Strasbourg

A very early start today which meant leaving Speyer at 2 am for the long journey to Strasbourg. Long in time taken, although not so far in distance because the ship has to pass through three river locks on its way. The locks are amazing, with barely room for two of these river cruisers to berth side by side and great skill is needed by all the crew to ensure there are no bumps and scrapes. We arrived safely in Strasbourg at 2 pm and coaches drove us to the centre of the old town for a guided walking tour.

I'd only ever seen photos of the modern part of Strasbourg with the European Parliament buildings etc and was quite unprepared for the beauty of the old town on the Grande Ile with its magnificent timbered buildings and lazy canals, very reminiscent of Bruges. The Cathedral is hugely ornate both on the outside and inside and contains the famous astronomical clock built in 1547 and still working perfectly today.

The tour guide gave us lots of interesting information and stories and really brought the area to life for us and we even managed a quick sprint round the shops before catching the coach back to the ship:-) Some tourist-y gifts may have been purchased!