Rudesheim was the last small town that the Ramblers visited on this cruise. Our last stop before Amsterdam was Koln, (Cologne) where we had stopped several times in the past. Thus we didn’t sign up for any tours. However we were suprised to find that the Princess docked in downtown Koln, as on our previous visits, our ship had docked outside the town and the cruisers had to be bussed to the historic center for touring and shopping. However, we were in walking distance of the historic district as we could see the twin towers of the cathedral from the dock. It holds a golden casket with the remains of the Three Kings, Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, according to local beliefs.
This time we would only be in Koln for the morning so many of the people onboard opted for one of the two walking tours of Koln. Sadly, the senior Rambler was having trouble walking and a three hour tour was not in the cards even with the gentle walkers. But we did disembark from the Princess after all. The senior Rambler wanted to find an ATM as he was out of Euros and we woud likely need some before the end of the trip. We also wanted to stroll along the Rhine a bit, as it would probably be our last chance to do so.
The purser showed us the location of the nearest ATM, it was almost visible from the Princess and not very far for an average walker. After some deliberation, the Ramblers felt it was doable and so we set out, slowly and carefully. It was a beautiful day, not too warm but sunny; a good day to take a stroll in Koln. We did find the ATM and even better, made it back to the Princess before she sailed for Amsterdam.
Along the way we reminisced about our first experience of the Rhine on a K&D day cruise some 25 years ago. The Rambler had an chance to spend 5 weeks in Metz FR teaching history in a study abroad program and she talked the senior Rambler into going along. Actually he had no choice whatsoever tho he didn’t realize it.
During the five weeks, both faculty and students had the weekends free to travel as they chose. In those days, the rail pass that came along with the program allowed travel from one end of Europe to another, for betweem 7 and 14 days, I don’t rememberf exactly. It was amazing to see how far some of my students actually went on a weekend thru careful planning. The Ramblers also took advantage of this opportunity and cruised the Rhine on the K & D line one week-end, and spent another in Salzburg. To get there we had a long overnight on the train but stayed in a 15th century Inn as a reward.
Much too soon,the Ramblers had to put their memories aside as it was time to board the Princess for the last days cruising on our way to Amsterdam. It was also the evening of the Gala Captain’s Farewell Reception and dinner. Although the food on the Princess was consistently excellent they really outdid themselve for this final meal. The Ramblers had a window table and we enjoyed watching the variety of boats that we passed until dark during out leisurely and delicious meal.
For some reason. when the Ramblers woke up the Princess was still cruising along at a good clip. Evidently there had some hold-ups at the locks during the night, as our ship should already have docked in Amsterdam yet we were still motoring along. Finally the Princess drew close to the mouth of the Rhine which meant we were close to our dock.
This time the Princess docked near the train station, which was again another new location for the Ramblers. Dock space for river cruisers is at a premium in Amsterdam, and on Viking owns their docks. Since they also have more ships than any other line, it is not often that they are available to the boats of other companies.
We were actually docked next to another Uniworld ship, tho we were not rafted but in individual slips. We were curious to see it as it was one of the two ships, the A and the B, which Uniworld had totally redone to appeal to a younger crowd. Unfortunately, their marketing strategy didn’t work exactly as they planned and they eventually lifted the age restrictions.
Our beautiful sunny weather reverted to a more typical Dutch rainy day when we woke up the next morning. On the schedule was a tour of the Amsterdam canals and then a visit to the famous Rijksmuseum. The senior Rambler was perfectly happy to stay on board but the Rambler gamely joined the tour group for the canal cruse. The tour company had sent only one boat for our group, it was pouring rain and slippery to board and the boat was absolutely packed to the gills. The Rambler was pretty sure it was filled beyond capacity but there was nothing she could do but hope it didn’t capsize. Obviously it didn’t as I am here to write this blog entry but I’m pretty sure quite a few other passengers were uncomfortable. To make matters worse, the windows all fogged up from the steam coming off a boat load of wet passengers. While is is usually a lot of fun to cruise the Amsterdam canals, the Rambler is pretty sure everyone was glad when this particular cruise was over.
As soon as we disembarked on the pier, we were encouraged to head towards out bus for a tour of the Rijksmusem. The Rambler had enjoyed it before so why not? Well, it too was a disappointment as where do you go on vacation when it is raining? Inside fo course, and so it was that the museum was extremely crowded with people who were waiting out the rain. Oh well, people watching was good!
The Rambler was very glad to get back to the Princess and the senior Rambler just about said “I told you so…” We spent the evening on board as it was time to say good-by to the many friends we had made during the cruise. Our Australian friends would be leaving early the next morning for their very long trip home while the Ramblers had decided to stay a few days in Amsterdam before flying back to Atlanta. Bags packed, we enjoyed our last night aboard, ready to disembark the next morning.