Traveling with Ellen

Couldn't sleep anymore.   Was awake at 4 am.  That makes it 7 pm Wednesday in Arizona.. I'll be home, hopefully, with no unforeseen problems at 5:30 pm Thursday.  This makes it just about a 24 hour day. We have a noon flight from Basel to Heathrow and then a 2:40 pm flight from Heathrow to Phoenix.  Can't wait to settle in on this one and go to sleep for a few hours. We leave the ship at 8:30 am.  It's a short, 25 minute drive to the airport.. hope the have 3 hours to deal with whatever pops up. I don't mind waiting at the gate to board.  The sooner we get luggage and immigration taken care of, the better.

  We docked in Briesach Germany and when we departed the ship, immediately crossed the bridge over the Rhine and found ourselves in France. Our destination was Colmar France and the medieval village.   We had a little train ride into town with a guide. She showed us many of the older structures. The oldest house dates back to 1350.  We had well over an hour and a half to wander on our own after our tour. I wandered the streets alone, taking pictures and window shopping. I stopped at a cafe and had a small snack. I'm tired of sweets and pastries so I ordered a cheese platter. I can't imagine bringing cheese home safely, eating it at a cafe in the Alsace region seemed the best. The brie was delicious as well the Swiss cheese. So was the last cheese except I have no idea what it was. We were back on the ship for lunch and then off again for the 2 pm bus tour to the Black Forest. It's quite a ride, 90 minutes to the small town of Hofgut Sternen.  With a little over an hour in t

  Strasbourg France, what a beautiful city.  I'll have beautiful memories of the city and the landscapes I saw.   A stork's nest at the top of the tree We left the ship this morning at 8:15 to ride by bus, approximately 45 minutes on a tour of Strasbourg.  We were shown some beautiful areas of Strasbourg winding up in the section of the city called Petite France.  Our walk from the bus took us eventually to Notre Dame Cathedral.   It is massive.   There are 37 cathedrals in Frane, all with the name, Notre Dame.  In fact, Notre Dame only means Our Lady (referring to Mary).  Today, here in Strasbourg we visited Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Strasbourg.  This is truly a Gothic Cathedral soaring into the air 466 ft.  It was the world's tallest building between 1647 and 1874.   Today we took the type of walk in a foreign city that I hope everyone has a chance to experience.   Walking down narrow streets past french patiseries, cheese shops, boulangeries...  The sights and the smells