#ChristmasInGermany25
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ladewig.com
Bonjour! We're in France today. Specifically Strasbourg. #ChristmasInGermany25 #VivaCruises #Strasbourg
December 23, 2025 at 8:00 AM
ladewig.com
Merry Christmas from Germany! We're just arriving at Rüdesheim after spending the night at Mainz. This afternoon we sail on to Koblenz. #ChristmasInGermany25 #VivaCruises #VivaMoments
Sunrise on the Rhine River. Some thin islands are visible and the west bankn of the river just beyond.
December 25, 2025 at 6:56 AM
ladewig.com
Guess where we went today. Here's a hint. #ChristmasInGermany25
Selfie of me standing below and looking up at a sign that says "Aachen Hbf"
December 18, 2025 at 6:58 PM
ladewig.com
We visited Aachen yesterday. Toured the Cathedral and Christmas market.

Definitely book the tour if you go because you get access to things you won't otherwise get to see. #ChristmasInGermany25 #Aachen

1/6
View of Aachen Cathedral from the east. View of Aachen Cathedral from north side. View of entrance to Aachen Cathedral and the courtyard from the west.
December 19, 2025 at 8:25 PM
ladewig.com
We were in Speyer today and elected to stay in town rather than go on the offered Heidelberg tour.

The Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage site (like Köln and Aachen) and has 1000+ years of history and a crypt full of emperors and kings. #ChristmasInGermany25 #VivaCruises #speyer
Cathedral Front of cathedral Interior of cathedral with altar and a suspended crucifix. View of cathedral looking down it's length
December 22, 2025 at 5:31 PM
ladewig.com
More scenes from the Aachen Cathedral... #ChristmasInGermany25 #Aachen

6/6
Stained glass windows in a cathedral apse Close up of some stained glass windows. An octagonal chapel. A gilded wooden medallion of the Virgin Mary.
December 19, 2025 at 8:25 PM
ladewig.com
Of the aforementioned relics, the remains of Charlemagne are authentic. The textiles... not so much. #ChristmasInGermany25 #Aachen

5/6
December 19, 2025 at 8:25 PM
ladewig.com
I'm only posing the occasional photo from our trip here, so head over to Facebook or Instagram to see those.

#ChristmasInGermany25
December 22, 2025 at 4:18 PM
ladewig.com
Yesterday our cruise stopped in Boppard, the city where I studied German at a Goethe-Institut in 1987.

It was neat to be back, but a bit strange. After 38 years things change (new train station, Goethe-Institut closed) and memory gets fuzzy. 1/3

#ChristmasInGermany25 #Boppard #VivaCruises
Boppard river promenade with St Severus basilica to the left. Half-timbered house Half-timbered house Ruins of a Roman fortress
December 22, 2025 at 4:53 PM
ladewig.com
…and our cruise is over. Had a great time and very much enjoyed our time on the Rhine on Viva Moments.

Now waiting in the lounge for our taxi to the train station and then our train to Frankfurt. We’ll overnight there and fly home tomorrow morning. #ChristmasInGermany25 #VivaCruises #VivaMoments
View off our balcony on a river boat on the Rhine in Düsseldoef. A bridge is visible. View from our balcony looking over at Düsseldorf and the Rhine River with a large tower and brisge in the distance.
December 27, 2025 at 7:56 AM
ladewig.com
Our last night on Viva Moments and the first song out of the gate at “Disco Night” is Boney M’s “Daddy Cool”. A+

#ChristmasInGermany25 #VivaCruises #VivaMoments
December 26, 2025 at 8:05 PM
ladewig.com
I haven't been to Mass, let alone a Christmas Mass, in decades, but if you're in Mainz on Christmas Eve, it seems like going to the Cathedral is as good a time as any to go.

#ChristmasInGermany25 #VivaCruises #VivaMoments #mainz
Interior of the Mainz Cathedral looking west from the east chancel to the west chancel. The pews are full and people are standing.
December 24, 2025 at 3:04 PM
ladewig.com
The museum also has a Soviet Buran shuttle. It is OK-GLI which was used for glide testing and atmospheric flight for landing after reentry. This model included jet engines so that it could take off under its own power. I never thought I'd see one in person. #ChristmasInGermany25 #VivaCruises
Soviet Buran space shuttle Buran test article that traveled to space and is scarred from reentry. Rear view of the Buran shuttle. Buran shuttle cargo bay
December 22, 2025 at 6:05 PM
ladewig.com
After a short train trip from Köln to Düsseldorf, we’re ready to start our river cruise on Viva Moments. #ChristmasInGermany25 #VivaMoments #VivaCruises
A river boat on the Rhine River at the sock in Düsseldorf. It says “Viva Moments” on the bow. A bridge is in the background. A wide angle photo of a river boat on the Rhine River at the sock in Düsseldorf. It says “Viva Moments” on the bow. A bridge is in the background.
December 20, 2025 at 1:14 PM
ladewig.com
The original part of the Cathedral is Charlemagne's octagonal palace chapel. There you can see the Barbarossa Chandelier, the Miraculous Image of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus, and the beautiful mosaics. #ChristmasInGermany25 #Aachen

3/6
A four meter wide wheel chandelier made of gilt copper hangs in the Palatine Chapel at Aachen Cathedral. Our tour guide is standing below and to the left of thr chandelier. The roof of the Palatine Chapel decorated in the Byzantine style. Statue of St. Mary and Baby Jesus dressed in identical outfits. Mosaic of Christ in the Byzantine style
December 19, 2025 at 8:25 PM
ladewig.com
The tour gives you access to the choir and you get up close to both the Marienschrein (its relics: swaddling clothes & loincloth of Jesus, the dress of Mary, and decapitation cloth of John the Baptist) and the Karlsschrein (contains the remains of Charlemagne). #ChristmasInGermany25 #Aachen

4/6
Shrine of gilt silver in the shape of a basilica. Shrine of oak and gilt silver. Cathedral apse with tall stained glass windows View of the Marienschrein over which hangs a wooden medallion of the Madonna and Child carved by Jan van Steffesweert of Maastricht in 1524
December 19, 2025 at 8:25 PM
ladewig.com
We went on the ship's waking tour with a great local guide. After the tour we stayed in town so I could walk up to where the Goethe-Institut was (and get a cardio workout going up the hill). Unfortunately we were there on Sunday so nothing was open. 2/3

#ChristmasInGermany25 #Boppard #VivaCruises
A school building
December 22, 2025 at 4:53 PM
ladewig.com
One of the things you can only see on the tour is the Throne of Charlemagne. The throne was used in the coronations of 31 German kings, but not for Charlemagne. It is made from four pieces of maarble supposedley from the floor of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. #ChristmasInGermany25 #Aachen

2/6
The Throne of Charlemagne, a simple throne made of four pieces of marble and sitting on a platform with steps. The Throne of Charlemagne and our tour guide. Lines etched into one of the throne panels in the shape of a Nine Men's Morris board. Another view of the Throne.
December 19, 2025 at 8:25 PM
ladewig.com
What we did do, however, was recreate some photos from both my time here in 1987 and Kristin's mom's visit in 1978.

I need to combine mine later, but Kristin combined hers. 3/3 #ChristmasInGermany25 #Boppard #VivaCruises
Four photos in one. The top left and right show the Römerburg Hotel and Restaurant in 1978z The bottom left and right show it today. The upper right shows Kristin's mother and in the one below it, Kristin is standing where her Mom was s47 years earlier.
December 22, 2025 at 4:53 PM
ladewig.com
After the Cathedral, we ate at the Christmas Market that runs the length of Maximilianstraße from Cathedral to the Old Gate. We had a Langos, half-meter bratwurst (they double it up on the roll), and two Glühwein (one blueberry, one cherry). #ChristmasInGermany25 #VivaCruises #speyer
A baroque church behind Christmas Market stalls and people eating and drinking. A glass mug of blueberry Glühwein next to a Hungarian Langos with ham and cheese and garlic sauce. A bratwurst on a roll next to a blue mug of cherry Glühwein. Christmas market stalls and a tower with gate at the end of the street.
December 22, 2025 at 5:44 PM
ladewig.com
Then the Technik Museum. This place is amazing. They have cars, motorcycles, trains, planes, spacecraft, submarines, and more. There is a 747 mounted as if it were taking off and you can climb the stairs and walk around inside with everything on an angle. #ChristmasInGermany25 #BreedersCup #speyer
Rows of cars with an airplane hanging upside down. A 747 mounted with stairs leading up to the aircraft. Upper deck in a 747 with two mannequins in first class seats and two dressed as crew behind them. The scene is tilted to the right. Selfie of me standing on end of wing of a 747 with fuselage behind me.
December 22, 2025 at 5:56 PM
ladewig.com
While touring Cologne Cathedral on Friday, I came across the tomb of St. Engelbert. For a guy who was murdered in 1225 by his cousin while Archbishop of Cologne, he seems pretty nonchalant about the whole thing here on his tomb. #ChristmasInGermany25 #koelncathedral #koeln
An effigy atop the tomb of St. Engelbert depicting a man dressed as a bishop reclining on his side with his head resting on his arm supported by his elbow. A cherub is arranging his robes. Close up on the head and the arm of an effigy atop the tomb of St. Engelbert depicting a man dressed as a bishop reclining on his side with his head resting on his arm supported by his elbow.
December 21, 2025 at 9:48 PM
ladewig.com
We saw an ambulance meet a riverboat this morning in Rüdesheim on Rhein, and now we're making an unplanned stop at Oberwesel for a medical emergency onboard. #ChristmasInGermany25 #VivaCruises #VivaMoments
December 25, 2025 at 2:45 PM