Travel Postcard-pretty Switzerland Back on the Da Vinci, now docked in Basel, passengers enjoyed performances by Swiss folk-dancers and an alphorn-player. Both offered tantalizing glimpses of the next day’s tour of the Swiss Alps. It began with a cog railway ride to Kleine Scheidegg, past jade lakes, wooden chalets and glaciers that frosted craggy peaks like meringue. Our restaurant, at 2,061 metres, nestled at the foot of the massive 4,158-metre snow-clad Jungfrau. After a lunch of regional foods with wine, we walked through meadows of yellow buttercups to soak up the alpine beauty. On the trip’s final day, passengers enjoyed a coach tour to Lucerne and Basel’s attractions – including its Town Hall and splendid 16th-century clock. During our farewell dinner, passengers enthused about the cruise. “It’s such a leisurely way to see Europe,” said Frieda, one of 80% of people who’ve booked repeat trips with Journeys by Jerry Van Dyke. “They sure took good care of us.” Clinking wine glasses, everyone agreed. Black Forest delights The next day, theDa Vinci travelled through several Rhine locks while we took a coach tour of Germany’s Black Forest. In an open-air museum, we sat in the kitchen of a 1612 house and watched a costumed woman spin wool. A waterwheel-powered mill ground grain, just as it did in 1609. Bakers used the organic flour to make fragrant loaves of bread. The hilltop perch of Hornberg Castle, our next stop, offered 360-degree views of the town and valley below. Our group lunched on venison, red cabbage and spatzle (egg noodles) in its medieval dining room. Some of us enjoyed Ketterer beer, which was named after Anton Ketterer who built the first cuckoo clock in 1730. Near Hornberg, mechanical beer-drinkers, tuba players and dancing wood-choppers adorned the world’s largest cuckoo clock. Inside the adjoining cuckoo clock factory, owned by six generations of the Herr family, we admired clocks of all sizes, shapes and prices. Another treat awaited at Gasthof Pension Café Zum Kruz – generous servings of Black Forest torte, thick with whipped cream and boozy Alsace wine country While theDa Vinci cruised to Basel, we time-travelled back to the 16th century on a wine villages tour. Following a cobblestone street through a stone Renaissance gate in Riquewihr, we discovered a storybook setting of crayon-coloured homes, charming signs and window boxes overflowing with pink geraniums. Our tour continued to Kientzheim and Eguisheim. Strolling along the pretty cobblestone streets, we couldn’t resist taking photo after photo of their blossom-embellished fountains, buildings and shutter windows. To make the extraordinary day even better, our guides invited us into a familyowned hotel for a tasting of superb Alsace wines and a lunch of local specialties. kirsch-marinated cherries. The kirsch bottle labels featured images of women wearing curious hats. That evening, Black Forest dancers performed on the sundeck. The women’s 200-year-old costumes featured the hats, covered with 11 wool pompoms – black for married women and cherry-red for single girls. CSANews | FALL 2018 | 25
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