We have finally entered the Rhine River (and left the Main).
Wowwwwww. This morning was a serious food morning. Breakfast at 9. After breakfast, at around 10:30, there was frühshoppen on the sun deck. That was a tasting of different types of bratwursts/sausages as well as different mustards. Also, toss different types of pretzels in there, and everyone's really full. But shortly after that, 12pm rolled around and it was lunch time. From 9am til 12:45pm, I was eating the whole time. Doh.
We arrived in Koblenz at 1pm. Another small town, but with the interesting characteristic of having a fortress on a mountain, Ehreinbreitstein. We took the usual old town tour and also got an interesting look at the local Bundesgartenschau, or BUGA flower festival. It is a flower festival of different types of floral varieties, some interesting floral "garden" arrangements and of course, water parks for kids.
The area was located at the corner of the river so it was a short walk to the giant statue of Wilhelm I that marks the city's edge to the Rhine River (where it meets the Mosel).
Our tour actually included a trip on the cable car ride to the fortress Ehretbreitstein, though we decided to forego it because the lineup to go on the ride had an expected wait time of one hour. We also weren't sure of how long it was going to take for the queue to come back once up top. I went back to the town with my sis to take a look at a store called Commes to check out designer kitchenware.
I LOVE these stores and it's my dream to design kitchenware products for the companies that supply these stores such as WMF, Auerhahn, Peugeot, Alessi, Menu, Alfi, the list is endless. =D
Tonight's dinner was a little bit sad as it's the last night and trading goodbyes with a lot of the friends we've made on the cruise. We were taking up a lot of room after dinner and probably being too loud as everyone was saying farewells and taking photos. Afterwards, we were also taking a lot of photos in the hallway by our rooms as most of us were dressed nicely and having a little photo session. The executive chef walked by and we had a good laugh and shared some beer with him and took some photos as well.
The cruise has been a good experience. It's a little different than my previous experiences on cruises as this one was a river cruise. The clientele is older than my age group, a lot older actually. =P
However, the smaller limit on the number of guests on the boat and the open seating at meal times is good for meeting new people and being able to connect with more people. This is a stark contrast with the large cruise boat, floating city type experience where it's just hard to talk with anyone because there's so many people as well as having fixed seating and you're always talking to the same dining partners. (Most likely from your own group). So, this trip has definitely been a great experience!
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