TEXTURE: the visual or tactile surface characteristics and appearance of something. (Merriam-Webster)
Fiesta has come and gone and so has my vacation. Sigh… Both were enjoyable – though, to be honest, Fiesta was a boatload of work. Vacation was just…a boatload. Tom and I enjoyed last years river cruise so much, that we decided to do another one. This time we headed off to the Rhine River, starting in Basel, Switzerland.
Interesting fact: The Basel Airport is almost all in France. It has an exits/entrances in both France and Switzerland. It pays to know which country you’re headed to.
The tenor of this trip was much different than last year’s wine cruise in Bordeaux. That one was a very local vacation covering a lot less distance. It was more laid back and concentrated on the really, really excellent wines that come out of that region of France. It also gave us more time for leisure, leisure which I define at least partly as sketching and journaling. Not so much this trip. Although I managed to finish a crocheted shawl and get some reading done, we were moving too much this year. Some days there were two excursions on shore! They were interesting, but I think Tom and I are into a little more free time on vacation. Not to mention good wine.
The Rhine River cruise – also by Viking – as I said, started in Basel and quickly moved into Germany. Actually, the Rhine runs right between Germany and France’s Alsace region (which is sort of German; read the history as mentioned above) for awhile, and we explored both sides. As the week progressed, we moved fully into Germany and finally into the Netherlands. We docked in Amsterdam where Tom and I spent a couple of extra nights. (After flying back to the U.S., we spent a couple of unplanned nights in San Francisco, but that’s a story for another post. As are my luggage woes.)
Of course, I have pics to share. You’re seeing them now. Unfortunately, the camera on my phone started to crap out on this trip. I might add that this is the same phone that had over-heating issues last vacation. The difference here is that I didn’t realize how fatal the problem was till the last day – in San Francisco – when the thing shit the bed entirely. I lost some photos. 🙁 Now, I have to purchase a new phone. Did I mention that on top of a European vacation, we just paid for the hardwood floors we’re putting in? Yeah, bad timing. A phone isn’t in the budget for a bit. Luckily, Tom’s old one – the one with a malfunctioning keyboard – was still up for the photography challenge, so I’m carrying it around as an ancillary to my now unloved phone.
So, we’ve muddled through my pics regardless. This first bunch had to do with the different textures I observed on our travels. I hope you enjoy. Give a yell if you have any questions or insights to the photos. And please share your vacations stories here too!
Laura
Looks like it was a good trip! They are active….because they are river cruises there is always something. If you want more down time, take an ocean cruise. I agree – it’s nice to have a day of enforced leisure.
Speaking of that – we just had to make the final payment for the Paris cruise for 10/2020! Isn’t that crazy? I am wondering if my niece got hers in. In June she had part of her house re-done, paid for a BIG high school graduation bash, paid some of said child’s college tuition – and – had the cruise payment…. I’m wondering what happens if you miss the payment.
What was your favorite part? I adored the windmills and the trip we took to see the cheese making the same day. But those windmills….
A year ahead. Wow. Though we had to pay it off back in November. I think it’s when you buy. We definitely liked the balcony, if only because it meant a slightly larger room. The windmills were very cool, though it was raining, pouring when we first started out. Winery visit we did was nice. Small group, and the winemaker was really generous with his time. Sailing through all those castles, certainly. Oh, and the Van Gogh museum.