PROBUS CLUB OF THE SUSSEX WEALD - RHINE CRUISE - 8 to 18 OCTOBER 2008
Cruising the Rhine on
mps Lady Anne. We
had a most enjoyable cruising holiday on the river Rhine sailing between Cologne
in Germany to Basle in Switzerland on board mps Lady Anne. This idea followed on
from a successful short cruise in December 2006 when we visited the German
Christmas markets on the same ship.
We congregated for dinner at the Ramada hotel in Dover on a fine autumn evening.
The next morning we had a smooth crossing on the P&O ferry to Calais and
our coach took us directly to the ship in good time for dinner. As we cruised
the Rhine
towards Switzerland we saw some beautiful autumn colours on the river side
slopes and we were blessed with fine sunny weather. On the first day we sailed
through the Loreley Gorge and at our first stop in Rudesheim we visited the
music museum, took the cable car up the mountain, went wine tasting and finished
the evening with mugs of special Rudesheim coffee.
As
we sailed south we took a walking tour of the town of Spier, sailed into France to visit
Strasburg. We took an excursion into the Black Forest where we indulged ourselves
with the delicious Black Forest Gateaux which was mouth-watering.
The weather was good to us when we visited Schaffhausen to see the Rhine Falls
and our stop at Mannheim gave us the opportunity to visit Heidelberg where we had
our only hint of inclement weather.
From Basle we took our coach into Lucerne and with
beautiful weather most of us took the funicular railway and cable car up to
the summit of Stanserhorn where we had stunning views of the Swiss countryside.
Back on board we watch the scenery float by and partied our way north to our last port of call at Cologne before retuning
home. Needless to say we had to stop off in Belgium to replenish our stock of
Belgium chocolates and other goodies. A smooth ferry crossing got us back to
England and home
.
All in all a very enjoyable holiday that left us with thoughts of our next Probus holidays - an Ocean cruise in June 2009 to Norway and Iceland - Thursford Christmas Spectacular in November 2009. Our thoughts wondered off hoping Doug will mastermind another river cruise in Spring 2010 to Holland.
Photographs:
mps Lady Anne; Autumn colours; Vineyards; Rudesheim coffee; Black Forest gateaux; View from Stanserhorn; On board; Our group with the Captain
Click on a photograph to see enlargement