Ruminations of a Sailor: Life is a Panorama

An update from March: Pura Vida is safely at the dock at Marina Mazatlan, being watched over by Luis (topsides) and Angel (bottom side). Thankfully, the engine is being worked on by our long-time friend who is a diesel mechanic in Mazatlan. After buttoning up the boat, our travels north began March 31st, and we arrived in Portland on May 11^th. A mere two weeks later, we were on our way to new adventures in Germany and The Netherlands, where we spent three glorious weeks.

As we’ve explored beautiful areas the last two months, I found myself taking several panorama pictures. How could I capture these incredible vistas with a tiny slice, a single shot, and miss all that was happening around me. And so, a 180- or 270-degree photo seemed to fill that need, to capture more of my surroundings and I smiled as I realized that every day, life is a panorama if we stop to look around. Here's a few of my 'takes':

River boat cruise from Koblenz south

"Deutsches Eck" - confluence of Rhine & Moselle Rivers

Riding along the Rhine - check out the yellow High Water mark

Festung Ehrenbreitstein fortress, up the cable car in Koblenz

Siegfried's Mechanical Museum - Rϋdesheim -
with an overwhelming 400 self-playing musical instruments

Palais Het Loo in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, with our friends

A Musical Trip

Our Rhine River route

When we first started planning this trip last July, I had the idea to attend various classical music festivals throughout Germany in May and June: Mozart, Bachfest Leipzig, Handel, Dresden Music Festival – each offering multi-day musical events celebrating their cherished local composers. After trudging through a ton of information, schedules and the logistics, I felt a bit overwhelmed and decided to change course. Hey, how about we take the high-speed train from Munich and visit our friends in The Netherlands, then head upriver on the Rhine back toward Munich?

As some may notice, I can be fickle and Mike is flexible, and thus we redirected to yet another water-based trip, this time exploring the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. Turns out, that region is a pretty spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Site.

And all that Jazz

Papa Joe's - check out the hanging trumpets

Not previously planned but a pretty cool windfall during this time was three consecutive Fridays of Jazz. Starting on the Columbia River at Salty’s, before we left town, with the

Got the last seats at Vogler
club before the show started

Mel Brown Trio’s instrumental jazz; in Munich, we scored last minute seats at the popular Jazzbar Vogler (jazz/blues with multi-piece band and two sultry singers in a crowded club); then, in Cologne at the funky Papa Joe's Jazz Bar, featuring upbeat Dixieland Jazz.

The Netherlands

Wandering with our friends
in Oudewater, the Netherlands

After three active days exploring Munich – city tour, requisite beer gardens, Englischer Garten park, markets … – we hopped the fast train north to Utrecht, where our Dutch friends picked us up. We spent three fabulous days together: celebrating Mike’s birthday with outdoor dining in their quaint historical village, enjoying a remarkable day at Palais Het Loo in Apeldoorn, a full day of biking, visiting the incredibly creepy Witch Museum in Oudewater where for hundreds of years, targeted people would be weighed to determine if they were witches – the consequences were dire…

A million thanks to our friends for another wonderful visit.

Off to Rotterdam to explore that bustling harbor city, walking in the torrential rains, excellent Maritime Museum, then a southbound train to Germany’s Rhine region.

Boat, Bike, Train

Day 2 of our biking excursions

We spent the next 11 days along and, on the Rhine River – train to Cologne and the famous cathedral Der Dom; river boat cruise to Koblenz where we biked three days along the Rhine and Lahn; river boat to Rüdesheim on Rhein (my favorite city); train to Mainz; and finally, train to Munich for our return trip.

We had our fill of museums, churches, statues, cable cars, Aperol Spritz, pretzels, steps and markets such that I could write for days. Each destination provided spontaneous exploration and culinary delights.

Another rainy day- riding up to the
Marksburg castle. Worth the ride!

Lothar the bike rental guy, showing us
recommended routes for our travels

Went to a Croatian restaurant
across from our hotel in Munich. Told
the owner we'd been in Croatia and
he gifted us the house Schnapps

Der Dom/The Cathedral, Cologne
standing in front of a spire, of
which there are many atop this
centuries-old, storied cathedral

Our colorful storytelling tour guide
in Cologne with statues of 2 equally
colorful, famous puppets. You
stand on their feet and touch their nose.
One represents Love, the other, Money,
and you can't touch both. Touché...

1st chocolate vending machine from a
famous German chocolatier- they installed
it at a subway platform in NY to expand
their customer reach; this was a 4 story
museum

Another castle across from Assmann;
we hiked from

Rϋdesheim to
Assman on wooded trails then
took a boat back to town

We were blessed with mixed weather and kind people everywhere. My German served us well, that is until I would ask something ‘auf Deutsch’ and the rapid-fire responses left me wide-eyed – at which point, the person would usually switch to English. But I could read enough signs, placards at museums and menus to suffice.

At Marksburg Castle, a room full of armor over the
centuries, from a private collection. Amazing!

View from Assmann during our overland hike,
standing on the remnants of a king's hideaway

Fabulous 90 degree view from our room - 4 days
in Koblenz; we found the local Thursday market
just as a big storm loomed, bought our 'picnic' treats,
rode our bikes back just in time and had our
picnic in the room - not sitting on the river bank