Tag: UniWorld – Christmas Market Cruise

We have left Germany and are now in France!

We have been to Strasbourg several times but never in the winter months.  We had thought about taking the train from Paris during December, several years ago, to see the Christmas Market but never made it happen.  

The historic town with its cobbled lanes, half-timbered homes, giant stork nests, and impossible-to-resist pastry shops are hard to pass up for sure.  Strasbourg is a city with deep connections to both France and Germany having been ruled by both countries over the centuries.  Enchanting half-timbered houses line the canals of Petite France, one of the oldest districts, and the medieval cathedral—a religious institution has stood in its spot for 3,000 years—is extraordinary. 

Strasbourg calls itself the Capital of Christmas and really goes all out for the holidays. The Christmas tree on Place Kléber towers over hundreds of stalls—but it’s only one part of the market, which spreads through 10 neighboring locations, all of them both historic and wonderfully decorated. We focused our attention to the market around the Cathedral.

After a short coach ride, we walked the merry streets to get to the Cathedral and its adjacent Market.  

Once we made it to the Cathedral, I checked on a restaurant we had visited in the past that had a major focus on cheese – La Cloche à Fromage.  Unfortunately, it was fully booked for lunch so we ended up in a very nice place a few doors down.  Louisa, the Cruise Director, joined us for lunch and it was a very nice time allowing us all to get to know each other better.

After lunch, we headed out to look over more of the market.

This Christmas Market River Cruise has been quite an adventure.  While there is one more stop, Basel, it’s not likely we will visit its market with all the other things that are happening.  I was very pleased to have Barbara take time out of her schedule to visit the Ship.  I had met Barbara a couple of years ago on our first UniWorld Mystery Cruise and have delighted to take over 200 plus selfies with her since that time.  

Our group of ‘Framily’ consisted of family and new friends and it was an enjoyable experience.  Who knows, maybe we will reconnect on a future adventure.  Here are a few pictures of our adventure that didn’t make the original posting.

Did I mention that Bill liked a lot of bread?

Some group shots of Tiyeme, Michael, Chris, Bill and Theresa, Terri and Jason

Until Next time!  Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.  

This may end our Christmas Market Cruise, but we are heading out to Normandy with Beth to be with our son Ryan and his husband Chris for the next couple of weeks and then to Wiesbaden to be with our entire family for Christmas.  There are lots of adventures yet to come so stay tuned.

Your comments are always appreciated.  

While many of our group were out tasting vinegar, we headed into Baden-Baden for a brief walking tour and a visit to the Christmas Market.  Several years ago, we had been to Baden-Baden but on a Sunday when most places were closed – but given the Market, shopping wasn’t on our list of activities.   Having two young girls with us necessitated a visit to the ‘ride area’ of the Market where they could enjoy a couple of whirls around the merry-go-round and the Ferris wheel. 

This was a smaller market then others we had visited but still had all the traditional items – many booths selling ornaments, trinkets, jewelry, clothing and other items plus of course food and Glühein with the required souvenir mug.  

Did I mention our ‘group’ collected some mugs?

Of course, we had to have a snack before heading back to the ship.

After visiting various booths and picking up a few things we made our way back to the bus to have some relaxing time on the ship.

That evening was a Celebration on board with lots of special treats and music.

Baden-Baden was our last port of call in Germany. Tomorrow we head to France!

While Janeen and I were going to Baden-Baden with the grandgirls, a large contingent of our group headed off to a vinegar tasting.  We had done this tasting some years ago and had urged our ‘group’ to experience this unique opportunity. So,  I reached out to Theresa Bodnar to write up something about their experiences…thus a ‘guest’ blogger.

Guten Tag!  It is truly an honor to be a guest blogger for loverofwine and to join David and Janeen and their family (my “framily” – ie, friends that become family) on this Christmas Market cruise with Uniworld along the Rhine River!  David has frequently entertained me with tales of all of his adventures with this cruise line that I’ve gotten to revisit by re-reading his historical blogs – – – so when he asked me to write about my delightful vinegar tasting experience, I couldn’t resist!

So it started like this – David “STRONGLY URGED” members of our party to select the Weinessinggut Doktorenhof (Wine Vinegar Doktorenhof) vinegar tour and tasting experience while docked in the port of Gersheim, Germany.  He and Janeen had taken the tour several years prior and were blown away by the experience – and when David and Janeen recommend something so highly, you know it’s worth it!

Honestly, I was a bit skeptical at first – vinegar?  I could tolerate it on fries and I had attempted to drink a small amount of apple cider vinegar down one time because someone had told me it had amazing health benefits – and I almost choked.  BUT – I trusted David’s advice and I love trying new experiences, especially with great friends, so we all said, “Let’s do it”. 

 Ultimately, I’m so happy I took David’s advice because it was an absolutely AMAZING experience and the vinegar was actually quite tasty – so much so, that I bought 5 bottles to take home!

When we arrived to Weinessinggut Doktorenhof, our tour guide took us back to a special room in the home where we each selected a monastic looking robe to wear during the tour.  I felt not only like I was being taken back in time but also like I was about to embark on a very special, secret society adventure.

Once appropriately transformed we were taken down to the cellars where the guide spoke in detail about the manufacturing process.  Basically you start off with a batch of wine and you spoil it using a “mother” starter. This turns the wine into vinegar.  You then infuse it with a different flavor or combination of flavors ranging from wild cherries, apricots, vanilla beans, fig, wild oranges, lavender and any number of other things to give it an overall flavor or aroma. 

Herbs are also used as part of the blending and aging process. Part of the tour included entering a room full of herbs used in the blending process.

The entire process is long and involved.  Vinegars can age anywhere from 3-10 years. The aging process is to fully infuse the herbs into the vinegar and create more complex vinegar. This whole manufacturing process has been handed down from generation to generation.

After the tour, we were then brought to the tasting room for a special tasting of 5 select vinegars. 

Although they make over 50 different blends, we tasted only five –Angels Kissing the Night, Tears of Cleopatra, Balsam of St. Damian, Ficus – the Fig, and Giacomo Casanova. Each vinegar can serve as an apertif and/or has its own health benefits:

Ø  Angels Kissing in the Night –try it as an apertif as an addition to champagne or with cheese or ice cream!

Ø  Tears of Cleopatra –use as an apertif with oyster, mushrooms, dates, gigs, and spicy cheeses!

Ø  Baslam of St. Damian – enhances healthy breathing and wellness

Ø  Fiscus- the Fig – sinfully delicious with fish, fruit, and cheese

Ø  Giacomo Casanova – stimulating apertif that complements fine pastries, pasta, cheese, and seafood

Before each tasting, our tour guide gave a short description of the vinegar and some  blending and/or pairing suggestions (champagne and Angels Kissing the Night for example).   Each vinegar was then paired with a special treat such as a chocolate or nut.  My favorite part was drinking out of the fancy, skinny flute in hand blown glass which I just had to purchase after the tour as well as mini bottles of each of the samples tasted!   It was absolutely DELICIOUS!  

I continue to have a sip of vinegar each day from one of the bottles for the health benefits😊

Probst!

Another day and another Christmas Market or two!  Today we had docked in Koblenz, best known along the Rhine as a shopping destination.  The Christmas market was centered around the Church (big surprise there) and had similar stalls as we had seen in other locations. 

 It was a lovely day and a short walking tour took us into town to discover quaint old-world shops as well as a modern shopping center.  

Our time in Koblenz was short as we had to be back on the ship for an afternoon sailing with commentary about the various castles and sites we saw as we travelled along.  UniWorld has a separate sailing called “Castles along the Rhine” and it was clear during our afternoon sailing why this was the case.  

At one point, Jason said “Did you know there are more castles in Germany then MacDonald’s in the USA?”  I was not convinced and of course had to ‘google’ it and yup, once again he was correct.  

There are 25,000 castles in Germany and 13,562 MacDonalds!  However, France has almost double the castles as Germany with 45,000!

Once we docked in Rudesheim we ventured off the shop to visit one more Christmas Market returning for a late evening dinner.

Danna, Debra, Sara, Bill, Jason, Chris, Ryan, Tiyeme, Michael

Sara, Terri, Theresa, Beth, Emma

MaryAnn, Trebor, David, Katie, Janeen

We had a lovely group of people for the entire adventure!

The magic of our first day at the Christmas Market continued the following day with a more detailed adventure into Cologne.  Along the way, we saw these really interesting buildings along the riverfront – The Kranhaus (“crane house”) three 17-story buildings, collectively Kranhäuser.

Their shape, an upside-down “L”, is reminiscent of the harbor cranes that were used to load cargo to and from ships, two of which were left standing as monuments when the harbor was redesigned as a residential and commercial quarter in the early 2000s.   Not sure I would want to live in one of these but they were certainly eye catching.

When the clock strikes the hour, the head sticks out its tongue!

Further along, the markets beckoned and time was awasting…so walking tours and other excursions could wait for another day.

Did I mention glühwein?  The hunt was on as there were 5 different Christmas Markets in Cologne and members of our group were determined to try and get to all of them and pick up a glass (I honestly don’t know if anyone was successful or not…).

Not only were there market stalls to visit but shops too!

The return to the ship brought about the Captains Welcome Party where we got to meet the crew and enjoy a beverage before dinner.