Freiburg Christmas Market Viking Christmas Market Rhine River Cruise

Its 9am and we are on the bus heading to Freiburg for a tour and then the Christmas Markets. 

Our tour guide was waiting on our arrival. 

Town Square and a view of the city gates which was part of a wall that used to surround the city.

Window Shopping

Manhole covers

 

I loved going to this clock shop.  The walls were filled with cuckoo clocks, and the clocks' sounds were enjoyable.

The Christmas Markets opened at 11 am and we got some gluhwein with the souvenir 50th anniversary mug.

One of the things that impressed me was the cobbled streets.  The stones are precisely cut so that you can walk on them for hours without tiring. The mosaics are as much of a feast for the eyes as the shop windows.

Freiburg Minster " The Cathedral of Our Lady " Catholic Church is located in the town square.

There are lots of gargoyles on the church.

Across the street from the church is Merchant Hall.  Very vibrant-looking building.

The Viking Tour's next stop in Freiburg Germany is Augustiner Museum. 

Lots of religious artifacts and paintings.  The stained glass windows depicted biblical stories.

Lots of religious artifacts within the museum

We got to listen to a man playing this huge pipe organ. The music he made was very humbling.

This store window displayed faces made from clothing. Very impressive.

The Christmas Markets are slowly opening up and there are lots of delicious food smells. All the lights and Christmas music are so nice to keep you in the holiday spirit. If you look in the collage you will see how they dispense ketchup and mustard for sandwiches. This was a nice market, we only had about a half hour.  Not long enough !!!!

These two swans were outside my balcony on the Viking boat today.  I gave them some cookie crumbs and they enjoyed them.  I have never seen a swan this close, they are a pretty big bird.

Getting to France Viking VE

Waiting on Creative Consconcierge Car service to pick us up and take us to Orlando airport.

Arrival at JFK airport.  This is the worst airport I have been in my life.  So hard to find your way around.  Time to de-stress, so we are going to find some food and drink. Goose Island beer and Reuben! 

Beautiful view of the skyline.

I watched several movies on the 6+-hour flight to France, including The Polar Express movie.

Upon arrival to Basel Switzerland, we were told that the river was flooded and we were getting on a bus to travel 2 hours to France.  We are bummed but there is nothing we can do.  We will miss the tour of Basel and Lucerne :-(

We finally arrived but were sent on the wrong Viking boat.  We all went across 2 boats and were told to turn around and get off this was not our boat. What a mess.

We had to walk about a half mile to reach the Viking Ve.  We are tired and not happy campers.  Booked in and our room is assigned now.

Arrival at the Viking Ve

I love our cabin with a balcony. Very nice.

Our first lunch on the boat.

Tonight we are going to the lounge for cocktails. I had a tasty Irish coffee drink and listened to the piano. 

The Expresso martini was super delicious also.  I think I'm finally relaxed and feel like eating dinner.

Met some people from CA who I can't remember their names. We sat with them at dinner. There is no assigned seating. I'm sure we are going to meet many new people and make many new friends.

It's time to end this long day of travel.  I watched out our cabin window as we passed another Viking boat.  Looks like we are moving the boat tonight from France to Germany.  

We are heading to Freiburg tonight while we sleep. In the morning we have a guided tour to the Yuletide Market and listen to an organ concert in a museum.