Sunday, April 20, 2014

Rhine Getaway: Kehl, Germany (4/20/2014)

Still Sunday, April 20, 2014
Lunch appetizers: Vegetable terrine and chive sauce, and carved smoked salmon.
Entrée: Coq au Vin: Braised chicken in Riesling wine sauce with herbed croutons, crispy bacon, and potato wedges.
Sandwich: Tortilla Wrap with Roast Turkey, with crisp potato wedges.
Soup: Cream of Vegetable with garlic bread.
Pasta: Semolina Gnocchi alla Romana in tomato sauce.
Desserts: Traditional Paris Brest, pastry filled with coffee butter cream, or Peach Melba with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce.
This afternoon we had free time with the option to take a shuttle bus back to Strasbourg or explore the town of Kehl. Otherwise there was the optional excursion: The Alsation Wine Tasting Tour. Since it was too early in the season for the this tour to go into the vineyards, they were spending more time in the town of Obernai.
We decided to walk through Kehl. We followed the Rheinpromenade/Rhine Promenade along the river.
Kent, Brynne & Paul
La Passarelle/des Deux Rives/Footbridge of Two Banks
(2004) by architect Marc Mimram
Biblischen Garten/Biblical Garden
Wasserbandbrunnen/Water Ribbon Fountain
Water-powered whirly-thingy
Turned inland towards the Weisstannenturm/White Fir Tower (2003).
Looking up in the center of the
Weisstannenturm/White Fir Tower
Weisstannenturm/White Fir Tower is 44m/144' tall
Came to a sports complex.
"Kehl Gymnastic Team" painted on the back of the stands
Baseball!
Oh, it was painful to watch the baseball players! The sport must be new for them all.
Wasserturm/Water tower (1904-05)
Abandoned house
We saw a lot of these crushed stone
fence/walls on the trip
Recycling is big; here you have to separate glass by color
Flower wall
Before you buy cigarettes, you have to scan your ID
Don't want birds pecking on your walls?
provide them with birdhouse holes
Waterway called Altrheinarm/Old arm of the Rhine
Pruned Platanus sp./Plane trees
St Johannes Nepomuk (1911-14)
Monument of the 14th Baden Pioneer Battalion,
garrisoned in Kehl from 1881-1918
Rathaus/City Hall (1819)
Headed into the Altstadt/old city. There was a big Ostern Flohmarkt/Easter Flea Market on Hauptstrasse/Main Street.
Ostern Flohmarkt/Easter Flea Market
Demonstrating a window cleaner
Pocket comic books
Mutter Kinzig (1861 by Franz Xaver Reich),
representing the River Kinzig
Friedenskirche/Peace Church (1817)
German suspenders
American hot dog in a big baguette with roasted onions,
pickles, ketchup and a special dressing!
Hotel Schwanen/Swan Hotel
Villa Schmidt (1914) built on 1683 fortifications
We returned to Viking Gullveig.
Viking Gullveig library
Every day, you can get a 4-page summary of the news from your home country (seen on the coffee table in the library).
At 17:30, there was a cooking demonstration for making Spätzle/egg noodle or dumpling.
Chef de Cuisine Klaus Ungruh is prepared for an emergency,
while a volunteer uses a handy gadget
to make the irregularly shaped noodles
We got to sample the Spätzle
At 18:15, we had the Viking Explorer Society Cocktail Reception The Viking Explorer Society is anybody who has been on more than one Viking River Cruise. We had drinks and hors d'oeuvre, and a toast with Aquavit, the Scandinavian distilled beverage, in a special Aquavit glass.
At 18:45 was the Daily Briefing. The briefing usually starts with Chef Klaus reading the menu for the evening. Viking is pretty good about giving all information both verbally and in writing, but there are still many who ask for information that has already been given. I don't know how many people asked when the shuttles to Strasbourg were scheduled.
So the Daily Briefing gives all the information necessary for the following day, and then when you return to your room after dinner, the printed "Viking Daily" has been delivered, giving you all the information in writing!
Tonight was the International Dinner.
Dinner amuse-bouche: Bruschetta.
Appetizers: Babaganoush & Hummus, eggplant caviar and chickpea mousse with sesame seeds, or Baby Shrimp Cocktail with cocktail sauce.
Salad: Salad Niçoise with tuna, red onions, tomatoes, potatoes and green beans.
Soup: Parsley Soup and Black Truffle Velouté with puff pastry twist and glazed sugar peas.
Entrées: Wiener Schnitzel: breaded veal escalope with potato salad, crisp parsley, and cranberry marmalade, or
Pan-seared Sea Bass with glazed celery and carrots, leeks with seagrass salad, and mango-lime sauce, or
Sauteed Vegetables & Crisp Corn Tortilla with ginger chips and coconut curry sauce.
Desserts: Traditional French Tarte Tatin: hot apple tart with vanilla ice cream, or
Vanilla Ice Cream or
Maracuja/passionfruit Sorbet or
Mandarin Cake.
Fruit plate: Fresh galia melon.
Cheese plate: Camembert and Goat Cheese.
Suggested wines: Grüner Veltliner and Blauer Zweigelt from Winery Mörwald, Wagram, Austria.

The Viking Gullveig departed from Kehl at 19:00.
During dinner we saw through the window that we had a big stone wall next to us. After a while the boat stopped, and we started sinking! Or at least it felt like that, although we were obviously being lowered in a lock; the Gambsheim Locks (1974), France's largest inland locks, at KM 309.
At 21:15 there was a presentation about the various cruises offered by Viking River Cruises, which we already know about.
Next: Heidelberg.

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