My husband forgot it was my birthday, but Stewart, the Hotel Manager didn’t! He whispered a discrete ‘Happy Birthday’ as we went down for breakfast. As did our Butler Joana, and the cabin attendant, who devised a very creative birthday cake out of towels!
A very nice way to begin the day. My husband remembered somewhere between the eggs benedict and the latte.
While it is a bit sad to be away from family when your birthday rolls around, new friends on board are generous with their good wishes. It is a very pleasant way to celebrate an occasion.
Today we are docked in Rudesheim, an almost too perfect little town that is aglow with Christmas lights, angels and nativity scenes.
On each shore stop, passengers can choose from a selection of tours. These are tours which are included in the cost of the a Scenic cruise, and it is a real substantial benefit not to have to ponder whether to take a tour or not based on the expense, or to have to settle up at the end of the cruise for tours that were taken. (So far, day 5 of the cruise, I have yet to need my wallet for anything!)
We’ve been to Rudesheim before, so Bob and I chose to do our own walking tour. The whisper guides we all have contain a guided walking tour that gives you the history of the town and indicates point of interest.
We walked through the narrow streets, met our Welsh friends and decided to have lunch in town – sausages on fat little buns, with pungent mustard.
No visit to Rudesheim would be complete without enjoying a Rudesheim coffee – made at the table, with local brandy that is flamed in the cup, then coffee is added and a mound of sweetened whipped cream is placed on top. Totally delicious and very warming.
I bought little kitty cat mittens and two carved wooden cats for the grandchildren.
We had early dinner on board so that passengers could experience the Christmas Markets at night when we arrive in Koblenz at around six pm. Our table receives glasses of champagne, a lovely birthday cake and a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday from the restaurant crew.
Don’t miss the markets at night. The Koblenz markets were magical, full of people enjoying the food and the mulled wine, music, laughter and twinkly lights.
Even though we weren’t hungry, we couldn’t resist a local specialty, deep fried patties of potatoes and onions, served steaming hot with applesauce.
Heidi, Editor-In-Chief
