COSMOS The Best of Europe Day 6-Germany

The next morning, we enjoyed a large breakfast of beautiful and tasty foods. We left the Ramada at 7:30 and headed further South in Germany. We passed through Germany from the far North to the far south….it was incredible.

In Germany, we first stopped in Oberwesel and the COSMOS tour offered a Rhine River excursion, which as a family, we chose not to partake in. instead, we ventured out on our own and explored the small, quaint town of Oberwesel.
Walking through Oberwesel is like walking back in time. This hidden little town has seemed to have protected itself from the hustle and bustle of modern life. Sparsely populated and situated right on the Rhine River, Oberwesel was beautiful beyond imagination.

After passing through small alley ways, lined with brick walls and colorful flowers, we made our way to the main street. Small shops adorned each side of the street. Over the rooftops we spotted tops of castles and steeples. In the streets we also admired a lot of statues, erected as monuments.

We stopped at a small pastry shop and ordered a few pieces of art (beautifully made pastries) to share. We also ordered coffees and the lady behind the counter, who spoke English very well, offered to wipe down the wet outside tables as to make them available to us. We accepted and enjoyed our mid-morning treat on the main street of Oberwesel. We strolled through the tiny little town and enjoyed peeking into shops, before getting back onto the bus.

Our next stop was Heidelberg, Germany. Heidelberg is an old college town, where actually a new university is being built. Heidelberg is extremely impressive with its colorful but old streets lined with shops offering both antique and contemporary items. As a family we could not get over how beautiful the town was. Wrapped around a large church in the center of town, an open-air market offered souvenirs of all kinds.

While admiring all of the souvenirs, we examined a map of Germany and discovered that we were in the region of Baden. This was extremely exciting for us because our family, who immigrated to the states in the late 1800’s, came from the region of Baden (on my maternal grandfather’s side). We have actually planned a trip to Broggingen, Germany (in the Baden region) for a 1 week after we end our COSMOS The Best of Europe tour.

Souvenirs of interest to purchase in this area of Germany include cuckoo clocks, made in the Black Forest. As a family, we decided to wait until we return to Germany, to purchase our souvenirs.

After Heidelberg, we continued through Germany before finally reaching our Switzerland destination of Lake Lucerne. Switzerland is breathtaking with it rolling green, Christmas tree covered hills, Swiss Alps, crystal blue sky and ornate houses scattered through valleys and amongst the trees. We reached Lake Lucerne and our hotel, Luzernerhof.

The town of Lake Lucerne is breathtaking. The lake is absolutely lovely. It is surrounded by the Alps, and the beautiful town which shares its name. Despite its beauty, at least one more thing can be said about Switzerland…expensive!!! Everything in Switzerland is extremely expensive. A person could spend $2000 on purchasing one outfit, easily. I did however manage to find a beautiful scarf, on sale, for 5 Swiss Franks! This is about $5.00, the exchange rate is nearly even. What costs so much, is just the fact that everything is so expensive, it has nothing to do with the exchange rate.

COSMOS The Best of Europe Day 5-Germany

We left Amsterdam at around 3pm and headed for Germany. This was a very long travel day. Once we entered Germany, the landscape became magnificent! Germany is covered in green trees which in many places are so abundant, they make seeing through the forest impossible.
Once we reached our hotel, in Bruehl, Germany, and after making a few rest stops, we all checked into our rooms. The Ramada Bruehl offered nice size rooms, though not as nice as the previous hotels. Immediately after checking in, dinner provided by COSMOS was offered in the hotel restaurant.
The dinner was buffet style, with a marvelous variety of foods. Dusty and I decided to make the most of the buffet and enjoyed a 4-course meal (with small servings of course). For our “appertif” we chose cheese and fresh bread. Next, we enjoyed a salad, and for dinner had a small helping of pork medallions in a mushroom cream sauce with pasta. Finally, for desert, we chose some custard with cream and berries. We hung out after dinner, sipping coffee and chatting with fellow tour members. It was a delightful dinner.
Once we made it back to our room and got settled in for bed, rain began to hit the window. Not long after that, fireworks filled the sky! It was an amazing show that lasted for about 1 hour! We have no idea what the occasion was but we thoroughly enjoyed the show! The next morning, we mentioned the show to the others and no one else saw anything! I guess we were very lucky.