R&R on the Rhine - Colmar

R&R on the Rhine - Memphis to Amsterdam
R&R on the Rhine - Viking Bestla
R&R on the Rhine - Amsterdam
R&R on the Rhine - Kinderdijk
R&R on the Rhine - Cologne
R&R on the Rhine - Marksburg Castle
R&R on the Rhine - Upper Rhine Valley
R&R on the Rhine - Rüdesheim
R&R on the Rhine - Heidelberg Castle
R&R on the Rhine - Heidelberg and Speyer
R&R on the Rhine - Strasbourg
R&R on the Rhine - Black Forest
R&R on the Rhine - Colmar
R&R on the Rhine - Zurich Day 1
R&R on the Rhine - Zurich Day 2
R&R on the Rhine - Zurich to Memphis

After stopping at the ship for lunch we took an optional excursion to the French town of Colmar.  It's renowned for its well-preserved old town and is the home of the August Bartholdi museum, dedicated to the creator of the Statue of Liberty.  They even had a smaller version of the statue in a roundabout and our bus driver made sure to encircle it so we could get photos!

A great many of the houses in Colmar are half-timbered, meaning the bottom floor was some sort of brick or stone, while the upper floors were made of wood.  The ground floor was often smaller than those above since taxes were levied on the house's footprint, not the total square footage!

A half-timbered house

Colmar's version of Painted Ladies

An artist known as Hansi is famous for making many of the shop signs in Colmar.  He was a staunch French nationalist and during WW II, while Alsace was in German hands, he was wanted by the Gestapo for treason.  He was wounded during his escape to Switzerland and eventually died of these wounds in 1951.

Sign for a butcher shop

Sign for a pharmacy

Two more signs by Hansi

Maison Adolph is the oldest house in Colmar, dating to the 14th century.  Notice its three building styles: rounded arches on the lower two floors, gothic arches in the middle and half-timbered on top!

Maison Adolph

Of course Colmar has a lovely church too, though we didn't go in.  The church of St. Martin dates from 1234-1365.  A pair of storks built their nest on its roof.  Our guide said he'd nicknamed them Martin and Martina.

St Martin's
The stork's nest is the dark spot on top of the roof at right

We had a wonderful week of sightseeing and good times with friends.  We lucked out with the weather as the only real rain we had was one day at Kinderdijk and the temperatures warmed up as the week went on.

Viking really knows what American travelers want and caters to that demographic.  I hope to do another cruise in the future but it'll have to be a few years down the road as I'm booked for next year!  Wonder how I can manage to get paid but be on permanent vacation.  Any ideas?