Monday, May 30 -- The Black Forest

And, "Happy Birthday, Gabe !"

Up a bit early as the bus leaves at 8:30 sharp.  While the tours don't feel rushed, they DO run on time!

The breakfast buffet features an omelet station and those wonderfully crunchy Danish pastries, along with hot and cold cereals, fruits, and such.  It's easy to leave feeling that you're well-fortified until lunch.

It was grey and rainy today, with no respite forecasted.  So now I am the proud owner of a way-more-than-competent rain jacket, which has been a missing component for a long while.  Plus one can borrow a monster red Viking umbrella.  Well-protected!

The drive out took us through increasingly agricultural lands, many have been farmed for thousands of years.  The territory was formed millennia ago when the rift that became the Rhine was created.  It's said that the remains of that volcanic activity keep the region a few degrees warmer than expected to this day!

There were two opportunities to hike a bit, and I had thought I'd do the shorter one.  But somehow I stepped off of the bus and into a reality gap of some kind ... despite FOUR BUSSES of people from the ship, I soon didn't see a single familiar face.  Nor could I locate our guide.  So taking the hint, I enjoyed the several presentations of local crafts (cuckoo clock and other timepieces, glassblowing, the required Black Forest cake).  It was pleasant and informative, if a tad eerie.

Everyone was back on the bus right on time, and we enjoyed a different but equally scenic way back to the dock.  These riverbank docks are certainly secure, but you'd have to know what you're looking for ... no fancy terminals or equipment.  Just tie up for a while and then head on out.

One nice topic our guide covered was the gradual restoration of various wild animals into the area.  Between the fall of the "Iron Curtain" and more direct efforts to assist wildlife, critters from salmon to wolves are repopulating old haunts.  Nice!

Back at the boat, I again succumbed to a nap attack.  Again woke up and got some needlework done, and then it was time for the "Captain's Toast." A free glass of Champaign and another chance to applaud for the leadership team.

Off to dinner; tried to connect with a couple whose company I've enjoyed, but that table was full. Sat with a couple from South Africa who were great company, and we received a substantial benefit: a large neighboring table had commissioned a large birthday cake, but it was too much for them in the end.  We were graced with two excess pieces... of a really GOOD cake... and certainly enjoyed them.

Now getting ready for sleep; tomorrow is our day in Strasbourg and another early start.  Practice makes perfect!

Sunday, May 29 -- all aboard!

The transfer to the boat did afford me the chance to press that mysterious button on the way out of the room...as sure as shooting, the "please wait" lit up on the hall side.  Clever, these Swiss!

We seemed to be the first of several busses, a boon to be sure.  My room was ready (reinforcing the virtue of bolting in Amsterdam well before the final bell...someone else can be happy, too!) tho luggage was to be delivered soon.  Tres amuse...as we left the hotel, all luggage was lined up near the door and we were each to to grab ours.  It then went into the belly of the bus and we ascended into the seating.  No crabbing about lost luggage!

The room is quite tight...even in a honeymoon mode, it could be challenging.  Glad to have it all to myself.  But pretty and well-appointed.  There's a set of music channels through the TV.  Last night I opted for "Swiss jazz" and it was pleasant.  Now I'm sampling"Folk" and have gotten Joan Baez and Paul Simon, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Billy Joel,& Jack Johnson, plus a variety of folks new to me.  The acoustic guitar is quite nice.

Rain had settled in, so I was disinclined to trot off to the museum.  Enjoyed a light lunch and got the room organized ... sought out a comfortable place to stitch for a while.  Met up again with a pleasantly left-of-center couple from Portland, OR for dinner.  Nice to have political safety!

I seem to be the only "single" on the boat, but our table for 6 held 5 comfortably.  We were joined by a couple from Silver Spring, MD so we had the country covered from coast to coast.

Dinner was lovely, I enjoyed a goat cheese with apricot confit appetizer, braised flank steak with various vegetables, and a death-by-chocolate dessert.

We realized at dinner that we'd left the dock a half-hour earlier than planned.  We have ELEVEN locks to traverse (and I thought WE had rivers managed!), and with the early departure I was able to watch us descend down the wall of the first one.  The boat has a couple of meters leeway for and aft, but only a few CENTIMETERS port and starboard.  It was a little tense watching us descend so close to the VERY solid stone wall.

But we're heading downstream smoothly again.  Tomorrow we visit the Black Forest!

Saturday, May 28 -- Basel 2

A good night's sleep, hooray!  Getting ready for the complimentary (at least to Viking customers) breakfast buffet.  There are some memorable details here, including this mysterious instruction:

Some more-typical European flourishes...the room key goes in a control slit by the door, which then allows you to turn on lights in the room.  The practical Swiss do not spend time on towel origami, but DO provide a very nice tray of toiletries.  There are doilies protecting the bottom of the trash can!

The plaza by the door has numerous beautiful planters.

Breakfast was a nice mix of European favorites...soft-scrambled or hard-boiled eggs with potatoes, sausage and/or bacon.  A cold buffet of meats and cheeses.  Yogurt parfaits.  A swell bakery table with both fine breads and genuine, crunchy Danish pastries (in miniature!).  A pot of coffee left on the table for refills-at-will.  Very nice way to start the day.

Today's activity was a two-hour walking tour of the older part of town.  Places NOT on the tram route!  We did start out on a tram, though, enjoying the unobstructed view of the Rhine.  After some Swiss history and an informal quiz (biggest export?  Coffee!  Also about the biggest import, therefore; Nestle processes it into various forms and sells to the world), we set off onto some side streets.

The buildings have much to tell about the complex history of this small country wedged between Italy, France and Germany.  Huge doors not only indicate wealth, but remind us that visitors arrived by carriage in those days.

There's also reminders of the ebb and flow of religions and sects, and excavation from the very early Celtic settlers, replaced by

Roman garrisons and then sequential waves of neighbors until the federation of cantons finally wrested its independence -- precipitated by William Tell.  (He had refused to doff his hat to the occupiers, and was required to shoot the apple off of his son's head as punishment.  His tormenter noted that William had TWO arrows, and made the mistake of asking the purpose of the second one.  "It's for YOU," William says, and slays the guy  right there and then...setting off the final rebellion that led to independence.) The cathedral, along with many other vintage structures, was heavily damaged by an earthquake in the 1400's.  When rebuilt, sniper shelters were included in the steeples to protect the archers defending the town.

The old town was fortified at the high point of the river bank.  Looking down today, you can see a current-powered ferry running along a cable from bank to bank. 

A few more turns and we were headed downhill to a commercial area closed to traffic.  There was a fife-and-drum corps heading our way!  The gazebos sheltered all kinds of produce, cheeses, and sausages plus drifts of beautiful cut flowers and bedding plants.  Quite literally Marktplatz!

It was time to go back to the hotel and chill for a bit.  We were fortunate that the overcast sky held off on any rain while we were out.  I caught up on stray communications and succumbed to a nap attack.

Later in the afternoon I strolled down the block to the aptly-named COOP grocery store.  Got a great sandwich, chips and half-brother of wine for dinner (biggest selection of small bottles I've seen in years, and well-priced!).  A few souvenir items, and back home again.

More work completed on the cross-stitched, the sails of the big ship are beginning to take shape.  And now, time to get some rest...tomorrow we transfer to the ship at noon.  It's forecasted to be stormy, so we'll see if a museum visit makes sense.  But we'll be on our way rain or shine.

Friday 5/28/2016 -- Frankfurt and Basel 1

We arrived Frankfurt a few minutes early, after a pleasant breakfast of fruit, cheese, yogurt & granola.  I was grateful as I had only 45 minutes to make my connection to Basel.

The first thing was getting our heart rates up: 32 steep stairs to get up to the concourse level.  They need that ADA here!  There was a rep with connecting gate info, I headed to A50 (A -five-oh, she helpfully reinforced).  Got to watch myself...the word that sprang to my lips was, "gracias!". Oops, wrong country.

Head off to the A concourse...we arrived at a teen gate in the Z concourse, not a good sign.  Finally get there and the access is blocked except for about a dozen Polezei, armed and in body armor, and a couple crew members.  Dozens of us are tapping our toes and thinking...I don't have TIME for this!

Turns out they were all there to open up the immigration lines.  Yep, work passport control into that sliver of time.  The line moved steadily along and eventually I got to my gate and was waved right in.  But...remember it's Frankfurt!  Down a long chute, down another couple dozen stairs, several twists and turns and you arrive at...a BUS.  Gabe & I had the same experience during the Pinball Tour the summer after he graduated.

By now I'm fully sweated up and a little out of breath, happy the cool grey morning air is circulating through the bus.  Surprised, but VERY happy to get tapped on the shoulder by a gendarme ... giving me back my passport.  Must have dropped it somewhere along the way, gotta love that German efficiency.

Finally the bus sets out; we share up-close-and-personal taxiway space with a 747 and feel VERY small.  We drive.  And drive.  And drive.  Finally we pull up by a little puddle-jumper with stairs that fold down from the fuselage.  More stairs...the joy!

"Business class" on this plane means the seat beside mine is "Ihr Freiraum" ... my "free space" ... now THERE's a dandy notion!  I get a second light breakfast...fruit & cheese, and three little donut holes on a bed of whipped cream cheese...very nice.  Almost didn't have time to eat it, flight was only 45 minutes.

Beautiful land under us, fields and forests; lots of rows with frost covers.  The day was overcast, but at a point a giant sunbeam broke through and illuminated a village below.  Magical!

Arriving in Switzerland, we again pass through passport control.  I'm focused on finding baggage claim, but find myself through customs. Oops!  Get coached on how to re-entry the secured area ... but no bag.  Then I hear myself paged, in German and in English, but I can't make out where I am to report to.  Wind up outside AGAIN, get let in AGAIN, to learn that (no surprise here) ... my checked bag would be on the FOLLOWING plane from Frankfurt to Basel.  They'll take it to the hotel.  I fill out papers, drop some to the customs guys so they'll expect it, and set off in search of a taxi.

Another few wrong turns and I'm there...to realize that I have a credit card, American dollars, and Euros in good supply...but not a single Swiss franc.  Oops!  Cabbie is happy to take Euros, so another disaster avoided.

I'm at the hotel by 7:30A.M., so not surprised no room is yet available.  Take over one of two stations comprising the business center, and start an endless loop of failed login with AT&T.  Grrrr.

Meanwhile, the Viking guy is right beside me, so I introduce myself as one of his charges.  Well, he doesn't find my name, but kindly invites me to show up in the morning for the walking tour.  That's better than being shut out, but not satisfying.

More foolishness with AT&T, now I have a number to call to escalate it...but I'm eight hours later than Chicago, and who the heck knows what time THEY'RE on.

Eventually a different Viking guy shows up and I plead my case.  Well, yes indeed I AM on the list (which is in the smallest type I've ever seen) ... yes there are materials and additional outings included.  So glad I asked!

Crashed for an hour or so in the room then went off on the "panoramic" tram to ramble through most of the city, for free.  Hotels here apparently commonly offer the free passes, making it very pleasant and EASY to get around.

That took a long hour, crossed the Rhine twice and got to gawk at a very wide variety of neighborhoods.  Back to the room, finally discover the inside scoop on Wi-Fi.  Bag is delivered.  Adapter, extension cord, and USB connectors all set up and feeding The Devices!

Enjoyed a Wiener Schnitzel dinner with great bread, sweet little new potatoes, white asparagus with Bearnaise sauce and a glass of Sancerre.

Now to get some REAL sleep, on my new time zone, so tomorrow I hope will be more coherent.  Hey hey, it's the weekend!

Thursday 5/27/2016 -- on the road again!

With security screening lines at O'Hare back down to reasonable lengths, I had a little wiggle room in the morning schedule.  Linda arrived to help with the last-minute "to do's" and we set out about 10 for my 2P flight.  A little overkill but worked well for both parties.

I'm now skilled at using the self-check-in kiosks and applying my own bag tag.  Did that and trotted down to the Business Class check-in...to discover that since I had SULLIED my bag with a plebian tag, I had to trot right back and surrender it at the Economy desks.  Really?  Yeah, really.  Then retrace those steps to get to the TSA pre-check line.  It was blessedly short.

My plan was to enjoy the friendly confines of the United Club, as my credit card annual fee brings me a pair of one-time-use passes.  But I rarely travel alone, so I hoped to be able to use an older one.  But ya can't fool a computer... the several expired ones were all denied & I had to surrender a fresh one.  At least I tried...

There was decent seating and a light soyo-and-salad bar, so I had a little lunch and continued progress on the sailing ship sampler.  Eventually got on the plane; pleasant seatmate...but between our roll-ons and our "personal items" (which have to be stowed -- no "under the seat in front of you" space, that's where your feet go when you flatten out for what passes as sleeping) ... the overhead bin wouldn't close.  So our smaller pieces were stowed elsewhere, a bit of an inconvenience.

Dinner was a melon and prosciutto part, salad, and a nice piece of beef tenderloin with asparagus and gnocchi.  Fruit, cheese and Port ... followed by a small ice cream sundae.  All washed down with decent champagne ... ready for rest!

I'm not a great plane sleeper, but this was rougher than average as there were several seat belt warnings throughout the night.  But oblivion did win at SOME point.

Wednesday, 5/25/2016 -- heading out in the morning

Maybe I'll start packing.  But happy to report major accomplishments before I depart:  $775,000 loan/line of credit is closed, AND pre-construction meeting held, AND draft of new House Rules is in circulation to all Board members.  Yee-HAH!