Author: kyotesue

Our drive north on I-5 to Melody’s house always includes a stop at this lovely rest area for a Mattie run

Yes, it has definitely been a while since I last wrote.    Anyone who has followed my blog for any length of time has experienced these periods of silence.  When life gets a bit too complex, I slip away mentally with barely enough energy to deal with the stuff of every day.  Writing slips into the background.  I was brought up short when a distant friend and follower sent me an email asking if everything was OK.  I immediately wrote back to Liz, and let her in on the many happenings of the last three months. I had full intentions of writing a blog that day, and yet here it is, a month later, with nothing written.  

We had a few lovely sunsets to view from our deck at home during June

Somewhere on my desk is a notepad with a synopsis of what I need to write about, but it is lost in the shuffle of airline and cruise itineraries, receipts for water system upgrades, calendar notations for chores that need to be completed, and yes, schedules for some fun times that we slipped into our everyday lives as well.  But there will be time enough to catch up on the past three months since I last wrote after I write about our most recent adventure.

A very long time ago, before COVID changed everything, Mo and I decided to sail with Oceania Cruise Lines on a trip around Scotland and Ireland.  It was in 2019 when we made our first deposit for the cruise, excited that we would be sharing ten days on the Sirena with friends Erin and Mui.  I vaguely remember that they were on a much longer cruise, but the segment around the British Isles was the portion where we would be sailing together.  

For years we have read about our friends’ extensive cruising with Oceania and knew we could trust their recommendation.  We heard about the cruise through Mo’s Alma Mater, Oregon State University when they sent a flyer about this cruise, and we originally booked with the travel service through OSU.  All that changed when COVID shut down cruising, not only for our booked cruise date in 2020 but for the second booking in 2021, which was also canceled.  When it came time to roll our money over one more time for the same cruise in 2022, we had already paid for our RV trip in New York City with Adventure Caravans, and there was no way we could fit a cruise in before that long trip.

Once again, we rolled over the money and booked a cruise with Oceania for 2023.  It wasn’t exactly the same cruise.  It was on a different ship, the Riviera, with a bit of difference in the itinerary, and sadly, Erin and Mui would be somewhere else on an extended cruise during the dates in 2023 so we wouldn’t be sailing with our friends.  

We spent much of June packing and making arrangements for home care, dog care, and dealing with some water issues, but that is another story.

Mattie adores Melody and Robert so we knew she would be in good hands

By the time June 27 rolled around, everything was arranged.  The most important arrangement for the day was delivering Mattie to her home away from home with daughter Melody and husband Robert.  As anyone who follows my Facebook knows, Mattie adores Melody and Robert.  When some previous arrangements for Mattie’s care fell through, we were thrilled and relieved when Melody and Robert agreed to keep her for the two weeks we would be gone.

This isn’t exactly a small request.  Melody and Robert have two very spoiled cats that tolerate Mattie but don’t exactly adore her.  They also don’t have a fenced yard, and keeping the dog would require morning and evening walks, and all the other needs that little dogs have that are not quite the same as living with cats.  In addition, the cats have food down all the time, and Robert’s first comment was, “Well, I guess we will have to figure out the feeding thing”.

Our departure for the cruise was arranged by Oceania, with a flight from Portland, Oregon to Vancouver, British Columbia, and then from Vancouver directly to Dublin, Ireland. We were scheduled to leave Portland on the 28th at the reasonable hour of ten AM.  Our trip north to Portland wasn’t difficult.  We dropped Mattie off with Melody at lunchtime, enjoyed a visit with her, and then continued north to Mo’s brother Dan and wife Chere’s place not far from Portland.  They kindly offered to take us to the airport, keep the car so we didn’t have to pay for parking, and then pick us up when we returned. 

We arrived at their place in the late afternoon, with plenty of time to visit and enjoy a lovely supper that Chere prepared for us.  The guest room was waiting with Chere’s beautiful quilts that I always enjoy and a comfortable bed.  

The morning was easy, with a light breakfast before we traveled to the airport, arriving at 8, about 3 hours before flight time.  Check-in was easy, and everything was smooth as we navigated the security lines and enjoyed a coffee as we waited at the gates for our on-time flight to Vancouver.

Seeing the City of Portland from the air is always a treat

We got a great view of Sauvies Island and the Columbia River where we camped last spring

Once in Vancouver, we had four hours of layover time to deal with passport control and get our boarding passes for British Airways. I had requested assistance before boarding, and in Vancouver wheelchair assistance, and once we were through passport control, we were provided with a ride on a golf cart to the correct terminal for our flight to Dublin. For some reason, we weren’t able to use the phone app for this airline and needed paper boarding passes, even though I had completed all the online check-in procedures.

Our first flight was on a plane with two seats per row which was quite nice

It wasn’t until after we enjoyed a nice lunch in the airport that I noticed with chagrin that our seat selections had been changed and we were no longer seated together.  I went immediately to the gate the second it opened and managed to get our seats changed, but the seats we were assigned together were in the second to the last row of the plane.  Not a good choice if you care about noise on a ten-hour flight.

My interesting clothing choices are so that my heaviest shoes and pants weren’t in my suitcase and I expected to be chilly on the outer islands of Scotland. Mimosas in the Vancouver Airport.

We were both happy that we had enjoyed such a great lunch when the meal service started.  We were informed that there were no other choices except for some kind of vegetarian food which was very strange, and we aren’t new to vegetarian food.  The other two choices of chicken and something else were long gone by the time the food service trolley reached our row.  

I am not a fan of British Airways.  The seat spacing is the tightest I have yet to experience on an airplane, and the seats are hard and very uncomfortable.  We were in a window and center seat and were lucky that the young man from Ireland seated on the aisle in our three-seat row was quite delightful. He talked a bit, but not too much, and was always kind when I had to climb over him to get to the bathrooms.  It was nice that the bathroom was just a row behind us, but that also meant that we had a lot of traffic coming and going past our seats.

The young man and I conversed a bit during the long flight, and I learned he was from Sligo, not far from the hotel where Mo and I stayed when we were in Ireland in 2015.  He told me that it was the first time he had to fly separated from his mum and twin brother who were several rows ahead of us.  At the end of the flight, he asked to hug me and thanked me for being so kind to him and that it had made his flight much easier.  I will always remember his sweet smile, his curly red hair pulled back in a ponytail, and his kind blue eyes.

I did try to sleep, but the cramped seats and lack of legroom were pretty hard to take, and my legs started cramping and jumping about halfway through the flight.  I finally decided to take some of the prescription gabapentin that helps with this problem and dug deeply into my carry-on bag to find the med container I had carefully packed.  What I didn’t know until bedtime on the ship was that in the crowded craziness of the airplane, I somehow managed to lose the little pill container I had so carefully packed.  

Our lovely terrace overlooking the port of Belfast

We arrived in Dublin on time at 8:30 in the morning, Dublin time, and managed to get through immigration/passport control without incident.  I did have my walker with me on this trip, and it was a godsend for getting us past long waiting lines through special gates for those of us with trouble walking.  Not a bad thing.  Oceania had a representative waiting for us at the baggage claim but so many people were having trouble getting their checked baggage that it was a long wait before we got on the bus to Belfast.

Now this seems a bit crazy, but we were flown directly to Dublin, and we had arranged transport with Oceania, which was a godsend since we had to get to the ship port in Belfast to embark the ship. We would then set sail that evening for the next morning’s arrival back in Dublin.  I think this must have had something to do with Dublin lacking a large cruise port, but perhaps Belfast had issues with certain airlines.  We never did figure this out. The drive to Belfast took about 2 hours and I found myself nodding off a few times before we arrived.

Once in Belfast at the cruise terminal, the embarkation process was quick and efficient.  I must say we got on that ship more quickly than we have ever managed to do on a cruise.  Our concierge-level room wasn’t available for another hour, but the regular staterooms had to wait much longer.  We took advantage of the time to enjoy a simple burger for lunch from the Waves Grill and explore the ship a bit.

When we opened the door to our stateroom, we were delighted to find it roomy and comfortable. Our complimentary bottle of chilled champagne was waiting for us on the table. I immediately checked out the bed and was thrilled to discover a perfect mattress with fabulous bedding.  Opening the bathroom door was an even bigger surprise, beautifully redone in the most recent ship upgrade.  The bathroom was bigger than we have ever enjoyed on a ship, and much bigger than most RV bathrooms, with a roomy shower and lots of extra drawers and cupboards.

Mo napped a bit, but I was too excited to sleep, even though I was exhausted.  Supper that evening at the Terrace Cafe dinner buffet opened at 6:30. 

The Riviera is a lovely ship, with just 1200 guests and all the amenities you would expect on a luxury cruise ship.  There were a total of 16 decks, and we were on deck 9, reasonably close to the elevators.  In addition to the traditional Grand Dining Room, there is the Terrace Cafe, serving buffet meals, the Waves Grill for burgers and pizzas, and four wonderful specialty restaurants.  We had reservations scheduled for a night at each specialty restaurant.  Even though the ship is moderately sized based on current cruise ship standards, it has a nightly production show, music in the lounges, and afternoon tea served on deck 15 in the beautiful Horizons Lounge. We had great expectations for this cruise.

After our lovely dinner, we settled into our room and at that point, I discovered that my prescription medications were missing.  It was a bit terrifying, but I realized that I might be able to get replacements the next day at the onboard medical office.  I was so exhausted that with the help of a Benadryl I managed to sleep soundly until morning when we docked in Dublin.

 Gearrannan Blackhouse Village

For me, the next three days that we spent in Scotland were the most exciting part of our cruise.  Mo and I have been to Ireland, and Mo was in Scotland as a young woman, but I had never been there and we had never traveled to Scotland together. This was our first taste of a country with centuries of history plugged into my own genes.  With the introduction of DNA testing, I discovered I have much more Scottish heritage than I do Irish or any other origin.

Once again we were anchored offshore from the port at Stornaway, the largest town of the Outer Hebrides islands of Scotland.  Mo and I departed as soon as tender service allowed because we wanted to visit the town on our own before meeting our tour group on the pier at 2:30 for a tour of “Historic Lewis”, designed to showcase the history and culture of the island of Lewis, the largest and most populated island in the Outer Hebrides chain.  

The Isle of Lewis is shaped by the sea and harsh climate.  Steeped in history, the island has been inhabited for over 6,000 years, with nothing between it and North America.  Although we were to pass near the Standing Stones of Callanash, there was a message in LARGE PRINT in the Currents magazine to be certain that we knew that visiting the stones was not part of our chosen tour.  The tour that visited the stones was sold out before we were allowed to make tour choices, so I was aware that we wouldn’t see them.

We spent a couple of hours in Stornoway, exploring the small side streets, with me attempting to navigate the very narrow sidewalks with the walker.  I was glad I had it, however, since there were a few hills and a lot of walking involved in our explorations.  It was great to have a place to sit when I needed it.

The Neogothic Lews castle rises on land above a beautiful park on one side of the town, but we decided against visiting there and instead decided to spend our time exploring the town.  Stornoway is the center for the manufacture of Harris Tweed and tourism is also important to the economy.   The town was established by Vikings in the 9th century, with the settlement growing slowly around the natural harbor.  The economics of Stornaway is built on traditional industries like fishing, making Harris Tweed, and farming, but currently, it is influenced by tourism and the oil industry.

On the main street closest to the port, we saw an outstanding and very photogenic local landmark, the  Stornaway Town Hall.  The building is important in the history of Stornoway and is an iconic building on one of the most prominent sites in the town.

There were a few shops, and with a short time to explore, we skipped the shops to make an attempt to find the churches, which were highly touted in the city guide.

In this case, I was glad that I had taken the time to download the Google map for the island, and we used it to make an attempt to find the church.  The city maps are often very poorly made, not to scale, and often not oriented in any particular direction.

With a bit of walking, we found the Scottish Episcopal Church, but it was not open for visiting.  We saw tiny gates leading to charming gardens, but no possible way to enter with my walker.  

After walking around several blocks looking for the church entrance, we gave up and continued on toward the much larger Free Church of Scotland in another direction.

There were helpful docents at this church and we were invited to enter and watch a video about the beliefs of the Free Church of Scotland.  It was an interesting visit, and the austere interior reflected the somewhat austere version of Protestantism represented by this denomination.

The kind woman who showed us the church offered to take our photograph and would have spent more time with us, but we needed to be on our way for our tour of the rest of the island.

We met at the pier to board our bus that would lead us on a circular tour of the northern half of the Island.  Our tour guide was a young woman with a lilting Norwegian accent, not quite as funny or charming as our Irish guide had been the previous day.  But as she told of the history of the Outer Hebrides and their Viking past, it made a bit more sense to have a Norwegian guide.  She told us she had recently relocated to the island for good and loved living here.  We enjoyed her stories about her Pentecostal Church of Scotland membership and other church services that she attended, which seemed to be her major social activity on the island.

Our first stop was at the black house village of Gearrannan, steeped in history, in a location of outstanding beauty.  The village’s history only goes back to the early 1900s, and yet it looked much like some of the sets on the Outlander series, set a couple of centuries earlier in the story. 

Since 1989, a local community trust has been painstakingly restoring the once derelict properties and croft (small farm) land to recreate an authentic settlement.

Traditional methods have been used to recreate the dry-stone masonry and thatched roofs of the original croft houses.  A typical “blackhouse” was a long rectangular building forty to fifty feet in length, with an interior width of 10 to 12 feet.  All the corners in the outside walls were rounded, and great care was taken to ensure that the outer walls, which were of undressed stone, had a slight slant to allow the rain to drip off and not seep into the interior. The thatched roof was a fundamental characteristic of the blackhouse and thatching was a family or community activity with the skills passed from generation to generation. 

The small rocky paths that led to vistas of the surrounding landscape and the distant ocean were covered in blooming heather and brilliant green grasses.  It was extremely quiet, even with all the people from the tour milling about.  

As was often the case on our tours on this trip, we were given just 15 minutes of free time to walk around, visit the museum, and peruse the small artists’ shop, where I didn’t have enough time to make a thoughtful purchase.  Another moment that I wish now that I had managed differently because some of the small art pieces would have been good gifts for my daughters.

Yes, I did manage to snag the front seat of the bus for this tour!

Once on the bus again, we traveled a short distance further along the rugged coastline on Loch Carloway, to the exceptionally well-preserved Carloway Broch, a 2,000-year-old circular, dry-stone-built, fortified tower. 

Here we viewed the collapsing stonework which made the interior galleries and stairways visible.  

Several folks from our group climbed the steep narrow stairs to the upper levels of the broch, but neither of us was even slightly inclined to try it.  I had a hard enough time trying to get through the low, narrow doorways to the interior of the ancient building.

The broch was on a high hill with another view of the Loch Carloway, and several farmhouses scattered about the landscape.  

There were sheep, and old stone ruins scattered about as well.

Google image of the Outer Hebrides west of the coast of Mainland Scotland.  

When we left the broch, our circular itinerary took us along the west coast of the Hebrides, pounded by the force of the Atlantic Ocean.  We motored across the moors on our way back to Stornaway.  However, along the way, our guide pointed out the Callanish Standing Stones, barely visible through the bus windows in the distance.

I took a photo but stole the second photo below from the internet to show what we missed.  Throughout the Outer Hebrides, and the Orkney Islands which we would see on the next day, there are numerous ancient sites of standing stones, brochs, and other prehistoric ruins.  

 Photo from the internet of the Callanish Standing Stones

I would love to return to Scotland, but it would require a minimum three-hour ferry ride to get to the island from the mainland, so I am glad we were able to see these islands from the ease of a cruise port.

Once we returned to the ship, we decided that it was a good evening to see if the 24-hour room service was a good option for a relaxing evening in our stateroom.  Our dinner was just OK, in fact, I wrote that it was “ok” in my notes, and never took note of what we ordered.

That evening the Riviera Lounge entertainment was to be a Concert of Movie Themes, performed by the Brilliant String Quartet at 9:30.  We chose instead to stay in our room and relax in preparation for our next day of touring, the third day in a row with a formal tour.

On a different day, I caught the lovely musicians performing in the Grand Bar.

The photo below I took from our veranda at 11 PM as we rounded Cape Wrath on the northwest coast of Scotland.

The city of Frankfurt from Deb’s window seat 

We were on the bus to Zurich by 4AM to catch our flight from Zurich to Frankfurt.  I talked with Deb about this yesterday, and neither one of us remembers much of anything about this part of our day.  No wonder after the previous day of sightseeing that started at 6:30 AM and didn’t end until we were back in our hotel room just after 10.

Deb and I both knew that our plans to do carry-on only for this trip wouldn’t be enough for the trip home and we purchased an inexpensive duffle so that we could pack a bit more of our keepsakes and extra heavy clothing and shoes to check in at the airport.  Not such a worry if a bag is lost in transit if it gets lost on the way home.

What we both remembered was that the Zurich airport was small and easily navigated and the flight to Frankfurt was only an hour long.  Neither of us took photos, no doubt because it was still dark and the skies were still cloudy.

The part of the trip that we both remembered well was the delicious lunch/breakfast that we had at a great restaurant in Frankfurt airport.  Deb loves breakfast and I love pasta, and both of us were delighted with our choices.  We were even more delighted with the cute little robot that delivered our food.  It had such a cute little voice and was so helpful.

When we arrived in Frankfurt, I was met with an assistant who wheeled me along so quickly that Deb had a hard time keeping up as she pushed my walker behind us.  He took us through back hallways and secret elevators to the very front of the immigration and passport control lines.  This was to be our last stop before entering the US so we were required to declare our purchases.

By this time we were actually awake, and the hour or so we spent relaxing with our meal in the restaurant was so welcome.  We knew that the flight from Frankfurt to San Francisco would be long and no doubt uncomfortable.  We flew economy without any extras or premium seats.  

Deb reminiscing a bit as we ate our meal in Frankfurt

Frankfurt disappears as we fly into the clouds over Germany

Although I dated this post on April 9 of this year when we actually flew home, it is obvious that I am writing it long after our actual journey.  As I was posting the stories of our days, Deb read each post and sent texts to me with some of the memories that she had of our trip that didn’t necessarily come up when I was writing from my own perspective.  I thought it would be fun to share some of her thoughts as a way to wrap up the story.

I am going to apologize in advance for the strange formatting that I cannot seem to change no matter how I try.  Google blogger can be a real pain that way.  I copied the text messages from Deb, and don’t want to rewrite them.  The white backgrounds are very strange indeed

Pretty sure this is Greenland

Deb’s thoughts about Speyer:  Such amazing details of the history of Speyer.  Loved it very much and appreciated the history that you were able to include.  I want to read it over and over to see if I can actually absorb and remember the details.  I totally agree that there was something solid and safe about that cathedral

This might be Iceland

Deb had a few more thoughts about our time in Strasbourg:

I can see how tired we both were by Strasbourg.  One of my favorite memories was needing to warm up a bit after crepes, or maybe just before crepes, while we waited for the bus and went back into the cathedral to be greeted by a full-on service with singing and music that brought me to tears. Such richness of tone and invocation. No words for what I felt. Also, my experience when I needed to find a pharmacy to purchase ibuprofen. It was like a dispensary where they asked me which strength I would prefer. Of course, I chose 200 since I already knew how to handle that  And I loved seeing again, the picture of the children, playing in the bubbles at the foot of that massive architecture like it was just another place to hang out.

It was interesting to read this note from Deb because I didn’t remember a thing about the little frail woman and the ambulance, and when I looked at the photo and saw the ambulance in front of the cathedral, I still didn’t remember.  It is amazing to me what we each perceive even when sharing the same moments.  I also had to search through the photos to find the little kids playing in the bubbles in front of the cathedral.

I did take a video of the service that we witnessed when we went back into the cathedral. The priest was chanting and singing the prayers, and I think he was doing so in German, but I am not sure.  Like Deborah, I was so moved by the sound and the echos of his voice throughout the great cathedral.  I am sorry I didn’t write about that the first time around when I wrote about Strasbourg.

Somewhere near Newfoundland?

More thoughts from Deborah about Strasbourg:

Strasbourg was your favorite and yet it was so much in one day that when it came down to it there was so much to try and absorb and take in. Maybe because it was such an internal for you the words can’t express what you truly felt. I liked it when you just said, I’m speechless, and here are the pics. When I texted about complaining in one post I worried I hurt your feelings. That was not my intent and I realized you have an image you want to portray and it’s totally understandable. Maybe though, if you feel overwhelmed by a part of it, let yourself relax and write it from your heart. I know you mostly do that naturally and have a great knack for details that people love. I’m happy to know our story and appreciate the reminders reading it brings up for me 

More on Strasbourg. Mom was so impressed with the shops during our walk toward the Cathedral. The fine clothes in the windows with tailored precision, quality, and elegance. And the charm of French boutiques along the old streets lined with buildings and apartments. Ancient roadways where people have lived and worked and created for so many hundreds of years. It’s also where we were first introduced to the architectural differences of the French and German influence. And where they also reminded us that inside these little streets, you couldn’t use the Cathedral as a marker because it couldn’t be seen above the narrow streets. Of course, my excitement came when we found the Original Fortwenger Gingerbread shop established in that same spot in 1786. We didn’t make it back to that original store but found another one on the other side of the canal.

Deborah had a very different take on German food than I did! 

I love German food! It was so much fun to see all those yummy things but my body just can’t do the bread anymore. The mustard bar was so fun. Who knew there were that many choices? Mom keeps talking about the food not being that exciting. But the chef was a master of soups. I would have been perfectly happy with just that but I still wanted to try the other courses. By the time we got to the German meal, I was too full from the week to really enjoy it all. Small bites make it more difficult to remember the whole meal.

Deborah really loved the Black Forest and added some details about the cows which completely forgot to write about! Here is a photo of a house in the Black Forest where the people live on top of the cows in the winter.

Can’t say why I feel such a pull to the Black Forest, but it’s very strong indeed. I’m so happy you found the story of the Stagg. It was hard to listen and try to make sure I got the pic at just the right time on a fast-moving bus, not knowing exactly when or where it would appear. All those beautiful fields and no cows, hmm. Turns out the cows were inside barns under the houses. They go in at the end of October and are not let out until May 1st. Turns out it’s not so much from the cold, but because of the steep terrain and cows getting stuck or stranded, so they all stay warm and happy together. Well, in separate quarters of course. The pick of the little church along the roadside is another one of my faves, and there were several along the way. I have to go look up the story behind those again.

Yes, not enough time to make any decisions so didn’t get to see the glass 

. But leave without a single souvenir? You had ulterior motives and were saving up for your favorite anticipated destination of Switzerland. Me – Impossible! Surely you know me better than that. It’s not that I didn’t want a cuckoo clock, it was more about picking the right one. Couldn’t do it. And then, where would I put it after spending so much money on it? And I wouldn’t be able to leave it on because of the noise it makes. But leave with nothing, not a chance. I’ve always wanted to make miniature shadow boxes. 

They had a whole wall of them. Joy, joy. Took me forever to figure out which one I was going to take home with me and had to make sure I saw everything else before I chose. Still wish I would have gotten two or four!  

I also managed to pick up more small gifts for the family, including a miniature ornament representing the Christmas pyramid and angel ornaments surrounded by trees and little crystals. I want to go back and do the bike ride in the Black Forest travel along the canyon roads at a slower pace and stop in all the villages along the way. And talk to the people.

Deb’s thoughts on our first day in Lucerne:

What I loved about the paintings (on the bridge) is that they told a story. In fact, our guide told us that the murals on many of the buildings were there to tell people what was inside. Especially helpful in those old times when reading wasn’t taught to everyone. The idea for the murals was developed in 1550 with the first cycle of paintings on the Court Bridge by the City Council or, as they were known at the time, the ecclesiastical and secular authorities. The gables protected them from the elements and told biblical stories to the churchgoers. Council members’ families were invited to sponsor paintings, and the family’s coat of arms would be placed in the bottom corner of the painting. The choice of paintings was strictly from a particular list provided, and they had to be able to afford two paintings, one for each side so it could be viewed coming or going. Our guide gave us much of this info but I found a great place for more of the details and history here https://chapel-bridge.ch/background/chapel-bridge/paintings/

More thoughts from Deborah:

And Mom had mentioned at the beginning of this trip, that meal times were specific schedules and even though they left coffee and cookies out all day, I preferred something less sweet and found some cheese at the gift shop on our first day at the windmills of Kinderdijk for snacking later. Turns out, I was always so full I couldn’t eat it and was worried I would have to leave it behind. Well, all things turned out and our evening meal in Switzerland at our hotel was international. Holland cheese, paired with French cheese from the shop in Strasbourg, chips from the store in Speyer, the crackers, and Pinot were from the little market in the train station across from our hotel as well as the macrons as we headed back to our room. The utensils, well that’s a Deborah save from our flight over to Europe. Dorky but it “served” us well  

Flying over San Francisco.  If you look closely you can see the Golden Gate Bridge on the upper left, and the Bay Bridge is to the right.  

Landing in the San Francisco airport is always a bit exciting as the plane flies low over the water before touching down on the runway.

Thoughts from Deborah about the Pearls of Switzerland:

Our guide for the Pearls of Switzerland was a touch militant.  I think she could have been more personable with a smaller group since it was such a tight schedule.  I think it could have also been one of those situations where your day just doesn’t start right because someone is imposing themselves much too intensely into your space.  Remember how the ferry trip started and she couldn’t even start the narrative because of one of those types of people.  Now that I recall, they were part of a group that our little group of six tried to make sure we didn’t get seated next to at dinner service.  Amelia and Abigail helped to ensure our peaceful and perfect placements. 

We sat with another couple at the fondue dinner from Idaho who had some fascinating stories of a place they owned there and the previous tenants.
I really love that photo of the rain on the bus window in Einsiendeln Mom. I also wasn’t impressed by the Abbey and thought it was a gross misuse of resources.  The studbook very much impressed me and that was my favorite part.  

My favorite taste discovery of the entire trip was the apple-flavored whey milk they served us before dinner.  I can still remember the flavor and wish I could find something like that here. It sounded like the grossest thing ever and I wasn’t not going to try it.  Soooo glad I took that first tentative sip.  I could have skipped the wine for that any day.

We had just one leg left to go before we would arrive home.  First, however, we had to navigate the San Francisco airport.  After visiting both Frankfurt and Amsterdam airports, Deb and I were both truly appalled at the state of the airport in San Francisco.  Sadly, it felt old and worn, and the bathrooms were dirty.  It wasn’t well taken care of, and many shops and restaurants were closed.  Our time there was short and we boarded our short flight from San Francisco to Medford with the sun low in the sky over San Francisco Bay.

The twinkling lights of Medford, Oregon, surrounded by our snowy mountains, welcomed us as we arrived just before dark.  It had been an amazing trip, and we were both exhausted but happy.  

I am so glad that Deborah shared her thoughts with me in text messages so that I could share them here with you.  As you can see, we are close, but we are also very different from each other.  My eldest daughter is an amazing woman, who is absolutely her own woman, and not just a mirror image of mom.  I love that.  How incredible that she took me, took us, on this beautiful journey together. 

Deb and I slept well in our comfy room with the extra comfy beds and had to set an alarm to be sure that we woke in time for our early meeting at the ferry terminal.  This last day of our trip to Europe would be a long one and turned out to be even longer than the predicted 13 hours listed in our tour information guide.  

We met our tour director at the ferry dock just across the street from the train depot and only 2 blocks from our hotel

Deb and I spent a bit of time prior to the cruise trying to decide which extension we should do.  Because neither of us had ever been to Switzerland, and it was a bucket list item, we decided on the post-trip extension.  That wasn’t an inexpensive choice.  When we then tried to decide whether we should the the extra long, extra expensive Pearls of Switzerland tour, there was a bit of hesitation.  All these little extras added to the cost of the cruise can add up very quickly.  I told Deb it looked like a great tour and I would be glad to pay for it.  By the time I got to the website, lo and behold, Deb had already purchased the extension AND the tour!  How in the world to avoid feeling terribly guilty when faced with such a generous daughter?! 

We woke on this last day of our trip to cloudy skies and rain.  With several sunny days behind us, it wasn’t hard to take this in stride.  Our timing for visiting this part of Europe was a bit early in the Spring to expect sunshine.  Even with the rain, we were excited for the day ahead.  Switzerland!  Lakes, Mountains, Cheese Fondue!  I looked forward to this particular part of our trip so much.  

Once we boarded the Lake Lucerne Ferry, the magnificent vista of Mount Pilatus came into view.  Mt  Pilatus is just under 7,000 feet in elevation, although it seems so much higher.  The highest elevation in the Alps is just over 15,000 feet but we were nowhere near that portion of the region.  Still, with all the sharp angles resulting from glaciation, this mountain looming over Lucerne seemed much higher than just 7,000 feet.

As I said previously, we were just a bit early in the season to experience all that the region has to offer.  Our tour description included a cable car ride to Mt Pilatus, however, the mountain doesn’t open until the first of May.  Instead, we would be traveling across the lake and then taking a railway car to the top of Mt Rigi, at an elevation of just under 6,000 feet.  It seemed to me that elevations at this range were low enough to be devoid of snow, but one look at Mt Pilatus eliminated that little bit of fantasy.

People on the ferry spent a lot of time running back and forth taking photos

Once we boarded the ferry and slid out onto the lake, the changing views along the shoreline of Lucerne and of the surrounding mountains were gorgeous.  Settling into a nice table with a great window view we bought a couple of coffees from the concession counter on the ferry. Served with some Swiss chocolate, of course.

The ferry ride was a full hour, and Deb and I also spent a lot of time running from side to side of the boat to get photos.  We also returned to the warm cabin of the boat to warm up as well.  It was a beautiful trip with views unfolding in all directions of the Alps.  The ferry stopped at a couple of ports that were along the lake, and the tour guide pointed out the many celebrity homes that dotted the hills around Lake Lucerne.

There is an aerial cableway in Weggis that leads to the top of Mt Rigi.  

Our destination, however, was the village of Vitznau, where we would board the cog railway.  In 1871, Europe’s first “rack” railway opened, leading from Vitznau to Rigi Kulm.  The ferry would continue to other locations on Lake Lucerne, but Vitznau was our destination.

There were a few modern rail cars departing the depot, but our group was told to wait because we would be boarding one of the special antique railcars for our journey to the top of Mt Rigi. 

It is difficult to describe the steepness of the incline as we moved slowly up the mountain.  The views were spectacular in spite of the overhanging clouds that obscured some of the distant mountains.

We passed summer homes still closed up for the season, and hobby farms with animals turned against the cold wind in the pastures.

We even passed one of the newer railcars on its way back down the mountain.  It was so nice that we were in the bright and cheery red car. 

Rosemarie and Rick chose to spend the day on their own rather than go on the tour, and Deb and I enjoyed a bit of conversation with shipmates we hadn’t met previously.  They were from a part of Idaho that Deb and I knew well, and the conversation was easy.  However, I don’t remember their names so it wasn’t a connection to remember as some are.

As the railcar climbed higher on the mountain we had hopes that the weather would clear, but instead, it began to snow, and the views of the lake were completely obscured by clouds.

A highlight of the trip to the top of Mt Rigi was the short hike to the viewpoint overlooking Lake Lucerne and the surrounding mountains.

Some folks braved the slippery and snowy hike, but Deb and I stayed closer to the railcar and only walked around enough to get a bit of the feeling of standing on a high mountain in the Swiss Alps.

After only fifteen minutes at the top of the mountain, the bell clanged for us to reboard the car for the trip back down the mountain.  There was a short stop at a station where our guide explained a bit of the tour that we were missing because of the weather.  Later, she passed around a photo of the view that we would have seen if the weather had cooperated.  That one made me laugh a bit.  

We boarded the train once again for another short ride to a restaurant where we would be served lunch, on our own, not included in the tour.  The lunch was ok but forgettable.  I think I had a salad or some soup, and can’t remember which.  It wasn’t terribly expensive, so that was OK.

As I write, and as I look at these photos of our tour guide, I have a funny memory and a strong feeling that I didn’t like her very much.  I have no idea why, and it is probably a good thing that I didn’t write detailed notes as to why, but the feeling is still with me when I look at her photo.  I am sure Deb will be able to remember why we didn’t like her much.

We boarded the train once again after lunch and began the steep descent down the other side of the mountain through the snow.  Our destination this time was a small village where we would board the bus that would take us through the countryside to our next venue on the tour.

As we descended, the snow gave way to rain, heavy at times, and we were happy to be warm and cozy inside the train.  We then transferred to a bus, and the bus driver was an interesting Swiss guy who played the concertina while waiting at the door for us to board the bus.  

Fun little tidbit, it was a brand new very fancy bus and this was her maiden voyage.

I think I would dearly love to travel through Switzerland on a Swiss train

Our next destination was the small Swiss town of Einsiedeln and the beautiful Einsiedeln Abbey.  Nestled into a beautiful valley surrounded by soft green hills, the town and the abbey are a destination well worthy of the long drive.

The views along the route were beautiful, even in the rain.  Lakes, forests, and green meadows are everywhere throughout this part of Switzerland at this time of year.

It was about an hour before we reached the small city of Einsiendeln, surprised to find that the parking lots were nearly full and there were many busses and tours and people everywhere. The rain was coming down hard as we arrived, but it lessened as we got off the bus and started walking toward the Abbey.

The town looked charming from the courtyard of the Abbey

The Einsiedeln Abbey is a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Our Lady of the Hermits.  The abbey has been a major resting point for centuries for Camino pilgrims traveling to Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Spain.  I have three different friends who have recently completed the Camino, an amazing feat.  None of them traveled through Switzerland where the abbey is located.  Looking at the many routes for pilgrims traveling the Camino is interesting.  I didn’t realize there were so many ways to reach the Santiago de Compostela.  

The entrance to the stables at Einsiedeln Abbey

This beautiful monastery, built in the 10th century, is home to the oldest studbook in Europe.  Horses have been bred for almost 1,000 years at Einsiedeln Abbey.  The daily life of the monks is mixed with the horsemen at the abbey.  As early as 1655 the abbey fathers listed each of the products of their breeding, and the first studbook in Europe was born.  The breeding is so meticulous that it can trace back 20 generations.  It is based on three original mares whose lines continue to this day:  Klima, Quarta, and Sella.

As was often the case on some of our tours, our time was limited.  Our guide took us to the entrance of the Abbey, where she was not allowed to enter.  The brilliance of the pink, white, and gold Rococo interior was more than a bit overwhelming.  It was beautiful, but didn’t move me the way that the simpler stone pillars of the Cathedral at Speyer, or the magnificent stained glass windows at the Strasbourg Cathedral moved me.  

Although the abbey was first transformed into a Benedictine monastery in 934CE, it wasn’t until the late 1700s that it was rebuilt and decorated in this complex Rococo style that became popular in Germany during this time period.  There was a strong influence from France where the style originated in Paris in the early 18th century.

The chapel of the cathedral that contains the Black Madonna

The abbey is famous for its Black Madonna, which according to legend was given to the abbey by Abess Hildegard who lived during the 9th century.  This statue was imbued with the ability to perform miracles, but the original statue was replaced with the Black Madonna statue dating from the 15th century.  I find the legends and stories surrounding these Black Madonna statues throughout Europe.  If you are interested in the stories around this Madonna, here is a link.

As I said, our time was limited, and our guide said that we had to make a choice between spending more time in the abbey, walking a bit to the town to have coffee, or exploring the stables.  It wasn’t hard for us to choose the walk to the stables just beyond the abbey.

By this time I was beginning to wear out, and I told Deborah I would take my time walking back toward the bus while she made a fast run down the many stairs to take a look at the town.  Twenty minutes was all that we were allowed before we had to return to the bus.  No way was I going to manage to see all I wanted to see and climb all those stairs in the short time we had to explore.  I was glad that Deb could get some photos of Einsiedeln for us.

The afternoon was lengthening, and it was another half hour or so to the next destination on this extensive tour.  We traveled through the countryside to a lovely small farm to spend some time learning about farming culture in Switzerland.

I am a bit embarrassed to say that I was simply “done”.  I told the guide I would be staying on the bus for this part of the tour.  Now I remember why I disliked her so much.  She was quite short with me and tried to insist that I get off the bus.  Instead, while Deb explored the farm and took photos for us, I rested and laughed when the bus drive stretched out in the seat in front of me and took a nap.

Deb got some great photos of the farm, a small operation with only 20 cows or so, each known and loved and named by the owners of the farm.  Many of the people on the tour were city folk and for them, I am sure that seeing cows milked and learning about milking machines was interesting. 

The baby animals were adorable, though, and I even got off the bus to walk around and take a few photos.  What I found most interesting is that most farms in Switzerland are less than 20 acres, and use organic methods.  In fact, almost all of Switzerland produces 70 percent of its food on these small farms.  As in many things in Switzerland, there are strict rules prohibiting GMOs in the country, and organic farming is supported and encouraged.

When I took this photo of the farmyard, I had no idea what I was seeing in the distance.  Later we learned that the bright turquoise “thing” in the distance is a ski jump.  The four ski jumps on the edge of Einsiedeln are used for summer training, competitions, events, and guided tours.  

The view from the farm of the town of Einsiedeln and the abbey was beautiful.  I cannot imagine a more gorgeous place to have a small farm with sweet-faced cows.  The farmer and his wife were charming people as well, and according to Deborah, were well-educated and friendly and enjoyed sharing their lifestyle with the tourists on the tour.

It was almost 5PM when everyone returned to the bus and we resumed our tour.  It was about half an hour more to the cheese factory where we would experience cheese-making firsthand and then top the day off with a traditional cheese fondue supper.  Milchmanufaktur Einsiedein is a spotlessly clean facility with lovely views of Einsiedeln and the surrounding countryside from the restaurant and a charming shop stocked with many kinds of cheese and souvenirs.  

I was by then so very tired that I tried to stay on the bus once again, not realizing that not only were we going to participate in cheesemaking but this was our dinner spot as well.  My stern and not-so-friendly guide pushed me and said I HAD to get off the bus because I couldn’t stay there alone.  I am glad she was mean and made me get off, especially when I realized this was the dinner location.

We all filed into the elevator or used the stairs to go down to the factory part of the facility and this is when the fun began.  I wish I could remember the name of the man on the left who was the main cheesemaker.  He told us he had only started doing this job a few months ago, but decided that a steady income at the factory was good for his family.  He was charming and fun. 

As the young girls shared different types of cheese with us, he began pouring and stirring the milk and rennet into the huge copper pot and then started stirring with the big paddles.  Later, someone asked if they still made cheese in these big pots and he laughed. When the main cheesemaker asked for volunteers to help, Deb stepped right up to help stir the cheese with the big wire paddles that mixed the milk until curds began to form.

After a time, our cheesemaker said the cheese needed to rest while we were led into the actual cheese room.  First, we had to completely suit up to protect the cheese from introduced bacteria from our clothes and shoes.  I even had to put little baggies on the ends of my walking sticks!  Making cheese is a delicate process that involves good bacteria and introduced bacteria can completely ruin the cheese.

After we saw the cheese room and all the huge wheels of cheese, we returned to the room where we started.  There, as one of the volunteer cheesemakers, Deborah continued her process as an apprentice and had to learn how to pull the metal bar under the cheese and then lift the dripping cheesecloth to the mold where our leader started working the cheese pressing out as much liquid as possible. It was great fun with lots of laughter involved in the process.

Deb said the whey felt like a really nice hand lotion, the best ever

Later, after our dinner, we each got a wheel of cheese similar to the ones we had made, except the ones we had received were made by a group about four weeks prior to our group cheesemaking experience.

Back upstairs we were seated at the long tables with fondue pots arranged so that four people could dip their cubed bread into the hot, melted cheese.  We also were served a salad, with white wine and ice cream for dessert.  The fondue wasn’t particularly fabulous, but the whole experience was great fun and it was a perfect way to end our Pearls of Switzerland tour.

But the day wasn’t yet over.  We had many miles to travel through the darkening twilight back to Lucerne.  Deb and I both tried taking photos of the tiny villages we passed in the darkness with their twinkling lights.  Not much success there, with darkness and a moving bus, but the photos remind us of what those last moments of our long day in Switzerland felt like.

We were accompanied by the gorgeous full moon throughout our last night on Gersemi.  When we woke at dawn, where we were docked in Basel, Switzerland, the full moon was low in the sky over the port.

As usual on any ship, river, or ocean, our bags were placed outside the stateroom door the previous evening and we had only our small carry-ons and my walker to deal with.  We went down to the dining room for our last breakfast before the early disembarkation and reminisced a bit about our trip.

If we hadn’t booked the Lucerne extension, this would have been the end of our trip. Both of us were very glad we still had three days of travel ahead of us.  I was especially excited about seeing Switzerland, with it being a country on my bucket list to visit.

Nancy accompanied us on our bus to Lucerne, turning over the commentary to the local tour guide from Switzerland

I was amazed at the infrastructure of the highways leading out of the city of Basel, with pavement smooth as butter and highly visible signage. The first thrilling moment came as we rounded a curve and the highway widened to open up to a view of the Swiss Alps in the distance.

The countryside was gorgeous, with grassy fields and rolling hills covered with hardwood trees just beginning to bud.  Everything seemed so incredibly fresh and clean.  As an afterthought, this was what impressed me the most about Switzerland.  

The country is spotless, and homes are neat with beautiful, orderly yards and landscapes.  City streets are devoid of garbage and we didn’t see homeless people anywhere in Lucerne while we were there.  As the guide said to us when explaining the many rules and regulations that keep Switzerland so clean and orderly, “We have many rules and we love our rules because it makes our country run well.”  It was dramatically different from our American way of considering the rights of the individual more than the overall good of the community as a whole.  We all laughed when she explained about the rules regarding the day you put out your garbage and the big fines if you do it incorrectly.  I don’t think that one would ever make it in the US.

Our excitement grew as we approached the city streets of Lucerne.  Then as we neared our hotel and got our first glimpse of the skyline of Lucerne along the beautiful Ruess River we were even more enthralled.  It certainly helped that the weather was nearly perfect, with brilliant blue skies and pleasant temperatures.

Our hotel rooms wouldn’t be ready until mid-afternoon, but no matter, we had a two-hour walking tour to keep us entertained for part of that time, and free time in the city until 3PM.  We were led to the hotel where we dropped off our luggage for the day, and then joined the walking tour.

Our hotel was the lovely Continental Park, just a couple of blocks from the river and directly across the street from the train station where there was a plethora of shops and restaurants for whatever we might need for our stay. 

We met in the lobby to begin our tour of the city, and once again I was extremely happy to have the little red walker to help with the two-hour tour.  Throughout the tour, whenever there were stairs to negotiate, my daughter was able to help me get the walker up the stairs, and sometimes a gentleman on the tour would step in and help as well.  Everyone was so very kind.

Here you can see the Water Tower just beyond the wooden Chapel Bridge.  The Water Tower is the monumental landmark of Lucerne and is at least one hundred years older than the wooden bridge.  The Water Tower was already standing when the Chapel Bridge was constructed in the middle of the 14th century.  It was built soon after 1262 under the rule of Bertold von Steinbrunn, the abbot of the Alsatian monastery of Murbach and lord of Lucern.  He wanted to demonstrate his power over his subjects by building the large, unusually shaped massive structure directly in the middle of the Ruess. This is only an educated guess since there are no documented sources about the building of the Water Tower.

We walked along the river, marveling at its incredible clarity, and ogled the beautiful buildings.  Before crossing the river on the Chapel Bridge, we entered the Jesuit church, built in the 17th century with its two onion-domed towers added in 1893.

The Jesuit church with its two domes viewed from the smaller of the two remaining wooden bridges crossing the Ruess, the Spreuer Bridge.  Built in the 13th century, destroyed by a flood in 1566, and then rebuilt, it contains triangular paintings on the interior of the roof of the bridge called “Danse Macbrae”  The Dance of Death.

The interior of the Jesuit church was a complete shock to see after all the dark woods, heavy stone pillars, and dim lighting of the cathedrals that we have visited so far on this trip. 

I have never seen such brilliant pastel colors trimmed in white and gold, inside any church before this one.  It was a theme that would be repeated again in Switzerland. The Baroque exterior gives no hint of the Rococo style of the interior. With all the brightness of the church interior, there seemed to be no need for the brilliant color of stained glass windows and we saw none.

After we left the church we walked across the Spreuer Bridge to the other side of the river.  This world-famous timbered bridge, and the longer Chapel Bridge, are the most photographed sites in Lucerne for good reason. The bridges, two surviving of the original three, served in their early days as a means of crossing the river on foot.  They also served as part of the town’s fortifications.  Later in the morning we also walked across the Chapel Bridge.

The fascinating paintings that adorn the interior roof of the Chapel Bridge were conceived by the chronicler of the town of Lucerne, Renward Cysat, who spent years studying the history of both ancient Switzerland and formulated a concept for the pictorial decoration of the bridge.  

Work on the paintings began in 1611.  In 1726, the town had to appoint a watchman to keep an eye on the bridge and prevent youths from constantly vandalizing the pictures.  Prior to a devastating fire in 1993, 147 of the original  158 panels were still in existence.  110 of them were directly affected by the fire that destroyed the bridge, of which more than two-thirds went up in smoke or were damaged beyond repair.  

All that could be saved from that fire were the two bridgeheads and the Water Tower.  The remainder of the bridge was rebuilt in record time, allowing the opening of the new Chapel Bridge in April 1994.  Eighty-one of the original paintings remain in the Chapel Bridge at the beginning and ending areas of the bridge.

The Chapel Bridge is the main connection between New Town and Old Town Lucerne, and once we crossed the bridge, our guide led us through the historic meandering streets of Old Town.

Deb and I were so impressed with all the beautiful murals on so many of the buildings.  We walked and walked, peering down cobblestone alleyways, and into interesting storefronts.  It is hard to pay attention to the guide as they share so much detailed information about the history of some of the buildings, the dates of construction, and the government at the time that they were built.  No matter what direction we looked there was more to see in Old Town.

The Fritschi Fountain built in 1918 in a Renaissance Style

The Town Hall Clock Tower in Old Town

It was early afternoon when the guide released us to meander on our own, with instructions as to how to return to the hotel by 3PM when our rooms should be ready.  

Deb and I wandered some back roads and found a coffee shop where we enjoyed a coffee before continuing our explorations.

Deborah and I decided to return to a courtyard that we found especially inviting and discovered a charming restaurant with outdoor seating in the sunshine.  Our lunch was a perfect example of Swiss food, with Swiss Cordon Bleu, a specialty of Lucerne, fresh vegetables, perfect fries, and a lovely salad accompanied by an excellent local Rhine wine.  

Our waitress was delightful and we had excellent service even though the restaurant grew busier as we sat at our table.  We were lucky to get a nice outdoor table when we did.  Deb went inside to use the ladies’ room and got some amazing shots of the interior of the restaurant which would be a wonderful place to dine on a rainy day.  Our luncheon was nearly perfect.

As we were eating lunch, a delightful moment reminded us of something we had learned on the bus during our morning journey to Lucerne.  In Switzerland, children begin full-day kindergarten at 5 years old.  They are accompanied by their parents for the first two weeks of school.  After that time, these young children use whatever combination of public transportation is needed to get to their classes, alone and without any parental guidance.  

We saw some of these young children walking through the square by our restaurant taking notes on the historical murals above us, without any parent or teacher anywhere in sight.  It was sobering to think of how fearful parents in the US must be when sending their children off to school.  Most parents don’t allow their kids to walk any distance and the lines of cars with parents picking up their kids after school can stretch for blocks. The difference was astounding.

By the time we finished our lunch, we were ready to begin the trip back across the bridge toward New Town and our hotel.  On the way, however, we lingered at the courtyard near the bridge, enjoying the magnificent views of Mt Pilatus standing watch over the city.

We loved seeing all the fresh vegetables in the market stalls around the square.  It was asparagus season in Switzerland, with restaurants specializing in asparagus dishes.  Especially treasured in Switzerland is the white asparagus seen on the right of the photo above.  

We chose a different walking bridge to return to the other side of the river, affording us a stellar view of the Chapel Bridge and the Watch Tower.l

We were very tired by the time we reached our hotel, and once in our room opened the windows up to an enclosed courtyard.  The room was excellent, with a wonderful bed, and great plumbing.  When traveling like this, it is the small things that really matter!  

We rested for the rest of the afternoon before deciding that we could walk across the street to the train station.  We wanted to find some incidentals to purchase, and perhaps a snack for our evening supper since we had no need for a big meal after our lovely lunch.

The train depot was amazing.  It was filled with shops and markets and most of all Deb and I were amazed at the variety and quality of produce available in the small grocery store. 

The huge selection of many cheeses and fresh breads was incredible.  Cheese, interesting crackers, and macrons were perfect for our evening.

Once settled back into our room, it took a bit of time for us to figure out the colored lights that were over the bed.  Turning them on and off was interesting.  They were charming, but not necessarily something we wanted glowing in the middle of the night.  We needed to be sure to get a good night’s sleep with our next day in Switzerland scheduled to begin very early in the morning and end late at night.