Cosmos European Jewels, Day 6 (6-21-2009): Cruise on the Rhine, and a stop at Rothenburg , ???(2009?6?21?):????,?????,??? Rothenburg (???)

Because of a wonderful piece of music, the Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II, I knew about the Danube much earlier than its sister river the Rhine. But I like the Rhine as soon as I see it, Not just the river, but the people, the buildings, churches, and those castles and fortifications. overlooking the river. Our Cosmos European Jewels tour, in a sense, is based on River Rhine, for the Rhine flows through four of the countries in the tour: Switzerland Germany, France, and the Netherlands.

All pictures posted here were taken by us. Those from Google, brochure, and the web were duly noted. Most of my posted photos are still missing captions because I do not have time for them yet.

Day 2 (6-17-2009): Arriving in London, visited Big Ben and Parliament Buildings
Day 3 (6-18-2009): city sightseeing, Windsor Castle, & Cruise on the River Thames
Day 4 (6-19-2009): Taking coach to cross the English Channel, then to Amsterdam
Day 5 (6-20-2009): sightseeing in Amsterdam, and canals cruising
Day 6 (6-21-2009): Cruise on the Rhine, and a stop at Rothenburg
Day 7 (6-22-2009): Passing Austria from Munich, then a stop at Cortina
Day 8 (6-23-2009): Visiting Venetian glassblowers, then Tuscan (Venice-Florence area), and a Gondola boat-ride
Day 9 (6-24-2009): Visiting Florence and Pisa the leaning tower
Day 10 (6-25-2009): entering Switzerland and visited Lugano
Day 11 (6-26-2009): a Swiss town Lucerne and a cruise on Lake Lucerne ；group picture before heading for Paris
Day 12 (6-27-2009): Visiting Paris, including the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and the Palace of Versailles.

Note: Day 1 was flying from PDX (Portland, Oregon) to JFK (Kennedy Airport in New York), then to LHR (London), while Day 13 was flying home from Paris.

由于小约翰·施特劳斯的园舞曲蓝色多瑙河，我知道多瑙河早于知道它的姐妹河莱茵河。但莱茵河及沿岸的市镇村庄，尖顶教堂，山头的古堡，应该是人见人爱的。我们的欧洲七国行，四国就在莱茵河畔。它们是瑞士、德国、法国和荷兰。

下面简介摘自网络:

莱茵河（德文：Rhein，瑞士德语：Rhy，法语：Rhin，荷兰文：Rijn，罗曼什文：Rein）发源于瑞士格劳邦顿州的阿尔卑斯山区，途经列支敦士登、奥地利、德国和法国，于荷兰流入北海。全长约1320公里，通航段883公里，流域面积约20万平方公里[1]。莱茵河的长度在欧洲排名第四，仅次于伏尔加河、多瑙河与第聂伯河，它同时也是世界上最繁忙的水道之一。
莱茵河三角洲由于交通便利，较早形成了欧洲的商业城市，例如布鲁日、安特卫普、鹿特丹等。
莱茵河与多瑙河共同构成罗马帝国北界，并行使贸易交通之职。莱茵河沿岸有许多葡萄园，也有许多古堡和田园村镇。从法兰克福到科布伦茨的莱茵河段风景优美，没有架设任何桥梁，全靠摆渡过河，目的是保存该河段的自然风貌。

所有放在这里的照片，凡是网页摘取的都另有声明，其他的都是我们自己拍的。但许多照片没有加注释，因为我尚没有时间查证资料。

第二天(2009年6月17日)：抵达伦敦，参观大本钟和国会大厦
第三天(2009年6月18日)：上午看伦敦城，下午看温莎城堡，晚上泛游泰姆士河
第四天(2009年6月19日):坐四十五位座大巴离开伦敦，搭渡轮过英吉利海峡到达法国对岸，换大巴北上荷兰首都阿姆斯特丹
第五天(2009年6月20日):坐车游览阿姆斯特丹市区，换船逛运河
第六天(2009年6月21日):到达德国，泛舟莱茵河，然后去 Rothenburg (罗滕堡)
第七天(2009年6月22日):离开德国慕尼黑，经奥地利到达意大利 Cortina (科尔蒂纳丹佩佐，1956年冬季奥林匹克运动会城市)
第八天(2009年6月23日):在意大利住两夜，游览意大利文艺复兴的发源地 Tuscan (托斯卡纳) 并去水城威尼斯搭乘 Gondola (貢多拉) 双头尖小船
第九天(2009年6月24日):去 Florence (佛罗伦萨) 及比萨斜塔
第十天(2009年6月25日):游览 Lugano,夜宿瑞士
第十一天(2009年6月26日):游览瑞士 Lucerne (卢塞恩) 城和卢塞恩湖，去巴黎前拍集体照
第十二天(2009年6月27日):观光巴黎，看 Eiffel (埃菲尔) 铁塔, 参观巴黎圣母院和凡尔赛宫

注：第一天系从美国飞英国；第十三天从法国飞回美国。

by the River Rhine 莱茵河畔
The hotel we stayed by the bank of River Rhine： Zum Anker. It's family operated, but is clean, tidy and friendly, like all German we met. It is also the only hotel in all of our European tour that I could get a free wireless access to the Internet. All other European hotels charge the Internet access by the minute--as if their livelihood depends on it.		这是莱茵河畔的一个德国市镇。我们当晚就住在这个旅社。旅社是家族经营，小巧，但整洁，舒适，如同我们遇到的德国人。这也是我们欧洲游中唯一可以免费无线上网的旅社。在其他旅社，上网全都按分钟收钱，仿如他们的生计就指靠它。




Cruise on the Rhine		泛舟莱茵河

towns, villages, castles and fortifications along the Rhine Below from Wikepedia: The Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at 1,320 km (820 mi), with an average discharge of more than 2,000 m3/s (71,000 cu ft/s). The Rhine and the Danube formed most of the northern inland frontier of the Roman Empire and, since those days, the Rhine has been a vital, navigable waterway, and carried trade and goods deep inland. It has also served as a defensive feature and has been the basis for regional and international borders. The many castles and prehistoric fortifications along the Rhine testify to its importance as a waterway. River traffic could be stopped at these locations, usually for the purpose of collecting tolls, by the state that controlled that portion of the river.		莱茵河畔的市镇、村庄与古堡下面简介摘自维基百科：萊茵河發源於瑞士格劳邦顿州的阿尔卑斯山区，途经列支敦士登、奥地利、德國和法國，于荷蘭流入北海。全長约1320公里，通航段883公里，流域面积约20万平方公里[1]。莱茵河的长度在欧洲排名第四，仅次于伏尔加河、多瑙河与第聂伯河，它同时也是世界上最繁忙的水道之一。莱茵河三角洲由于交通便利，较早形成了欧洲的商业城市，例如布鲁日、安特卫普、鹿特丹等。莱茵河与多瑙河共同构成罗马帝国北界，并行使贸易交通之职。萊茵河沿岸有許多葡萄園，也有許多古堡和田園村鎮。從法蘭克福到科布倫茨的萊茵河段風景優美，沒有架設任何橋樑，全靠擺渡過河，目的是保存該河段的自然風貌。





In very village, there is a church.		每个村庄都有一个尖顶教堂


a stop at Rothenburg 罗滕堡
A famous street in Rothenburg with Koboldzellersteig and Spitalgasse Below is from Wikipedia: Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a town in the district of Ansbach of Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia), the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany, well known for its well-preserved medieval old town, a destination for tourists from around the world. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City. A significant fraction of Rothenburg is carfree.		德国古城罗滕堡下面简介摘自网络: 罗滕堡 (陶伯河) 位于德国巴伐利亚州西北部弗兰肯地区的高原上，俯瞰陶伯河（Tauber）。德国旅游的浪漫之路和古堡之路穿行而过，交汇于此。是德国所有城市中，保存中古世纪古城风貌最完整的地区，也是最富有浪漫情调的城市，被誉为“中古世纪之宝”。罗滕堡的德文含义是“红色城堡”，城内房子屋顶大多暗红色，故名。罗滕堡是历史悠久的贸易古城，十三世纪属于神圣罗马帝国的自由城邦，拥有独立的防卫和司法权，各项商贸活动繁荣。雄伟的城墙和坚固的城门是中世纪城市的象征，现在仍完整保留昔日的城墙，被城墙包围的街道也保存良好原貌。在古城的石路上散步，攀登古老的城墙，可以感受中世纪的浪漫，别有一番趣味。


It was a surprise as well as a pleasure to find a Chinese restaurants in such a prime real estate. The signs (top left) usually are an indication of what Chinese cities the owners came from, and what cuisine to expect.		在这样寸土寸金的地段看到中餐馆，即惊讶有高兴。招牌(左上方) 一般可以告诉你厨师来自中国哪里，煮的是什么菜。
The iron bars on the grass by the road appear to have one purpose: stopping cars from driving over or parking on them.		路边草地上的铁栏杆应该是用来阻止汽车停靠上去的。
street posters and ads		街头广告