Tag Archives: Travel

The Cruise of a Lifetime-Part 10

10 Aug

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Reblog

This is the day we would be transferring from the Gefjon to the Skadi. 

Therefore, we were up at 5:30 a.m., dressed and finished packing.  We had breakfast at 6:45 a.m. with Richard, Judy and Lucy, and Danny who is retired military.  Richard liked to tease Danny, so we had a lively breakfast conversation.

We had to have our bags outside our door by 8:30 a.m.  We were also to have our room keys turned in by 8:30 a.m.  We boarded bus number 3 and left at 9:00 a.m. along with three other buses bound for Passau.  We rode the bus for one-and-a-half hours to Passau.

We moved from the Gefjon to the Skadi.  It was essentially the same ship, just a bit older.  We even had the same room number, 325.  We unpacked our tote bags (they would bring our suitcases later), then at 11:30 a.m. we went on a one-and-a-half-hour walking tour of Passau.

Passau (pass-ow) is known as the “City of Three Rivers.”  It lies at the confluence of the Inn, the Danube and the Ilz rivers.  It was originally a settlement of the Boil Celtic tribe, and later the site of the Roman fort, Castra Batava.  Passau was an important medieval center for the salt trade, the “white gold.”  It was transported from the Alpine salt mines to Passau, where it was processed by entrepreneurs called Salzfertiger.  The salt imports to Passau were forbidden in 1707, and that trade was lost.

During the Renaissance, Passau became famous for making high-quality knife and sword blades.  Local smiths stamped their blades with the Passau wolf, and superstitious warriors believed that the wolf granted them invulnerability.

When fires ravaged the city in the 17th century, it was rebuilt to reflect the baroque character that survives today.  Today, Passau is home to 50,000 people.

We were back on board the Skadi by 1:30 p.m. and had lunch in the lounge with Richard, Judy and Lucy.  By the time we had finished lunch, our suitcases were in our room, so we unpacked them.  We hoped this would be the only transfer we would have on this cruise.  One nice thing about a cruise – you usually get to stay in the same room for the duration, which makes it quite nice.  This was just a small disruption.

After we had unpacked, we went back into town.  We saw St. Michael’s cathedral first, 

and then Saint Stephen’s. 

It is one of the town’s foremost baroque landmarks and boasts the largest pipe organ outside the United States.  Beautiful.  It has 17,974 organ pipes, 233 stops and four carillons.  All five parts of the organ can be played from the main keyboard, one at a time, or all together. 

The Skadi sailed at 5:00 p.m.  At 7:00 p.m. we had dinner with John and Denise from California, and a couple from Los Angeles who were originally from Denmark (never got their names).  He was a German teacher in a high school in Los Angeles.

More interesting sights in Passau:

Remember, we were told that the incomplete “8” equals a “4” – therefore, the date shown is 1499. 
A plaque on the wall in the Glass Museum 

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Cruise of a Lifetime-Part 9

3 Aug

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Reblog

Saturday was a sailing morning, so we slept in a bit, and went to breakfast at 8:15a.m.  We had our breakfast with Richard, Judy and Lucy. 

Lucy and Judy 
Richard and Art, our server 

We are now on the Danube River. We went through the last two locks on our journey during breakfast. These are the first locks that lower the water level rather than raising us up a level.  Most interesting process to watch.

We spent time with the Richard, Judy and Lucy until lunch, which we shared with them.  They are such fun people to be with.  Still reminiscing about Albuquerque.

Carl West had informed the passengers that we would be able to purchase a flash drive with all the pictures he had taken on this trip.  Fred purchased one for us.  I had taken quite a few pictures, but thought that the ones Carl had taken would just add to our experience and memories.  NOTE: Carl West followed each day’s excursions, and was snapping pictures all the time – usually of the groups and what we were seeing.

We docked at Regensburg at 1:30 p.m.

At 2:00 we began a walking tour of Regensburg.  Regensburg is the oldest city on the Danube, and one of Bavaria’s most beautiful, best-preserved medieval towns in Europe.  The Roman Gates of 179 AD are still standing.  It was a very cold and very windy day, so we were back on the ship by 3:45.  As Fred’s Mother, Kitty Wills once said when we were with her and Charlie in Edinburgh, Scotland, “I’m just about as cold and wet as I care to be!”  So we returned to the ship.

There is an area in Regensburg that has brass plaques in the bricks with people’s names and dates on it. They were murdered by the Nazis during World War 2.  Their relatives never wanted them to be forgotten, so this was their way of memorializing them.

Occasionally the Danube overflows its banks, and the river water floods the city.  Here are a few markers with dates – about 15′ to 20′ above the river’s normal level:  February 1893 and June 2013.

Oskar Schindler (of Schindler’s List fame) lived in Regensburg from 1945-1950 in the Goliath House.

Notice Goliath’s left arm around the window frame 

He immigrated to Argentina in 1950.  He died in 1974, and at his request, is buried in Jerusalem.

A point of interest:  Pope Benedict XVI (2005-2013) grew up in Regensburg.  He was the first pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415. 

We stayed on the ship the remainder of the afternoon, since the weather was not too good.  We had a short nap, and just rested.

At 6:45p.m. we were in the lounge where Carl West gave us all the information on the ship transfer the next day.

We had dinner with Jane and Steve (Colorado) and another couple. 

By 9:00 we were back in the room to pack is much as we could of our clothes for the transfer the next day. Because we would have to get up early the next morning, we took our showers before we went to bed. 

Some interesting pictures in Regensburg:

Greenpeace was making a statement  
A Christmas store 

A Christmas store

It’s beginning to look like Christmas

This beautiful wood-inlay table in a shop window 
Notice the horse-drawn carriage on top of the sign 
Cathedral artistry 

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Cruise of a Lifetime-Part 8 Continues

27 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Reblogged

Nuremberg is considered to be Bavaria’s second-largest city.  It attracts tourists with its varied history, medieval Aldstadt (Old Town) and grand castle.  It is surrounded by massive walls, and boasts an abundance of 15th and 16th century art and architecture.

Courtesy Google 

A bit of history about the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal:  It is a little over 100 miles in length, and was started by Charlemagne in 793.  While this original canal was abandoned, a second attempt was made by the Bavarian king Ludwig 1, beginning in 1846, and included 100 locks.  With the advent of railroads, this water route was also abandoned.  It wasn’t until the late 1950’s, after World War 2, that planning began again.  The current canal took over 30 years to complete (1960-1992).

On our tour, we passed a beautiful cemetery where, among others, Albrecht Dürer and his wife are buried. 

Courtesy Wikipedia 

 Albrecht Dürer was an artist from Nuremberg (1471-1528).  While he is known for all types of painting, etc. and is considered Germany’s renowned Renaissance draughtsman, he is known to Fred and me as the artist of the “Praying Hands.”

Courtesy Wikipedia 

 We lived on Albrecht Dürer Strasse when we lived in Wiesbaden, and became quite familiar with his story behind his “Praying Hands” painting.  His residence and workplace is now a “museum,” and some special exhibits include a painting and printing shop, where various techniques are demonstrated.  Unfortunately, we were unable to stop and look.

Albrecht Dűrer house – Courtesy Wikipedia 

Sandra Bullock, the American movie star, had lived in Nuremberg for quite a while, and speaks fluent German.  Her father was a U.S. Army employee, and her mother produced German operas.  She lived in Nuremberg until she was 12 years old, when they moved to the United States.  Years later, when she visited Nuremberg, she gave an interview.  At the end of it she called her niece by name and said, “it is way past your bed time.  Be a good girl and go to bed.”  Sandra’s grandmother still lives in Nuremberg.  

By 1:30 we were back on the bus, going to the ship for lunch in the lounge.  At 2:45 we took the bus back into town and walked around and took pictures.  We saw a cathedral,

Courtesy Wikipedia 

an open-air market,

 and the beginnings of a Christmas Market. 

Beautiful city.

We were back on the bus by 3:45 and back on the ship.  We noticed a cute decal on the back fender of the bus:  a flying carpet.

We sailed for Regensburg about 6:00 p.m.

We had supper at 7:15.  Our table mates were Denise and John from Half Moon Bay, California, Barbara and a friend from Massachusetts.  Carl told us that we would have to change ships, because the river did not have enough water in it to support the ship with all its passengers.  We had been alerted prior to the cruise that we might have to change ships because of the recent drought.  Although we had hoped we wouldn’t have to change ships, it looked like we would be doing it, anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~To be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Cruise of Lifetime-Part 8

20 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Reblog

Friday, November 13, 2015

We were up early and were at breakfast by 7:15.  We were to have a very busy day this day.

We arrived at Nuremberg at 9:00 a.m. and we began the World War 2 tour.  We visited Zeppelin Field, the Congress Hall, Documentation House, and the Memorium Nuremberg Trials.

The Zeppelin Field was where many of the Nazi rallies was held.  It was not as large as we had expected.  The buildings had been reduced to just a few, and the center building had sported the Swastika that was blasted off after the war (famous picture of that event).

Every few yards along the perimeter, there was a building.  When the guide asked if we knew what they were, many in the group suggest one thing or another.  He said, “it’s really very simple.”  When I said, “restrooms,” he said, “that’s right.”  With the 250,000 people assembled, they had to have facilities for them.  (These two pictures were taken by me and cropped)

We visited the Documentation House, which is attached to the Congress Hall.

The Congress Hall was built at Hitler’s demand, and was to be used only for one time each year.  When Hitler was asked how all these buildings would be paid for, he replied that, after they won the war, they would get the money from those Germany conquered.  The Congress Hall was built in the shape that was to duplicate the Roman Coliseum.  The Documentation House held many photos and memorabilia from the Nazi era.

We sat in the courtroom where the Nuremberg Trials were held in the Palace of Justice.  Fascinating room, with large placards holding pictures and notes about the trials. 

Lots of information was given – through the placards as well as our knowledgeable guide.  He mentioned Robert H. Jackson, who President Truman appointed as U.S. Chief of Counsel for the prosecution of Nazi war criminals.  He made some outstanding statements (courtesy Wikipedia):  

Closing Argument for Conviction of Nazi War Criminals

Robert H. Jackson, U.S. chief of counsel for the prosecution of Nazi war criminals

An advocate can be confronted with few more formidable tasks than to select his closing arguments where there is great disparity between his appropriate time and his available material.  In eight months – a short time as state trials go – we have introduced evidence which embraces as vast and varied a panorama of events as has ever been compressed within the framework of a litigation.  It is impossible in summation to do more than outline with bold strokes the vitals of this trial’s made and melancholy record, which will live as the historical text of the Twentieth Century’s shame and depravity.

Nuremberg Prosecutor (1945-1946) Speeches

One of the most famous statements he made was:

            “The true applicant before the bar of this court is civilization.”

Strategies of the American Chief Prosecutor Robert H. Jackson

It all had a profound impact upon us.

~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Cruise of a Lifetime-Part 6 Continued

6 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Reblog

After we found “the door,”

we walked some more of the town and found a Jewish area that included a garden and some tombstones.  We took pictures of some of them.  We had never found this area before in all the times we had visited there.

When we lived in Germany, we were occasionally stopped by Germans on the street and asked for directions – in German!  Apparently we looked the part!  Made us feel pretty good, not to be ugly Americans.  All that to say that, as we walked out on the “Pinocchio” part of Rothenburg, I heard “Entschuldigen…Entschuldigen!”  (Excuse me…excuse me!).  A German couple wanted directions to a café. They seemed a bit  put-off when I said –  in German – that I only knew it a little German.  After they moved on I turned to Fred and said, “we’ve still got it!”  Yea! 

Rothenberg is part of the “Romantic Road” through southern Germany…”linking a number of picturesque towns and castles. In medieval times it was a trade route that connected the center of Germany with the south. Today this region is thought by many international travelers to possess “quintessentially German” scenery and culture, in towns and cities such as Nördlingen, Dinkelsbühl  and in castles such as Burg Harburg and the famous Neuschwanstein.“ (courtesy Wikipedia)

Again from Wikipedia:  In March 1945 in World War II, German soldiers were stationed in Rothenburg to defend it. On March 31, bombs were dropped over Rothenburg by 16 planes, killing 37 people and destroying 306 houses, 6 public buildings, 9 watchtowers, and over 2,000 feet of the wall. The U.S Assistant Secretary of War John McCloy knew about the historic importance and beauty of Rothenburg, so he ordered US Army General Jacob L. Devers not to use artillery in taking Rothenburg.  Battalion commander Frank Burke ordered six soldiers of the 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Division to march into Rothenburg on a three-hour mission and negotiate the surrender of the town. When stopped by a German soldier, Private Lichey who spoke fluent German and served as the group’s translator, held up a white flag and explained, “We are representatives of our division commander. We bring you his offer to spare the city of Rothenburg from shelling and bombing if you agree not to defend it. We have been given three hours to get this message to you. If we haven’t returned to our lines by 1800 hours, the town will be bombed and shelled to the ground.”  The local military commander gave up the town, ignoring the order of Adolf Hitler for all towns to fight to the end and thereby saving it from total destruction by artillery. American troops occupied the town on April 17, 1945.  After the war, the residents of the city quickly repaired the bombing damage.  Donations for the rebuilding were received from all over the world. 

We walked back to the bus and drove back to Würtzburg.

As it had been a rather long day, I decided to go back with the bus to the ship, while Fred toured the Würtzburg Residence.  Fred said later that, while it was most interesting, there were a lot of stairs, and I would have been uncomfortable. So, again, it’s a good thing I did not go on that excursion.

Dinner with the Richard, Judy and Lucy again.  10 o’clock to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Here are some interesting shots of Rothenburg:

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Cruise of a Lifetime-Part 6

29 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Reblog

Wednesday, we arrived in Wűrzburg, Germany.

We were up early, showered and dressed.  At 7:30 a.m. we went to breakfast in the restaurant.  Richard, Judy, and Lucy joined us just about the time we had finished our meal.  We stayed and talked with them for a while. Judy and I compared piano stories, such as when I was playing for Margaret Nikol (concert violinist; see my post on October 7, 2012) and my sheet music began to fall.  I had to stop playing and place both hands on the music to make it stay up.  Margaret was on a long note, and just continued to play.  When she was ready to move on, I was ready, as well.  When I apologized later, she told me that no one noticed.  And she was right!  Even Fred, who had heard me practice so many times, didn’t notice.  Judy said that happened to her, except that the piece of music fell to the floor and she just looked down at it and kept playing!

We had some time before our first excursion, so I transferred the pictures of Miltenberg from our camera to the flash drive I had brought with us.  And it’s a good thing I did – we took a LOT more pictures!

At 9:45a.m. we boarded a tour bus for the 75 minute ride to Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

While on the bus, the guide told us about part of Rothenburg’s history.  Rothenburg has always been one of our favorite German cities.  It is a medieval walled town, and there is a 1.5 mile walkway at the top of the wall that encircles the town, that is still walkable.  According to the info sheet: “The wall connects five medieval gates, complete with guard towers that date from the 13th to 16th centuries.”  Fascinating!

When we arrived in the town center, there was an impromptu brass concert going on, with the players all dressed in German outfits.  They were quite good, and we enjoyed their music.

At 12:00 all of those on the Viking tour that had taken the Rothenburg excursion, met for lunch at the Gasthof Glocke.

It was a neat old eatery, and they were open just for us. 

Unfortunately, they only had one menu:  bratwurst, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes.  I know it was easier for them to only serve one menu for that many people, but we were really looking forward to schnitzel.  Fortunately, since Fred doesn’t touch sauerkraut, he was able to get his without the sauerkraut.  It was still a good meal.  We sat at a table for four, kind of in a booth.  We didn’t get the names of our table mates.  

After lunch, we were on our own to explore Rothenburg.  We found a shop we had seen on the tour, and purchased a Christmas table runner.  We found Käthe Wohlfahrt’s Christmas shop – a favorite place to shop for Christmas ornaments. We purchased three Christmas brass ornaments for Christmas gifts. 

We walked around and found “the door” that we had been looking for (please see my post on December 13, 2015 titled “The Door”)

~~~~~~~~~~Part 6 – To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Cruise of a Lifetime-Part 5

22 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

After sailing all night, we have moved onto the Main River (pronounced mine).  Today was a sailing morning so we slept in.  We got up, showered, dressed and went to breakfast.  We were joined by Richard, Judy and Lucy, better knowing as Lucy B.

We went through one lock during breakfast.  We had gone through many locks overnight.  It is a fascinating procedure to watch…and sometimes a bit nerve-wracking!!  The ship is designed so that, when we go under a low bridge, all the chairs on the top deck are flattened, the sunscreen is collapsed, and the “bridge” is banished to its hiding place, so that everything up top is “flat.”

At 10:00 there was a glass blowing demonstration in the Lounge.  The glass blower did the traditional demonstration in the Chilhuly style.  He makes his products like Pyrex. According to the info sheet: “(he) creates an exquisite work of art from industrial glass in this captivating demonstration.”  He displayed his wares, and they were fascinating.  He had oil and vinegar bottles that I would have loved to get for myself and our girls, but we had to think about shipment, and so didn’t.  He had jewelry – earrings and such.  Really beautiful artwork.  Below are a few examples of Chilhuly glass works.

(Credit to:  By Patche99z – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5328589)

After lunch in the restaurant,  we began the walking tour of Miltenberg, “The Pearl of the Main River.”

It is a neat old town.  Fred and I thought we had been there before, when we lived in Germany, but we didn’t recognize anything we saw.  Here are some good pictures of the town that we took.

They even have directions to the loo! 

We had a good guide.  (NOTE: all the guides that Viking uses are locals, and they really know their stuff about the towns we visited.  We were impressed)  There is a red sandstone that is used locally as well as sent all over the world, as it is quite desirable.  We walked and walked the town.  Quite unique.

Courtesy Wikipedia 

We were back on board the ship after a bus ride from the foot of the Red Stone Bridge.  The ship had traveled farther up the river, and we caught up with it and re-boarded. 

We had dinner in the ship’s restaurant, and our table mates were Velma and Jeff from Australia

and two others, whose names we didn’t get.  Velma suggested a way that she designated her pictures:  She would take a photo of the daily information sheet that is given to each cabin, with the date visible, and any photos following that photo belonged to that day.  I thought it was a good way to keep track of the photos I was taking, and began doing what she suggested.  It seemed to work out quite well.  I was impressed with her suggestion, and told her so with my thanks.

We were really tired and so to bed early.  Our old age is showing!

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Cruise of a Lifetime-Part 4

15 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Reblog

After the excursion to the Marksburg Castle, we were scheduled for a cruise up the Middle Rhein River (from Koblenz to Mainz), and to see all the castles along the way.  Unfortunately, the area had been having a drought for some time, and the river was low. 

Let me explain about the ship we were on.  It is a “long” ship (443 feet), only two passenger levels, since it must pass through some “locks” along the way.

A larger, deeper, ocean-sailing ship wouldn’t be able to navigate those locks.  Therefore, because the river was so low, we were unable to traverse the Middle Rhein River on the Gefjon.  All the passengers (185) – and a few of the crew – were transferred to another ship for the Rhein River cruise.  While our luggage and most of the crew stayed with the Gefjon, they were forced to dump of all the fresh water they had on board (over 100,000 gallons).  In spite of all that, there were spots along the way where there was only 12″ of water below the ship!  So I guess it was a good thing we were off!  Didn’t want to get grounded!

So, instead of seeing the castles from our ship, we all were transferred to the Konigsbacher – a tourist/sight-seeing boat – for the remainder of the day.

 We played “cat and mouse” with the Gefjon all the way to Bingen – we would be in front for a while, then the Gefjon would be in front.  Fun to watch, with the crew waving at us as we passed each other. 

 We did see some castles (we counted 31) while we sailed, and Carl West described them to us.  However, as it was beginning to get too dark to see any other castles, Carl announced that it would be another 90 minutes before we could board the Gefjon again!  Many groans!!  I looked at Fred and vehemently said – “where’s my Kindle???!!!”  Unfortunately, it was locked up in the safe in our room.  It was a rather boring 90 minutes, for sure.  Billie (our concierge)  and the boat’s crew brought out cake and tea for us – charged to Viking, which was nice.

There was a flag flying on the Konigsbacher and I wondered what it represented.  When I asked the crew, they said it represents their home town.

We finally stopped at Bingen, and both the Gefjon and the Konigsbacher were lashed together, so there were only a few steps to get across to get to the Gefjon.

We were finally able to get to supper at 7:30 p.m.  Our table mates were Nancy and Jim from Arizona (they formerly lived in Metro West in Orlando), and Rachael and her mother, Carol, from Sacramento, California.  Rachael earned her law degree from UNM (the University of New Mexico).

Bed by 10:00 p.m. and we were very tired!

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Escape from the Mice.

13 Jun

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I mentioned last week that we were blessed with an unexpected beach vacation opportunity.

This came about while we were in the midst of the mice debacle. I was determined that the pesky mice would not deter us from the beach. Besides that we were experiencing mice fatigue.

How the vacation came about.

At the end of April, a friend texted and asked if we would like to join them for a week at a condo in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Ironically, I had just been looking at the calendar and was pleased to see that we had an entire month with no doctor appointments. (If you are old, you know)

I told here we were available and she gave me the details.

Her friend had booked the condo but decided after the cancellation date to not use it. She offered the unit to my friend and since it had two bedrooms she invited us to spend the week with them.

We were still dealing with the mice invasion, our closets were emptied and the contents scattered. I debated for about 5 seconds whether we should go or stay and root out the vermin. We set out traps, packed our suitcase and left.

The condo was on the beach and we had a lovely beach view by day, and the lights at the pool area were beautiful and soothing in the evening;

Morning coffee on the balcony was a perfect start to the day. We spent time in the evenings chatting on the balcony while the men were glued to their devices.

One day we ventured out to find a seafood restaurant a friend had suggested in Murrell’s Inlet south of Myrtle Beach. I had looked them up online and their menu was enticing and the prices weren’t awful. Trusting the GPS we drove south. We weren’t sure what the restaurant looked like and we almost passed it by.

The food was delicious, each of us chose something different. I decided to step out of my comfort zone and ordered shrimp quesadillas. I was not disappointed. It was delicious!

Another day we visited a shopping and amusement area, Broadway at the Beach. It is laid out around a body of water and to walk around it is two miles. Fortunately motor scooter rentals were available and each of the men rented one. We women walked with a few rest stops. I was proud of us.

My husband loves hats and he enjoyed browsing but he didn’t buy anything. My friend adores purple and there was a purple shop. It was fun to see the variety, everything purple. Of course I had to browse the candy store.

There were a lot of shops to browse and Interesting restaurants. I wanted to have lunch at the Grumpy Monk, but the others weren’t enthusiastic about it.

On check out morning, we weren’t able to score a luggage cart. But the resort had very sturdy shopping carts and my husband grabbed one. It worked really well. Steered better than a luggage cart too.

It was a laid back beach week and exactly what we needed.

We had made plans to go from Myrtle Beach to visit with family in North Carolina.

But plans can change in a moment. A phone call from our daughter in Florida sent us driving south rather than north. More on that next time.

I'm a winner

After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I’m a general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  

My 2025 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media.

I'm a winner

After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I’m a general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  

My 2025 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media.

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The Cruise of a Lifetime-Part 4

8 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Re-blog

I’ve not mentioned that, before each meal, Fred and I would “excuse” ourselves from the rest of the table, to say our blessing.  This morning, at the breakfast table, as we were beginning to excuse ourselves, the other gentleman at the table leaned toward me, arm and hand outstretched across the empty chair between us, and said, “Looks like you are about to thank the Lord.”  When I agreed, we all took hands and prayed.  After prayer, I told him that he sounded like a preacher.  He grinned and said, “well…….”

They turned out to be Richard and Judy, with their widowed friend, Lucy (Richard called her “Lucy B”).  They are from Fort Worth, Texas, and he is the Worship Leader for the 8:00 a.m. service at the North Richland Hills Baptist Church.  He also directs the Senior Adult Choir there.  So while he is not a preacher, he is in the Christian ministry.

Richard and Judy flank Lucy 

We found several points in common:  His wife’s name is Judy – I am Judy.  She is a pianist – I am a pianist (of sorts).  I asked her one time:  If you are eating a piece of cake, what is your favorite part, the cake or the icing?  Her response?  THE ICING!  I gave an air fist pump and a whoop of joy – because that’s MY favorite part of a piece of cake, as well!  WOW….are we twins?

We struck up an instant friendship.   Judy is the pianist for the service at their church (he affectionately calls her “Sister Judy” – i.e. “play us something in the key of G, Sister Judy”).   He would address me occasionally as “Judy2.”

Just a note here to say that the first four years Fred and I were married were spent in Fort Worth, while Fred attended and graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  We are quite familiar with Fort Worth.

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the Rotunda 

While Lucy was up getting her food, we talked about Fort Worth and seminary.  He mentioned that Lucy was a Baylor University graduate, and I told him about my Dad being one of the three students at Baylor in the very first graduating class in the School of Music in 1924.

When Lucy returned, he informed her that my Dad was a Baylor grad.  She blinked and looked at me.  Our conversation took off from there.  She is a die-hard Baylorite!

There is also another connection between Richard and us – he was the Minister of Music  for the First Baptist Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico – my original home church – in the 1970’s!   We began comparing notes on people we both had known while there.  Absolutely amazing!


Original building, First Baptist Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico 

Following breakfast, I wasn’t feeling very well, so I stayed in the stateroom, while Fred went on an excursion (walking tour) to the Marksburg Castle.  He came back saying that it had been a VERY difficult walk/climb, and I would not have been able to manage all the steps and the climb.  I was glad I had stayed home!  But he took lots of pictures, and said it was a delightful castle to explore.  I’m glad he was able to make the jaunt by himself.

~~~~~~~~~~Part 4 to be continued~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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