The holiday post (many photos)
Dec. 4th, 2006 08:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pandop1: We paid extra to go Silver Service, and it was worth it in terms of leg room. Neither Mum nor I had as much knee trouble as we have had in the past, although my back was still bad.
2: Our room at the hotel was really nice. It was huge, and we worked out we were the only room in the hotel that had 2 balconies - one looked out at the front of the hotel, and one at the side. This meant we had views both of the Rhine and of the vineyards, and as the hotel was literally just across the road from the Rhine, these were good views.
3: The Markets were as lovely and as fun as ever. Full of pretty things to buy and lots and lots of good food (more on that in another post). To make things even better, all 3 of the places we went to had either a Kathe Wolfhart stall or shop - and that is my favourite Christmas shop. I also loved the Finnish hut in Rudesheim - no cool knitting at the Finnish market this time though :-(
4: We also went to Ypres, which is a lovely time, and it made a really nice change not to go to Bruges on the last day. I was really impressed with the way that the people of Ypres had rebuilt their town to look just as it was (rather than replacing things with ugly concrete like we do), even though so much of it was destroyed in the First World War. Also they sell chocolate, lots of chocolate. This is always a good thing!
5: It was really, really good to get away from work, and to spend time with Mum.
6: The overnight hotel in Belgium was really swish. It had the most impressive hotel shower I have ever seen.
2: Our room at the hotel was really nice. It was huge, and we worked out we were the only room in the hotel that had 2 balconies - one looked out at the front of the hotel, and one at the side. This meant we had views both of the Rhine and of the vineyards, and as the hotel was literally just across the road from the Rhine, these were good views.
3: The Markets were as lovely and as fun as ever. Full of pretty things to buy and lots and lots of good food (more on that in another post). To make things even better, all 3 of the places we went to had either a Kathe Wolfhart stall or shop - and that is my favourite Christmas shop. I also loved the Finnish hut in Rudesheim - no cool knitting at the Finnish market this time though :-(
4: We also went to Ypres, which is a lovely time, and it made a really nice change not to go to Bruges on the last day. I was really impressed with the way that the people of Ypres had rebuilt their town to look just as it was (rather than replacing things with ugly concrete like we do), even though so much of it was destroyed in the First World War. Also they sell chocolate, lots of chocolate. This is always a good thing!
5: It was really, really good to get away from work, and to spend time with Mum.
6: The overnight hotel in Belgium was really swish. It had the most impressive hotel shower I have ever seen.
1: The coach crew could have been more informative. Almost all the journeys took longer than they said they would. Also, they didn't make full use of the coach entertainment stuff on some of the long, dark journeys. We didn't even have the sat nav on (perhaps because then we would have realised that the 3 hour journey we had been promised would be 4 hours)
2: The days were very oddly organised, it would have been very easy to give us more time in the markets and less time at the hotel, which as the holiday was called 'Christmas Markets of the Rhine Valley', you would assume that people would want. This was made worse by the lack of facilities in the hotel (no bar, no lounge) and the tiny village, as there was not a lot to do back at the hotel - you couldn't even have a cup of tea with the other people from the trip We also left Cologne far too early, only to be rushed to Belgium in time to buy dinner in a random small town. It would have been much better if we could have stayed in Cologne longer - it isn't like there was a shortage of places to eat!
3: Mum is really struggling to walk now. I know she felt like she was holding me back (she wasn't, it was nice not to be on a route march), but it worries me how fast she got bad this time.
4: They didn't tell us we were going to Ypres, so it was very lucky I had any money left. I am sure I wasn't the only person who was budgeting per day, and didn't realise there would be chance to spend on the last day.
2: The days were very oddly organised, it would have been very easy to give us more time in the markets and less time at the hotel, which as the holiday was called 'Christmas Markets of the Rhine Valley', you would assume that people would want. This was made worse by the lack of facilities in the hotel (no bar, no lounge) and the tiny village, as there was not a lot to do back at the hotel - you couldn't even have a cup of tea with the other people from the trip We also left Cologne far too early, only to be rushed to Belgium in time to buy dinner in a random small town. It would have been much better if we could have stayed in Cologne longer - it isn't like there was a shortage of places to eat!
3: Mum is really struggling to walk now. I know she felt like she was holding me back (she wasn't, it was nice not to be on a route march), but it worries me how fast she got bad this time.
4: They didn't tell us we were going to Ypres, so it was very lucky I had any money left. I am sure I wasn't the only person who was budgeting per day, and didn't realise there would be chance to spend on the last day.
The hotel, our room was the one on the top floor corner facing you(the little roofs over the balconies were very handy in the damp weather):
The misty view from the front balcony, see what I mean about just across the road from the Rhine:
From the side balcony:
Frankfurt:
No market in Boppard, but a rather nice statue:
Rudesheim had a lovely market:
A bar with cats painted on the front:
A shop that sold the cutest miniature cauldrons:
Cologne has a stunning cathedral (or rather, Dom):
With 2 of these on the top:
I didn't realise that the Menin Gate was a town gate, I had the impression that it was more isolated:
Can you believe that this is only 80 years old? The town hall of Ypres was rebuilt from rubble after WWI:
Ypres also has a lovely cathedral:
The misty view from the front balcony, see what I mean about just across the road from the Rhine:
From the side balcony:
Frankfurt:
No market in Boppard, but a rather nice statue:
Rudesheim had a lovely market:
A bar with cats painted on the front:
A shop that sold the cutest miniature cauldrons:
Cologne has a stunning cathedral (or rather, Dom):
With 2 of these on the top:
I didn't realise that the Menin Gate was a town gate, I had the impression that it was more isolated:
Can you believe that this is only 80 years old? The town hall of Ypres was rebuilt from rubble after WWI:
Ypres also has a lovely cathedral:
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Date: 2006-12-04 08:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-04 08:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-04 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-05 06:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-04 10:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-05 06:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-05 01:42 am (UTC)I remember the Cologne Cathedral - it's simply stunning.
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Date: 2006-12-05 06:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-05 08:50 am (UTC)I'm sorry my fellow Finns disappointed you :-(
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Date: 2006-12-05 10:02 am (UTC)I wish you could have joined us!
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Date: 2006-12-05 10:18 am (UTC)Next December is hopefully not quite this crazy... two more days until Basti's very last exam!!
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Date: 2006-12-05 10:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-06 03:45 am (UTC)Glad to know you had such a good time, such nice pictures.
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Date: 2006-12-06 06:45 am (UTC)It would be great to see you and Paul in Europe again sometime soon