July 14-26, Rhine River: Basel, Strasbourg, Cologne, Amsterdam…

***updated

• I did a river cruise with my parents down the Rhine river. While the scenery was certainly memorable, I think the most memorable things were the interactions I had with other guests and crew. I had some really interesting and pretty profound conversations with a number of people, including- the president of a major university, a Lebanese Vietnam vet who’s son is an award winning poet and peace activist, and a Hungarian cigar expert. I think… people want to share their stories. If you show some interest and some vulnerability, people are willing to engage deeply. I think… there’s also something important about learning how to listen attentively without any judgment or comparisons- and without injecting your own bullshit into the conversation. That’s pretty hard to do…
• The cruise was mostly full of old folks- except for the crew. The crew was mostly my age or younger. So… later in the evening, I’d go out with the crew after the other guests were asleep. It was pretty incredible- I got to know a Slovenian guy, a Bulgarian girl, and a Ukrainian guy pretty well. The range of nationalities represented was pretty incredible- also Hungarian, Polish, Hungarian, Filipino… Evenings when we were in port, we’d go out to the local bars and meet up with other crew members from other cruise ships. One night was the Slovenian guy’s birthday, which was pretty nutballs. The thing is those guys gotta get up and work in the morning- I can sleep it off. Crazy. Another night we ended up hanging out with the captain and his wife. It’s also pretty fun to hear about the crazy shit that happens on cruise ships… if I was a younger man, who knows… maybe I’ll figure out a way to be a drummer in a cruise ship lounge band.
• Alright- so here’s where we stopped:
  • Basel (2 days)
    • Highlights include the Cartoon Museum Basel, and the Kunstmuseum Basel.
  • Breisach and Neuf Brisach
    • I found a local winery, and went over to the star fortress city of Neuf Brisach
  • Strasbourg
    • Strasbourg is incredible… I really like that city. I also found more local booze including a bottle of an oaked eau-de-vie that was crazy good.
  • Rudesheim
    • The Black Forest
  • Heidelberg
    • The Heidelberg castle
  • Koblenz
    • The Pipehouse cigar shop
  • Cologne
    • Museum Ludwig, the cathedral, and the chocolate museum
  • Kinderdijk
    • Windmills and dikes.
  • Amsterdam- (where I remained for 3 days)
    • I spent a few more days in Amsterdam. It’s a fun place… The Rijksmuseum is pretty incredible. It’s also probably one of the best cities to just wander around in.

Throughout it all, it was just really nice to also spend time with my parents…