grape vines that run straight up the sides of mountains. We
took a photo or two to share with our wine making friends
here at home.
In Koblenz, J.Chris and I had a private tour of the 19th
century Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, a Prussian fort build to
defend the region from the French. It was so formidable that it
was never attacked! However, it has been occupied by several
occupying German, French, Nazi and American armies.
It was bittersweet docking in Amsterdam. We had extended
our trip a couple days so we would have time to explore
the city but found it hard to say goodbye to the Alruna, the
wonderful crew and friends we had made during our voyage.
We will keep in touch with Laurie and Mark MacShane from
Minnesota and Kathy and Tim Grannan from Ohio. We’re
already planning a trip to Chicago to see the sites and enjoy
their company in October.
If you are a little ADHD, Amsterdam is a difficult city
to be in as many of the home are very old and all are built
on piers in the bog like soil, many homes lean left or right.
Some purposely lean forward, which allows the residents
to hoist furniture to the top floors without touching the
windows below. Our English friend, from our cruise, who had
been a construction manager, had a bit of a difficult time in
Amsterdam as he found them to be disorienting.
One of the highlights of our time in Amsterdam was a
canal tour. What a fascinating adventure! New areas are being
filled in for new building while other areas are returning to
the sea. Some canals are wide and busy; others are small and
impassable for larger boats.
All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed Amsterdam and would
have liked to have spent a little more time than our two-
day extension.
One last remarkable observation. One day during our time
aboard the Alruna, a supply truck missed the rendezvous
due to an accident. The trucks caught up to the ship later in
the day and the whole crew, including the captain, formed a
human chain to load the supplies on the ship in order to keep
on schedule. Even a few passengers joined in. Well done,
Viking River Cruises.
94
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017
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