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Christmas Markets River Cruise
I was able to take my 17 year old daughter along with me on a wonderful AmaWaterways River Cruise on the Rhine River, with the added benefit of it being Christmas Market time. As this was a Ladies Only Cruise group, I had time to spend it with friends as well.
We arrived in Basel, Switzerland and headed straight to the local Christmas Market, where we tasted all the local favorites, including Gluhwein and hot chocolate.
We boarded our ship, the AmaLucia, the next afternoon and sailed away from Basel, passing low lying bridges and decorated homes and businesses along the way.
Our ports included Riquewihr, France; Strasbourg, France; Speyer, Germany; Ludwigshafen, Germany; Rudesheim, Germany; Cologne, Germany; the Rhine Gorge, and Amsterdam.
We visited so many Christmas Markets, each with their own unique decorations and trinkets. We shopped, we ate, we drank, we shopped some more. We toured each little town with their histories of the past. We walked along the ancient Roman cobblestone streets, visited beautiful cathedrals, witnessed the ruins and destruction left by World War II, saw and visited castles (even one at night with its ghost stories), and even saw mistletoe hanging from the trees as we sailed by.
We had fabulous meals onboard and thoroughly enjoyed The Chef's Table dining experience, as we watched him make our meals and explain what we were being served.
We decorated Christmas trees, sang Christmas carols, and were even visited by St Nicholas. One night, he left us goodies in our slippers outside our doors.
It was over too quickly, but we were left with so many memories, as well as forever friends on AmaWaterways. It was a beautiful trip, and I can't wait to do it again.