Knox the Fox continues his European adventure this week with Leah and Tony Cross. Last week, we shared the tour of Corrie ten Boom’s house in Haarlen, Netherlands, but the beauty of Amsterdam, Holland, was the real reason for the timing of the trip.
After the first part of the trip, the group visited the Keukenhof Gardens to see the tulips! Keukenhof is known as the Garden of Europe, one of the world’s largest flower gardens with its 79 acres of flowers including over seven million colorful tulips. It is only open eight weeks a year and this planning hit the gardens in mid-season.
-
- Keukenhof Gardens
-
- Keukenhof Gardens
-
- Keukenhof Gardens
Boarding the Rhine River Cruise, the group meandered down the river with the last stop in Basel, Switzerland, where they boarded a train to journey through that beautiful country. We will learn about both those trips next week. The views from Amsterdam through Germany were breathtaking.
During part of the river cruise, however, they stopped in several cities in Germany: Cologne, Rüdesheim and Mainz.
Cologne, Germany, was founded over 2,000 years ago by the Romans and is one of Germany’s oldest and largest cities, providing picturesque architecture for the touring observers.
-
- Rhyne River Cruise
-
- Views from the cruise
-
- Architecture in Cologne
Rüdesheim, Germany, is known for two things: wine and the Rhine River. Siegfried’s Magical Musical Museum was relocated to Rüdesheim in 1974 and being one of the largest collections of mechanical instruments in Europe, became the curiosity of this group of tourists. (The feature photo for this story shows one of the musical creations in the museum.)
-
- Heidelberg Castle
-
- Largest European Wine Barrel
-
- Celebrating Tony’s Birthday
Mainz is famous for its three defining features: the Romanesque cathedral, the Gutenberg printing press and the Rhineland carnival. In Mainz, they toured the Heidelberg Castle and celebrated Tony’s birthday! The castle contains a 55,000 gallon wine barrel with a dance floor above.
The journey continues down the Rhine toward the Switzerland destination in next week’s conclusion to this remarkable trip.
Knox the Fox loves to share your trips so share yours with susan@knoxtntoday.com.