Tuesday, September 17

Slept pretty good Sunday night even though the room was warm and I had the window open and the fan on. The hotel is in the city downtown area so was fairly noisy, but once I was asleep I stayed that way until the garbage was being taken.

We met for breakfast in the restaurant attached to the hotel. Nice spread of typical European breakfast – cheeses, breads, meats, cereal, fruit and eggs to order. Both hotels and the ship had the same kind of coffee machine where you could get regular coffee and any time of espresso drink you wanted.

The only unusual thing this hotel had was a huge honeycomb. I have seen pieces of honeycomb in restaurants before but nothing like this. It looks like the frame from the hive is slid into a specially made metal tray so the honey stays put.

After breakfast, Don and Frankie went to meet his cousin, Peter, again at his atelier. I went to my room and ended up sitting on the little balcony in the fresh air and writing blog posts.

I took a shower and let me tell you about European showers – they are weird. When I was in Paris, the shower had directions! None of the ones in the hotels or ship did and some of us had a cold shock! There is usually a couple of handles with a handheld shower nozzle and a large one on the ceiling. Once I figured it out, I was okay.

The other thing that was unusual in both hotels was the hair dryer. It does not stay on. You have to hold it down the entire time you are drying your hair.

I met up with the guys for wine at a nice little cafe. We were across from the Hotel Adler and their cow, Heidi. Many people stopped in front of us to take a picture.

Frankie had bought one of Peter’s man bags. He had to have the strap changed from left to right so didn’t have it yet. It is all handmade and will be something that will last him forever. He picks it up in the afternoon.

We moved on to another place to get a couple snacks to eat. The one we were at was more of a seafood place and I kept smelling not so good seafood smells.

The whole area around our hotel is full of cafes with sidewalk tables so it isn’t hard to find one. We stopped at a tapas and pasta place. More wine and some salad, chicken wing pops (the big bone with the meat pushed into a pop), and calamari.

I went back to hotel and took a nap after all that wine. They guys went to pick up the bag.

We met up for dinner and went to Swiss Chuchi, a fondue and raclette restaurant. Don wasn’t very hungry so he got onion soup with a puff pastry ‘crouton’, which was actually more like a sheet of pastry over the top of a large bowl.

Frankie and I got the raclette, since I had never had it before. I chose the pork and Frankie got the veal sausages.

The place was very busy and it was funny how some people act and treat the waiters. We had ordered a bottle of wine and our waiter brought it out and was getting ready to open it when a man (American) demanded he pay his bill right then. So, we were put on hold while this was taken care of and the man and his family left. So rude!

Then while the waiter was once again opening our wine, a couple at another table raised their hands like they were in school. They had been seated after us and had their menus, so it wasn’t like they were being ignored. The waiter said he would be with them soon, and finished our wine. There were many waiters and everything was taken care of fairly quickly.

The waiter brought out a cooking device that had three levels to it and plugged it in and turned it on. It started heating up quickly. Next another man brought out Don’s soup then returned with two plates for Frankie and me. One with our meat and the other, a divided one, with pickled onions, gherkins, tomato, mushrooms, pear, baby corn, cheese and a space in the middle. Then he got a bag of small, hot potatoes and long fondue type forks.

He demonstrated how to do it. The meat went on top to cook along with mushrooms, corn, or whatever you wanted. Then there was a little square skillet where you put the cheese and put it on the second level where it melted and bubbled up. You cut up your potato, added the mushrooms, scraped the cheese out with a special tool and then cut up your meat and ate. It was fun and delicious.

Dinners usually take a couple of hours and they never rush you. You always have to ask for the bill. When we left, there were many people still waiting for a table.

We slowly walked back to the hotel and said goodbye to each other. Their flight was a couple hours earlier than mine. My flight had been changed from going through Atlanta to going through JFK. The time had changed by two hours and I get in an hour later. Go figure.

So ended my great European river cruise trip with Don and Frankie. We have talked about other trips but no firm plans yet.

They are always great fun to travel with and we get along pretty darn well. I can be a loner so many times that it can be hard for me to be around others for extended periods, but this has been great.