the list

 I said I would be writing about features of my trip in no particular order, but people keep asking me which cities we went to so I thought I should at least list the cities.  We flew into Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, took a tour of the canals of this Venice of the North, and eventually cruised onto the Rhine.  Cologne was our first stop in Germany, then Cochem, on the Moselle River, Koblenz and Rudesheim, Mannheim and Speyer. After Germany we dipped our toe into France to visit Strasbourg, then ended our trip in Switzerland with time in Lucerne before flying home from Zurich.  In each city we visited the old historic sites, castles, cathedrals and streets of lovely old buildings.  We were frequently reminded that buildings aren't considered old in Europe unless they are at least 500 years old. 

This is a street in Cologne.  If you look carefully at the white building to the left of the yellow one, you will see the             numbers 1 6 8 5 above the windows.  This isn't the address, it's the year it was built.