Rhine River Cruise and Quilt Tour Wrap Up

I really enjoyed the Viking Cruise part of this trip.  They have customer service down, from the time you land, till the time you go back to the airport to fly home, they are very hands on.  Food was excellent, tours were well done for the most part and we met some of the nicest people, both folks who were part of the Quilt Tour and others who just happened to be on the cruise.  There were a couple of afternoons where we were cruising, so ample time to relax.  Dinners were also a leisurely affair - several courses, and plenty of time to visit.

The Quilt Tour was kind of a loose thing.  While we were on the Viking ship, we had an intro meeting where no one really introduced themselves, including the tour manager.  We were encouraged to try to sit together and she got to dinner early to save a couple of tables (there were 25 of us on the ship), but outside of getting maps with quilt shop locations (but often they were really hard to find, or not really quilt shops), that was all that was done.  

We disembarked from the Viking Cruise on Saturday morning and boarded a bus for Basel with the Quilt Group (15 people dd the extension trip).  We had an opportunity to visit the Christmas Market in Basel, but there wasn't anything available in terms of quilting.  We then went to Mulhouse, where the fabric industry started in the 1800's.  The Museum tour was good and the Christmas Market was one of the prettiest we saw, but there wasn't an effort on the part of the tour organizer to get us together.  The theory was that the trouble manager had done this trip several times and it just seemed like she just wanted to show us where to go and then leave us to our own devices.  It was fine - but I would not do another quilt tour with this particular company, even though others on the tour said that they had done other trips with this person that were really good.

Some stats:

Steps walked 120,020

Flight miles  11,806

Cruising on the Rhine: about 1000 Nautical Miles

Some of my favorite photos

Colmar

Blue skies would have been nice, but I still love this shot

Cologne Cathedral - first one of the trip

Castle in Heidelberg

Colmar, France - Medieval Village

Mulhouse, France - this view was simply breathtaking as we rounded the corner of the square.  Unexpected and so beautiful

Zurich - loved all the bridges

Glassblower in the Black Forest

I snuck this picture in -- we were eating at the Cafe at the Kunstmuseum in Basel.
It was interesting that all the tables were in a long row

Mulhouse streets at night

Zurich - December 11th

Today we got on the bus at 10 to head to Zurich for the final day of the trip.  We arrived at noon, checked in and headed first to have lunch at Felix, a very busy cafe.  Cost of living seems high in Zurich.  Our lunch, a shared club sandwich, was 30 Francs.  Dinner at a place called Joe and the Juice (which included a really tasty sandwich with a cracker like bread) was 30 Francs for the two of us.  Sodas pretty much everywhere were 4 euros, Starbucks was over 7 for a tall frappicino.

After lunch we walked with Dale and Patsy to the train station where there was a Christmas market that included a huge tree decorated with swarvorski ornaments.  They do a new one every year.  We were kind of thinking of getting one, but it was 89 Francs and not in the budget.

There was also this amazing chandelier.  It lights in a spiral from top to bottom.

We walked the market, but didn't see anything that had to come home with us.  The markets along the Rhine have more commercial products, candles, lots of food items, gloves, socks, etc, so not as much fun as the markets we saw in Nurrenberg, Salzburg, Vienna and Munich two years ago.  

From there we walked to the Fraumunster where there where six Windows designed by Marc Chagall.  They were awesome, but o photos were allowed.  We brought home a couple of postcards that I will scan later.

We got back from dinner by 6, repacking our suitcases ( I was trying to get everything to fit without opening the expansion.  It was a tough job but I made it happen.

Tomorrow I will go with Jackie to the airport at 7 so we can share a cab.  It will be a long day, but I will be happy to be there in plenty of time, so I can browse the duty free shops and get some steps in before I have the joy of sitting on a plane for 12 hours.

Mulhouse - December 10th

We got to sleep in till 8 today as we didn't leave for the museum till 9:40.  Breakfast was provided downstairs and included a fancy coffee maker and this thing that you could cook your own hard boiled egg in.  This was especially nice since it was snowing like crazy outside.

You can see the snow a little better here, thank to Jackie.

Here's me.  Not my best look but it was warm we all wrapped up like that.

The walk to the museum was about 20 minutes.  This was a museum dedicated to the history of fabric in this town.  It was the center of printing on cotton for many years. The museums first floor was dedicated to how the fabric was made through the years, first painstakingly hand printed with carved wood blocks, then with etched copper tubes that allowed the printing to happen more quickly.

We had a lovely French woman give us a tour.  Her English was pretty good, but there were some words that didn't come easily and since none of us spoke French, we had some confused conversations to get to her meaning.  Here are a few photos of the process.  First the printing block where they used mordant to stamp the design

Which was then washed out 

Then finally dyed and rinsed again

This is there collection of wood stamps.  A particular design could have 2 to 10 stamps to create the design with all the colors.

Then we went into a room where they had a white dress displayed, then they started a slide show and the dress transformed.  Here are a few photos

There was also this hangin in the stairwell

Then we went upstairs where they had a display of later versions of the printing process and a special exhibit with fabric patterns through the years.  There is this original design from India (where this type of printing originated - if I got the story straight) 

Then this is a piece created in Mulhouse

We also saw some fabrics from the 60's through now

After our tour we headed out with a couple we've really enjoyed hanging out with and had lunch with them at an English themed cafe.  

Croque Monsieur and frites for me, fish and chips for Jackie, and we shared a To Leone Mousse for dessert which was delightful.  

After that I took a trip back to the Christmas market to get a piece of their 2017 fabric and while I was there I picked up a meter of the 2016 for good measure.  I have plans for gifts with one piece, not sure about the other.

I was back at the hotel by 3:30 and we've spent the rest of the day reading and relaxing.  Off to Zurich tomorrow. 

Basel, Switzerland and Mulhouse, France - December 9th

Basel this morning

These guys were singing and talking to the people on the street

At the Kuntz Museum where we had lunch

Then we were on the bus headed to Mulhouse.  Once there we had a few hours to relax then we headed to the local Christmas Market.  This was one of our favorites!  As we turned the corner into the square, this is what we saw

So much color, so many people, so very cold...but what a wonderful place.  Jackie bought a few small ornaments, but other then that we walked all over the square and stopped for a light dinner of the local pizza (goat cheese, ham and other cheese), Jackie got some of the Vin Chaud, similar to the Gluewein in Germany, but this was far superior to anything we've tried before.  It was the right blend of wine and spices.  Delicious.  We ended our meal with our favorite, crepe with Nutella!  Yum!  

The local fabric company makes a Christmas fabric every year.  Thus building is draped with this year's pattern

Beautiful place and a somewhat restful day.  Tomorrow we have a tour of the fabric museum, then we are on our own for the rest of the day.  Monday we head to Zurich and Tuesday get our flights home.

Breisach and Colmar - December 8th

This morning we were met at the ship by storks who have not gone south for the winter.  It sounds like they know they will get food from the ships, so they are happy to hang out by your door in hopes of a treat.

Our first tour of the day was a bus drive through the Black Forest complete with snow!!!  The higher we went he more snow there was.  Beautiful views all around.  Unfortunately I took a Dramamine and pretty much napped a good part of the trip, but was wide awake when we got to the snow.  We stopped at an artists village where we had a demonstration about cockoo clocks, watched a Black Forest cake being assembled and decorated and watched as a vase was being made by a glassblower.  Photos below.

There was, of course an opportunity to shop.  A few things found there way back with me.

We returned to the ship for lunch, then headed back out by bus to Colmar, France.  It is a medieval city, wonderful architecture, quaint streets and Christmas markets galore.  This is the one time we came home with nothing.  The crowds were overwhelming and that was the biggest deterrent for both of us.  We walked all over the city and had gone so far that when it came time to get to our meeting point, we made it with seconds to spare.  It was a little bit worrying, but we made it.  They planned to count and promised they wouldn't leave anyone behind...but we didn't want to be the ones who weren't there.  The shipboard story is that there was a Mrs Woo who got lost and had to call the ship to catch up with her group, so the warning was, don't be the new Mrs. Woo.  Funny thing was, one of our group stopped to look at a quilt shop and lost their group and couldn't find them, so they called the ship and got connected with their group, but at the port talk that evening she got  razzed about it.

Here are some photos from beautiful Colmar

Back on the ship we took a group photo of our quilt tour group, then had a special captains toast, dinner and time to chat with those who are heading home tomorrow.

We are packed (with suitcases a little fuller than when we left, but everything fits.  Tomorrow we disembark from Basel Switzerland at 9:30 and head to Mullhouse France for the serious fabric part of our trip.  Two days there, one day in Zurich and Tuesday we'll be heading home.  

It's been a wonderful trip so far and I'm glad we extended it just a little longer.

Steps for today, just at 13,000.