Birthday in Germany

Manny celebrated his birthday in style today. Our stewardress, Miriam, made 2 swans out of towels and put streamers and flowers on the bed with a note wishing him “Happy Birthday”. What a wonderful surprise after breakfast.  She has been so amazing.

Every morning Tim, Angie, Manny and I sit at the same table with Genine and her father, Bill. We have so much fun talking and laughing. Genine is a wonderful daughter who planned this trip with her father for one year. Bill has great stories. He is always making us laugh. I was talking to them about St. Fr. Damien.  He was declared a Saint on May 10.  I have a saint on my birthday.  St. Damien

More to come about them later.

We woke up in Mannheim, Germany today. After breakfast we took buses to Heidelberg, Germany. The landscape began with flat plains which reminded me of Nebraska and Iowa. The corn, wheat, cabbage and other produce were growing. There was barley, rye and hops. You know what this means...There is beer making and consumption in this region. As we were driving into the mountains, the landscape changes from crops to vines. Grape vines dotted the mountainside. Some of the mountainsides were so steep. Most of the grapes are handpicked. I would love to see how the people climb the mountainside and slow descend picking the grapes and not falling. The picking of most grapes occurs in September and October. Next time we will have to come back during this season to witness the grape picking. The patterns on the mountainsides with the grapevines are amazing. Some are in perfect rows as you look up. Others are start off in rows and a haphazard maybe random pattern begins to develop as you look down the mountainside. If you use are imagination, you can see so many shapes. It was so beautiful. It is so green.

We went to a castle ruin in Heidelberg. There is a wine barrel that holds 56,000 gallons of wine. It took 32 oak trees to build this barrel. It was amazing. On the terrace in the castle there was footprint in the stone. The story is the Prince-elect went hunting and left his wife. His wife requested a handsome knight to her bedroom. While they were “talking” the Prince-elect returned early from his hunting trip. There was no place to hide, so the knight leaped out of the wife's window onto the terrace. The right footprint was the first step. The left foot landed in the Rhine River. Today if the man's foot fits in the right footprint – It is said he is a great lover. In my group there was an elderly gentleman who heard this a place his foot in the print. He is young at heart.  Castle in Heildalberg

The bus took us to the Heidelberg Marketplace. There are so many little shops and vendors peddling everything. It was so beautiful. The bells of the Catholic Church tolled on the hour and half hour. The music playing from the bell tower was beautiful. This bell tower keeps the time for entire town. There were so many restaurants. Restaurants in Europe are different from the USA. You can sit and order a beer and nothing else and no one rushes you to leave. It is so casual. Manny and Tim had a beer at one of the restaurants. We shopped in a few shoppes. It was time to leave. The bus took us from Heidelberg to Rudesheim. The boat was docked in Rudesheim.

Rudesheim is known for Rudesheim coffee. It is made with Ausbach Brandy, brown sugar, coffee and whipped cream. There is a special cup with the brown sugar in it. Pour some brandy into the cup and light it with a match. Stir the brandy and brown sugar until the brown sugar is dissolved. To extinguish the fire in the cup pour coffee leaving enough room for the whipped cream. Now it is time to drink. The alcohol evaporates with the fire. It is delicious. Manny demonstrated how to make this drink on the boat during the day. He did a great job.

Manny and I went to the Music Box Museum in Rudesheim. There were player pianos, all types of music boxes and a player piano with 12 violins that played. This is a private collection. It is housed in an old winery. There was one room in the house with paintings on the wall and the floor from the 11^th century. I bought music box with elephants dancing. I finally found a unique elephant.

There were 75 people from our ship who went to a German Restaurant. It was named Rudesheim Schloss. It was great fun. There was a band playing all types of music. There were 8 people at our table. We went through 8 bottles of Riesling wine. It was delicious. We had saurbraten for the main course. Nick Hale, our Cruise Program Director, sang “Sweet Caroline” to Manny for his birthday. “Sweet Caroline” is sang every at home Red Sox baseball game.  Neil Diamond singing at Fenway Nick did his homework to know this song has significance for the people of Boston. Everyone was singing it. The waitresses carried sparkles and the entire restaurant sang “Happy Birthday” to Manny. What a great way to celebrate his 50^th birthday. The restaurant brought out a board with 6 pewter shot glasses. They picked people to hold the board and after 3 they tipped the board and drank a shot of the brandy or schnapps. It did not matter because after my shot I was wide awake. It was so much fun. Our entire table took a shot.

We stayed after the rest of the people from the cruise left. We were dancing to the music of the band. We did the YMCA and some lady from the restaurant was taking pictures of the 4 of us. We must have been doing it the best. What a great memory. Tim (my brother) reminded me when we lived in Overland Park, Kansas, our father bought us a 1974 Plymouth Duster. There would be 6 to 8 teenagers in the car and we would be doing the YMCA. Simpler time!  YMCA - Village People

We had a great time at the restaurant with everyone. We walked back to the boat. Our crew was having a great party on the top deck. We could hear Kyle (waiter) laughing and having a great time.

What a GREAT day and night!!!!