we're talking liters per day) for priests and generally well to do people. Supposedly the wine had less alcohol in it back then, but egads, they were drinking wine instead of water - no wonder they liked to party and enjoyed their lives. We heard the term "Prussians" on several occasions in the towns we visited - guess the Prussians and their habits are what I have always associated with Germans and Germany. Turns out that the river folks were essentially brought into "line" by the Prussians - our guides used this word in the same tone reserved for Louis 14th and his march along the rivers. Germany may be a republic today but her soul is much more complicated and interesting than I had imagined. Like I said, I learned a lot having all inclusive tours that helped me learn local history from local guides.
Tomorrow - Cologne (Koln) and our last day in Germany....
