Oh March...

Maybe I should make an annual goal of writing in the block at least once a month. That seems to be my speed these days, so it's a goal I'd hit for sure.

I'm feeling a bit meh today. Yesterday I didn't feel great - felt like maybe a cold was coming on.  Today I just feel exhausted. I'm wondering if it's more allergies now than a cold.  At any rate, I know it's NOT the corona virus.

Since I wasn't feeling overly energetic today I decided it was a good day to start research on my next big trip in May. Sister in Law and I are going on a Viking Rhine River cruise and we're starting in Lugano, Switzerland - home of the boarding school I attended - TASIS.

Before every trip I feel obligated to research and learn of all the things we may or may not see. The history of the country we're visiting, the history and what not of each town, the churches in the town, the politics etc. I find it prepares me for what I'm going to experience. Some people think it takes the surprise out of the trip, but I'm not one for surprises on a trip. I have an overwhelming feeling of missing something, that I can't help myself but to be prepared.

And so today I reviewed all the excursions on this cruise. Viking includes an excursion at each port of call. They also have "extra" ones - many of which are at the same time as the included ones. When I first looked I thought there may be some extras I wanted to go on, but today I found that I'd be happy with the included ones.

Day 1: Breisach Germany - The Black Forest
I've been through the black forest after graduation in 1987 as we traveled up to visit our foreign exchange student in Muchengladbach.

Day 2: Strasbourg France - Highlights tour
These are always my favorites. You have minimal time in one location and a highlight tour really does a good job showing you just that.

Day 3: Speyer, German - Walking tour
Gotta get my exercise somehow. Why not walk through the old town and see things up close.
Speyer is home to the largest of the three Romanesque imperial cathedrals. And I love me some cathedrals.

Day 4: Koblenz, Germany - The Fortress of Ehrenbreitstein
Koblenz is what's known as the middle rhine. It's where you start to really see castle after castle. I'm 100% sure we drove through, past or around this area in 1987 since I have a photo of one of the castles. At any rate, the included excursion is a fortress and this is like a castle.

Day 5: Cologne, German - Walking tour
Something tells me a 2 hour walking tour isn't going to be enough here.

Day 6: Kinderdijk, the Netherlands - Kinderdijk Windmills
If Don Quixote wasn't from Spain...he'd battle his giants here. These beauties are iconic and I cannot wait to see them.

We're still figuring out what we're going to do in Lugano. We have a walking tour booked and know we want to, obviously, see the school. We've got time, we'll figure it out.

We'll also be spending two days in Basel - which is where the cruise begins. They have some walking tours and a hop on hop off type of bus tour...

I'm getting excited for this and it's only a mere 70 days away. Which reminds me, I'd better get to the gym more often than once a week so I can keep up with the SIL.