To many people, the “Middle Rhine” is the high point of their journeys along this famous river, because of all the castles visible along the cliffs above the river itself. The first part of this entry is the middle Rhine. We tried to name all the castles for you, but it’s difficult. Fortunately, the cruise line gave us good maps and the cruise director told us stories of the castles as we passed.

Fortunately, we woke up early and grabbed some breads and drinks to take up to the top deck to watch the castles and cute towns of the Middle Rhine as we sailed upstream.

We noticed large numbers on the Rhine River, which tell us how many kilometers we are from the source of the Rhine, and helped a lot in identifying the castles as we sailed past.

The most fun was seeing how the architecture of the castles varied. Some of the differences were due to the approximate date the castle was constructed, other differences were in style, from the identity of the castle owners.

So much complexity of history here, most of which did not affect the world, just the sites along the river. Many of these areas were tiny kingdoms in their own rights.

One of the challenges the cruise director prompted was to count the number of “towers” in one of the towns associated with a castle. Clare thought there were many more than the 7 official towers, because she was counting the tall architectural things (not towers, somehow) in the many churches along this part of the valley. The towers are the high points along the old walls and moats protecting the castles.

A few years ago, we stayed in a small town along the middle Rhine and took a ferry to see the castles. The ferry trip was crowded, and the stories about the castles were difficult to hear. This time, we were able to move around the cruise ship easily, making Brian’s photographs more clear than before.

At the end of the Middle Rhine was the christening of the ship.

Although the AmaLucia had been sailing for about six months, this voyage was designated for the christening of the ship; the ceremony was held in Rüdesheim. All of the passengers were invited by the owners, Rudi Schneider and Kristin Karst, to attend, but we decided to hike to some vineyards above the village with a small group.

The ceremony included this Irish blessing:

May love and laughter light your days, and warm your heart and home. May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam. May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures. May all life’s passing seasons bring the best to you and yours!

We did not attend the ceremony, choosing instead to walk through some of the vineyards and riding a gondola up the side of the valley.

The hike was in direct sun on a very hot day so we opted to go back into the village and ride a gondola up to the Niederwald monument, which commemorates the unification of Germany. The central figure is Germania holding a crown with other figures representing war and peace. The main inscription on the pedestal translates to “In memory of the unanimous victorious uprising of the German People and the reinstitution of the German State 1870-1871.”

Although Clare had never been to Köln (Cologne), Brian spent a week here attending the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference in 2007. Therefore, while Clare went on a walking tour, Brian went biking with a small group.

We started the cruise with no incidents, thankfully! And this is a special cruise for the AMA Waterways line – the christening of the AmaLucia, the ship we are on! So, the owners are here, the children who are the “godparents” of the ship are here, lots of travel and food writers, you name it. And all the guests are treated like gods. Not bad!

Our first excursion, still in Amsterdam, is the Floriade, an ecological extravaganza that occurs every 10 years.

Of course, loads of flowers decorated everything, even though we are here in mid-Summer, rather than Spring, when the flowers are at their best. No tulips here now!

More interesting are the green displays, explaining how the people of Amsterdam are dealing with their water and pollution problems. Their difficulties are vastly different from those in Colorado; however, climate change is affecting them in a big way. Now, all the rain and snow water come down the river at almost the same time, with very little water flow the rest of the year. Many of the canals they have built are actually reservoirs for water storage, so the city has water year round.

The uses of plants, many to decrease the local temperatures in urban areas, are exciting to explore. These solutions are not easily transferable to Colorado, but the ideas could be adapted. Clare felt like she could have stayed at the Floriade extravaganza for days and not learned everything it has to offer.

The ship is new, with slight improvements from our trip 4 years ago on the Danube. Brian noticed spare propellers, and asked about them. Of course these are unique to the ship, and if one breaks, they need another immediately. The next one is our room. Cozy. And the restaurant is first class. The usual draft beer is Bitburger from from Bitburg in the Mosel River region of Germany.

Water, water everywhere! So many canals, and much of the area is below sea level. What I learned about Amsterdam is that these people are great engineers. They have universities devoted to water management; they know what they are doing.

Fortunately, our train was on schedule this time. The signs were much easier to figure out, and we felt comfortable in the city. So many of the buildings are tall.

Bicycles, bicycles everywhere. It was a bit dangerous being a pedestrian in Amsterdam. We had to pay attention to the color of the ground to see if we had the right of way or the bicycles did. Neither of us was run-over, fortunately.

An interesting observation about Amsterdam is that old churches, especially large ones, have been converted to shopping centers or performing arts centers. This makes sense when you realize that most of the dry “land” was reclaimed from the ocean or the many rivers that flow through the city, so buildings are precious.

Another thing to note is how open-minded the populous seems. The Embassy of the Free Mind was along a street we visited, and the condom store showed a colorful display. A cannabis-related store was next door. There are “coffee shops” in Amsterdam for marijuana products but we did not visit any.