Heading downstream on the Rhine our first stop in France was Strasbourg. A very nice walking tour of the old town.
Strasbourg Cathedral, built between 1015 and 1439, it’s famous in many ways. It was the world’s tallest building until 1874(466 feet tall). The astronomical clock inside the cathedral was built between 1838 and 1842 and it was based on previous versions dating back to 1352. It has many animated figures that move at various times The stained glass windows were removed and put in hiding in a salt mine just prior to the Nazi’s arrival in 1939. These windows were discovered by allied forces (The Monuments Men) in 1945 and returned to the church.
Strasbourg Cathedral Strasbourg Cathedral, example of Gothic architecture and some later additions in Romanesque style.The astronomical clock in the cathedral. The clock is accurate, shows official and solar time, displays zodiac signs, date and day if the week, phases of the moon, and more…..Just some of the stained glass windows that surround the clockAnother window in the cathedral “Petit France” is a beautiful old part of Strasbourg. Now the highest price real estate in Strasbourg. It used to be not so nice. It includes a leather tanning district and a large hospital once used to treat syphilis. They called it the French Disease. The French soldiers brought syphilis back with them from military campaigns in Italy. Typical narrow streets of the old town and the home on the left is a timber frame home. They built the first floor of stone to protect against occasional flooding then they built they built the upper floors out of timber. Wood was readily available and cheap. The upper floors extended out over the lower floor because property tax was based on square footage of the ground level. A nice walk thru the “Petit France” district
Friday at 3pm. Unpacked and met some of our new friends in the lounge for cocktails. Patty has found a German Reisling that she likes. We have a nice room and the lounge and dining room are very comfortable.
Boarding Viking Boat, IDI, for the first time. It is 443feet long, holds 190 passengers, a crew of 50. It was built in 2010All the comforts of home….. a little bit of a tight squeeze. A nice veranda with two chairs and a table. However the unseasonably cool and wet weather has kept us insideThe top deck has two putting greens, shuffle board, small walking path, and a large herb garden that is used by the chef and his staff.We pass another Viking River boat on the Rhine River.We meet the captain and his crew before dinner.This is the captain leading the dancing and singing after dinner….. who’s driving the boat?We also have some good live entertainment, it varies from night to night and we have a piano player that players every evening before dinner and after dinner when guest entertainers aren’t on board.
8.3 million people in Switzerland, largest city is Zurich 440,000, Basel 170,000 is third largest city.
4 languages spoken in Switzerland.
Swiss-German, French, Italian, and Romansh(based on Latin).
Basel economy is based on pharmaceuticals and chemicals. Major Pharmaceutical companies are Roche, Novartis, and Moderna.
Basel is located in the tri country area…. Germany, France, and Switzerland come together here.
Switzerland has 26 Cantons, similar to our states. Each Canton has its own constitution. The National government is a Federal Republic with two legislative houses.
On the bus to Basel! Rain and 45 degreesA city walk in Basel, a beautiful clean city. A little rain doesn’t slow us downOur enthusiastic city guide, we prepare for a walk in the old townSome buildings in Basel, Switzerland have three flags….. Germany, France, Switzerland. Currently you can travel between these countries without border stops. For example….. some people live in France(cheaper cost of housing), work in Switzerland(pay is better) and shop in Germany (some things are cheaper).A nice city walk, one guide for about 25 of our tour group
Then it’s off to find our ship, due to French transportation workers strike, lots of things are affected. The airport, trains, buses, and the locks on the Rhine river all are experiencing disrupted service. Our boat could not make it to Basel because two locks were out of service so we are taking the bus further downstream to Strasbourg, France to start our journey. To enjoy world travel we’ve learned to be flexible and “roll with the punches!”
Riding trams was easy and we used the system 3 days. The weather wasn’t always the greatest, temperatures varied from 40 degrees to 55 degrees. Rain off and on for two days. Last full day in Zurich the sun came out and we had blue skies and 55 degrees, a good way to spend our last day,
Rain didn’t stop us!!Tram system was reliable, clean, and easy to useFIFA museum was interesting, soccer for you guys that don’t know FIFA !Papa needs more practice to help Cecilia’s soccer team this springMema says she’s ready to help Cecilia’s team!The Swiss Army knife store was fun, aka Victorinox company. Still made in Switzerland and produced since 1884Typical architecture and narrow winding streets. Streets and sidewalks are spotlessSmall squares would appear every few blocksSmall quaint squares are every few blocks. Quiet places that often have restaurants, cafes, and small shopsFountains are everywhere and most have spouts to fill your water bottle. This fountain has a lower bowl used by dogs!Our intimate group of about 150 people meet for our first group outing and this is the beginning of our boat ride on Lake Zurich.Patty studies the map and our guide tells us that Tina Turner’s house is out there on the shoreline…. see it there, it’s between the big boat house and the small boat house.Standing on the bank of the Limmat river, St Peter’s Cathedral is in the distance. Europe’s largest clock face, 28.3 feet in diameter, is on all sides of the tower. The tower was primarily used as a fire look out dating back to 1340.The Swiss National Museum was a fun and informative 3 hours, even for Patty. She’s more of a two hour museum person.
We left Detroit Sunday March 5th. We flew to DC Dulles airport and connected for a red eye flight to Zurich. Patty and I like to arrive a few days early to get acclimated and explore on our own. We found Zurich very user friendly.
Our son, Andy, dropped us off at the airport United airlines was the best way to connect to ZurichPatty’s preflight mealI thought airline food was better than McDonald’s. We enjoyed a vegetarian platter of spaghetti squash and zucchini. Patty thought the wine was good on the airplane.
24 hours after leaving home it was time for a libation in the hotel lobby bar!
It started out with fish….. fish at breakfast, fish at lunch, and fish at dinner. Then it was reindeer ….. reindeer meatloaf, reindeer Pattie’s, and reindeer stew.
A hearty lunch…. Smoked, almost raw, salmon, very good small shrimp, thin sliced roast beef with rye bread, hard cracker cheese and berry jamOur first taste of reindeer, pretty darn good as long as you weren’t thinking about Rudolph.A flaky piece of cod from an outdoor market.Patty’s lunch was a cinnamon roll.Oysters were great! Sweet and didn’t taste fishy.Patty ate around the raw salmon and beets, I liked both.Fresh lingonberries, crow berries, and end of season blueberries. We had them on ice cream, crème brûlée, and made into jam they were very good too. Cloud berries were also good, they looked like orange raspberries.Pickled herring, mackerel, and salmon roe…. Good stuff, at least for Rod.A leg of duck, it was very good, moist, tender and tasty. However, I’ve never seen a duck with legs this big.Neither one of us tried the dry fish gelato or the gelato with lager beer!Patty did eat some of the cod.Can’t go wrong with layers of chocolate, a strawberry and dark chocolate. A salmon chowder, very good. Patty liked the bread.Hotdogs and chocolate milk, good stuff!Crab claws on a buffet, Dungeness crabs from the Oregon coast are still my favorite. A buffet with all kinds of seafood, crab, mackerel, prawns, cod, and salmon.A lamb stew 👍Patty enjoyed the white wine and passed me the salmon and beet appetizer Patty’s breakfast A slider, fries and a beer, almost like home.
The previous day we walked 17,500 steps, about 7 and 1/2 miles. We have been on the go for 23 days and Patty was ready for a day off. So, Daniel and I headed out early for a whirlwind 3 museum visit and walking in the old part of Stockholm. We did stop at an old famous hotdog stand for a quick lunch.
First thing we did was a ferry boat ride to the Vasa Museum. This ferry boat is included in our metro transportation pass.The Vasa sank on her maiden voyage in 1628. It only went about 100 yards and a gust of wind blew it over. It was a Warship armed with 64 guns/cannons. It was top heavy and a poor design. A similar, almost sister ship, that was 40 feet wider sailed for over 30 years. The ship was on the bottom of the harbor for over 300 years and the brackish water didn’t allow for worms to eat away the wood. It was raised in the 1960s and is over 90 percent original. Next stop, the army museum. It was a very interesting display of not only weapons but room displays and diorama’s of Swedish military involvement dating back to the 1500s. Then it was time for a stop at one of Stockholm’s famous hot dog stands, Rorstrandsgrillen hot dog stand, there was a line of about 10 people ahead of us and it was worth the wait. Daniel suggested Pucko chocolate milk to wash it down. It was a good quick lunch before heading off to the next museum.A lucky moment! We were walking near the palace and Daniel said that this should be about the time that they do a changing of the guard……. Sure enough, and man do these soldiers look young.Then it was off to the Nobel Prize Museum. Alfred Nobel made is fortune developing dynamite in 1867. He donated his fortune to the Nobel prize institute. There are 5 prizes awarded annually…… physical science, chemistry, medical science, literary work, and peace. I went to Washington High School in Portland, Oregon and so did Linus Pauling. He won two Nobel Prizes. In 1954 he won the chemistry prize. He won the Nobel Peace prize in 1962. Linus Pauling was a credit short in history and didn’t graduate from Washington High in 1917. He was accepted to Oregon Agricultural School( Oregon State University) and went on to get his PHD at Cal Tech. Washington High gave him an honorary diploma in 1962.Albert Nobel’s “will”, has had a lasting impact world wide. He changed his will after a reporter thought Alfred had died when it was actually his brother. This reporter said that Alfred was a man who made his millions with his development of dynamite. The reporter also said that it was blood money because of the increase in battlefield deaths using dynamite. Nobel wanted to change his legacy and donated 97 percent of his estate to the Nobel prize program. Sometimes guilt can lead to good things!Then it was one last happy hour and a farewell dinner with Daniel and time to say good by to 24 days in Scandinavia,
Off to Strangnas, Daniel’s hometown. We took the subway to the train station and had a nice ride on a smooth quiet and clean train. His apartment was a 10 minute walk and it was right in the middle of a nice small town.
A nice new trainA nice fall day walking thru StrangnasVery nice old part of town. The red paint, Falun red, is commonly used in old wooden cottages, barns, and houses. This “paint” dates back to the 1700’s. It is more of a dye than a paint, made from copper mine tailings, linseed oil, flour and water. It not only acts as a paint but it protects the wood from decay. This historic district requires that you use this Falun red to color(paint) your house.This gentleman is painting his house with Falun red. I talked to him and ask about his Wisconsin baseball hat. He got his PHD from Wisconsin back in the 70s and then moved back to Sweden to to teach economics at a Swedish university. It’s a small world! “Go Badgers” he shouted as we walked away.An old windmill,still in good shape after 100 plus yearsThis is the Strangnas cathedral, dating back to 1260, it has one of the oldest working libraries in Sweden. The library dates back to 1316. It is still accessible, just need an appointment to visit the library inside the cathedral.A runestone outside of the cathedral. Sweden has over 3,000 runestones, most date back to the 11th century, the end of the Viking Age.Gyllenhjelmsgatan is deemed the most beautiful street in Sweden. A Swedish poet deemed this in one of his poems so it must be so. Our guide says it looks even better when the flowers are in full bloom.Another small library. They pop up all over Sweden. They are proud of their libraries, big and small.On the train ride back to Stockholm we saw a truck assembly plant. I was not aware that Saab and Volvo (Swedish auto companies) sold out to the Chinese. The cars are now made in China. The trucks, both Volvo and Saab, are made in Sweden. We finished the day back in Stockholm at a small nice restaurant in an old gentrified area of Stockholm. Daniel’s friend, Christian, met us for dinner. It was like another ‘people to people’ experience talking to Christian. He lives around the corner and he was willing to tell us about his life in Sweden. A very nice evening.After dinner we walked by one of Stockholm’s public librariesAnd of course we stopped inAnd books galore! Scaffolding is there for renovations and painting.
Sweden is a 3 night post trip. Our main trip had 22 travelers and twenty of them went home after the main trip. Patty and I are the only ones on this post trip. Daniel is also the guide for the post trip. He’s from Sweden and he has figured out an itinerary that will cover lots of Stockholm and most of one day will be spent in his home town, Strangnas, which is a one hour train ride away. Stockholm is made up of 14 islands. A little over 10 million people live in Sweden and metro Stockholm has 2.4 million people. 1/3 of Stockholm is water, 1/3 is parkland, and 1/3 is developed with buildings and housing. This made for a pretty drive around the city on our way to our downtown hotel.
Patty and I on our way to the airport in Helsinki for our flight to Stockholm.First stop is city hall. We meet our city tour guide. Why city hall? It was built in 1923 and is a beautiful brick structure. We are walking in the court yard, about to enter the building. Not only does the government use this building on a regular basis but it is also the site of the annual Nobel Prize Banquet and dance.This is the blue room of city hall. The brick was supposed to be painted blue but once the brick work was finished the powers to be liked the look of the brick. This the room where the banquet occurs and some the entertainment takes place on the stairs to the left.The golden hall overlooks the blue hall and the Nobel Banquet attendees move here for dancing. The walls are covered in small glass tiles with a layer of gold leaf under the glass. The Royal Dramatic theater was built in 1908. The royal dramatic training academy is here. Most of Sweden‘s major stars performed at this theater. Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman got their start here.Pattyand Daniel outside an authentic Swedish restaurant. It was really crowded and glad we had reservations. Come to find out, most of the customers were eating early so they could go to the Bob Dylan Concert on this night!It was a very nice dinner! Daniel and I, at his recommendation, had calves liver and onions. It was great!Patty has found her Swedish dish of preference. The baby shrimp has been great. It is reminiscent of the baby shrimp fresh from the Oregon coast. Much better than the “fresh” shrimp we get in Michigan.Stockholms’s public transportation is great. We are getting on the subway to go across town.
The second day in Helsinki was another walk with our city guide, Cornelia. She was knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and proud of her country and the city of Helsinki. We went on a 15 minute ferry boat ride out to Suomenlinna. It’s a unesco world heritage site and is a cluster of 6 small islands. The biggest island includes an old fortress, the Finnish Naval academy, museums, a World War Two submarine, restaurants, and old wooden historic homes. People live on this island and 1000 naval cadets train to become officers on this island. The naval academy is different than the US naval academy. Cadets train for 11 months to become officers and upon completion a large percentage become reserve officers and are subject to recall to active duty until they are in there 50s. Our tour guide’s son just completed the 11 month training program and chose to become a reserve officer.
The ferry makes trips to Suomenlinna every hour.
Finland coast guard shipOur city guide, Cornelia and one of many old Cannons on display.A large dry dock,used for boat maintenance and also used for winter boat storage. The storage season is just around the corner.A Finnish navy boat Walking back to our hotel. Many bikes and scooters used in Helsinki. The green electric scooters are rented out. You need to get an app on your phone, load your credit card and then you grab a scooter and go. You are charged by the time you use it and just leave it at your destination. The bike is an electric assist transport bike. Sometimes children, even adults ride in the front and often there will be groceries or other goods being transported. These are privately owned, not for rent.Beautiful cobblestone streets with nice old Art Deco buildings. Many city parks with sculptures and pondsThese are rental bikes, similar to the lime green scooters. Download the app with your credit card info and jump on a bike and off you go.Hanna, a 5th and 6th grade teacher, gave a good presentation about the Finnish school system. Finland has been ranked the number one school system in the world several times in recent years. Preschool (our kindergarten) starts at age 6. That’s a year later than we start in the US. First grade starts at age 7 and many can’t read at all when the start. Class size… she has 21 this year, last year she had 30 with an extra teacher but in a small classroom. She told us that Michael Moore did a documentary about the Finnish school system. That might be interesting to watch. They have 190 days of school per year, similar to ours. The schools don’t have buses and they discourage parents from dropping them and picking them up. Most students, even youngest ones, go to school by themselves, walking, riding bikes or scooters, or taking public transportation. There are no school sports teams. All sports teams are club teams, not associated with a school.
The Finnish people are ranked as the happiest in the world. Our city guide, Cornelia, agrees. She said they pay between 40 and 60 percent income tax but they also get almost free healthcare, free or low cost higher education, govt funded retirement, and very good basic school systems(best in the world according to some tests). Also basic services are very good, such as public transportation, public parks, and remember the great library in the previous post.
Rod and Patty’s Blog 