Tour of Christmas Markets on the Rhine, December 7-15, 2023

Viking has almost 100 identical "longships" for river cruises such as the Viking Eir that we were on. They are 440 feet long, 3 stories tall, and carry 190 passengers. They are so long that it is practically impossible to get a picture of the entire ship. Sometimes they are docked beside a mate, and you walk through the neighboring ship to get to the dock. One time that identical companion Viking ship was oriental, with all signs in Kanji.

Viking provided a walking tour of Amsterdam shortly after we arrived. My primary recollection of Amsterdam was bicycles parked everywhere, but no more. Our guide pointed out the bicycle parking lot - underground. The stairs have a track for the bicycle wheels as the bikes are walked up and down to the parking lot.

The central station was one of the more interesting historical buildings. The "clock-tower" on the left shows wind direction, not time - for time, look to the clock tower on the right. Long story about the many crests etc. carved at the base of each tower and above the central windows.

Dordrecht is a seaport, with lots of canals and draw bridges through the town. This is one of the many drawbridges over a small canal.

As a pedestrian only bridge, it has a hill in the center so that it doesn't have to be opened as often. Yes, that is Jenny in the puffy coat near the center of the bridge.

As a very old city, it once had a wall around it. One of the gates to the city has been preserved.

Houses are narrow, since at times they were taxed based on the width at the front. Inside the stairways are narrow, so furnishings are often lifted outside the house and taken through the window. Shutters are common in the lifting path, to protect the windows as the furniture is lifted.

Sometimes the decorations on the houses were outstanding.

The Netherlands is a very flat country, so bicycles are common (not just in Amsterdam). Note this bike equipped for two young passengers who are waiting for the "driver" to return. Note also that it is an electric bike (black battery in the center,few gears), to minimize the effort of the driver.

This was quite close to the fresh-food market. Jenny was surprised to see cactus prickly pears in the market.

And the fresh seafood market, nearby.

On Saturday afternoon, enroute from Dordrecht to Cologne, we were invited to the wheelhouse. The Viking Longships don't have a big wheel in the wheelhouse, but they are steered by a joystick (as they joke, like a videogame). The propulsion is Hybrid... A combination of one to four diesel engines run generators to create the electric power needed to propel the ship (6 propellers run with electric motors) and support the "hotel". In addition there are solar panels, to supplement the generators.

In Cologne the boat docked near the markets and cathedral, so we ventured on our own. As we approached the markets, we found three large wise men.

Followed closely by a shepherd with a couple sheep.

And finally Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus. Interesting but not the traditional creche.

As we got into the primary market, this display caught out eye. The sign reads "Beautiful Old Christmas Decorations from Erzgebirge," an area on the border between Germany and the Czech Republic known for wooden folk art.

Often Christmas markets sell nougat - a confection of nuts and fruit in a whipped sweet (sugar or honey) base. Instead of buying a candy bar, in a market like this it is sold like hunks of cheese.

Would you like a little village - it appears the craftsperson is working behind the display. In addition to food and beverages, at these markets some of the items are imported "junk" but often you find quality local crafts.

This "display" was huge with rotating floors of different types of characters.

Finally, a more traditional creche - outside with metal figures.

This was one of the weekend days of the market, so it was packed!

There was a stage in the area with a pretty talented small band. When they recruited a vocalist, the music was good but all the words were in German.

Finally we reached the cathedral... but the view was blocked by the Christmas market. (We have seen it before, so no big deal).

The market goes into the night, but we wanted to have dinner on the ship, and needed to be on board for the departure from Cologne to Braubach after dinner.

There was an optional tour of the Marksburg Castle, above the town of Brubach. This picture is by Tob1 87, used by permission. We opted for the shore excursion of Koblenz.

This is the shoreline of the Rhine at Koblenz - water is expected to rise to the level of the bronze castings.

Water has already flooded the river walk, at the bottom of these stairs.

An unusual sculpture (about 6 feet tall) in an unusual place (the middle of the sidewalk). I wish I had a person such as Jenny stand beside it for scale.

An unusual building - mixture of old style on the left and totally glass on the right. It is an architect's office.

St. Castor's basilica, the local parish church.

An unusual building - 6 stories in a town where most are 1-3 stories. It stood out, but is not something special.

We returned for lunch on the Viking Eir, then bid farewell. Our luggage is already enroute to the identical Viking Mani, farther upstream.

Reichenstein Castle at Trechtingshausen, also known as Falkenburg,

Strunk, in the town of Lorch

Stahleck Castle, is now a youth Hostel

Schönburg Castle

Oberwesel: Liebfrauenkirche or the Church of Our Lady. And it is also known as the Red Church because of the red stone that was used to construct it, as contrasted to a somewhat similar white church in town.

Finally Sankt Goar where we caught the bus (long ride) to the Viking Mani. The wineries were not photogenic, in the winter, but there were countless small vineyards that seemed to be glued to the side of the hills.

Rather than taking a tour of Speyer, the local German community, we took the shuttle bus into Strasbourg, France. Thankfully the European Union made moving from Germany to France a non-issue.

The street leading to the Cathedral of Notre Dame was decorated consistent with the Christmas Market.

And the Christmas market was in full swing.

Would anyone like a Nutcracker? Ironically I sent this picture to Mark to see what style/size he might like, but when he responded the next Christmas market had no idea what I was talking about!

This is the first time I have seen teddy bears as building decorations.

If you sell chocolate, how do you buy it? In sheets. Lots of sheets.

If you sell cheese, how do you buy it? Well maybe display a cow.

Petite France is the historic center of Strasbourg along the Ill river. It historically spoke the Alsatian dialect of German (at least from 800 to 1681), although today most locals consider themselves French or generic European.

It's name comes from the hospice built at the end of the 15th century, which took in people suffering from what was known as "smallpox", which was actually syphilis. Syphilis was referred to as the "French Disease", so the entire area inherited the name.

There seems to be water everywhere in Petit France. I believe this is a restaurant, and an outstanding example of half timbered homes that were common at the time..

They are also known for their colorful houses, and note more examples of half timbered construction.

I thought the term "half timbered" was because the timber beams "half showed" on the outside, surrounded by masonry walls. I was surprised to learn that the origin of the term was that logs were split in half, with the flat side visible, to double the area each log would support.

And lots of places go to extremes for decorations.

Markos Botzaris square is a water feature (dry for the winter) that honors the hero of the Greek War of Independence. They then used his head to create the Roman God Janus often shown with two faces (past and future). This Janus faces Germany and the rest of the world. Okay, to me it is a real stretch to put the Roman God with the Greek Warrior as a monument in France facing Germany.

The local opera house

Advent calendars often uncover a different picture each of the days before Christmas. This advent calendar is building size with ropes to open the appropriate days.

A different decoration in each window. Most are upside down Christmas trees. Hanging Christmas trees upside-down in the home goes back to the Middle Ages when Europeans employed the act in order to represent the Holy Trinity. The first to do this was Saint Boniface, a Benedictine monk, who used the inverted trees as a theological teaching tool for pagan Germans who worshiped oak trees. The tradition is coming back in Poland.

The large community Christmas tree for Strasbourg.

Gutenberg, inventor of movable type and the printing press, moved from Mainz to Strassburg Germany (now Strasbourg, France), where he was an apprentice goldsmith prior to his printing fame.

Another house that caught my eye... note the tiny windows from the period when glass was an expensive luxury.

Another half timber house, this with the upper floors slightly larger than the lower floors. The floor beams are visible on the upper floors. This put weight of the walls on the ends of the cantilever floor beams, giving extra load bearing capacity to the floor.

Some of the amazing carving at the entrance to the cathedral. When few people could read this was used to teach the bible stories.

Some of the amazing stone carving in the Cathedral

There are only a few antique astrological clocks (Horloge Astronomique) in the world, that show sun and moon position, the seasons, the calendar (including leap year), in addition to the time. This one inside the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Strasbourg was rebuilt in 1842, based on the 14th century original. Note the stairways on the right for the master to get access to the mechanism.

Another that we have seen is located in Prague on the outside of the City Hall. A third is in the Muenster Germany Cathedral, from 1540. Our guide suggested there were only three noteworthy in the world; now we have seen all of them.

When the clock strikes, at the top the 12 apostles circle Christ. At other times the young, middle age, and old circle, including ringing the bell of the skeleton.

This part actually tells the time today, and on cue the chariots circle.

The cathedral also had a unique (to me) Creche. The first scene was the annunciation of the angel to Virgin Mary that she was pregnant with Jesus.

The second scene was when Mary traveled for an extended visit with her cousin Elizabeth who was also pregnant (further along) with John the Baptist.

A couple more steps and you come to the traditional manger scene

And a couple more steps to the wise men presenting their gifts.

We chose to go to the Freiburg Christmas Market and Organ Concert. This red building was the old customs house, and our meeting point. Freiburg is most commonly known as the capital of The Black Forest and is located in one of the most scenic corners of Southern Germany, situated between the borders to Switzerland and France.

The Christmas markets were far less crowded than in previous locations.

Freiburg Minster is the cathedral of Freiburg. It is a remarkably large cathedral in a relatively small town.

Viking arranged a private organ concert. The church has four separate organs, in different parts of the building, all controlled from a single central console.

Most of the sidewalks in Freiburg were artistic and great to walk on.

The streams feeding the river were outside their banks and flowing like a torrent. No wonder our ship became a hotel, and we are going to take a bus (rather than the ship) to the Basel Switzerland airport.