This brings us to the last day of April, and my 55^th birthday. I can’t think of a more wonderful way to spend my birthday than on such an incredible cruise and vacation in Europe! It was a cruising day for the ship…we started the morning in Speyer, Germany and left the ship for a walking tour. After the tour, a bus took us to Worms, Germany where the ship met us and then immediately departed for Rudesheim, Germany. Viking definitely plans these itineraries to maximize the number of ports we visit and the time we have to spend in each!

Our local guide in Speyer was a lifelong resident who lives in his family’s home that has passed through several generations. The town itself was much larger than we expected, and it definitely doesn’t look 2,000 years old. Holy cow, that’s old! It’s actually one of the oldest cities in Germany and has about 50,000 residents. A Roman military camp was established there in 10 BC. The term Protestant originated here in 1529 when the edict that banned Martin Luther’s works was protested in Speyer.

The town’s cathedral dates back to the 11^th century and is an interesting mix of Romanesque, gothic, and baroque styles – as portions were built or rebuilt, the current style was used. It is the burial place of several Holy Roman emperors. The cathedral is the largest Romanesque building in the world and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We saw a gate that was built in 1280; originally, there were 68 gates and towers, plus a fortification wall around Speyer.

After our walking tour, we had some free time to explore the town, and then met up to take the bus to Worms, and as planned, the ship then immediately departed for Rudesheim…one of the many reasons why it is so important to be back on the ship when they tell you to be back on the ship!

After lunch, I sat up on the top deck of the ship for a while, watching the world pass by (okay, just  Germany), and we attended a presentation about the various itineraries that Viking offers, on river, ocean, and expedition cruises – they visit so many wonderful places…maybe another Viking cruise lies in our future?!?

Some of the scenery I enjoyed as we cruised toward Rudesheim…

We arrived in Rudesheim late afternoon; there were no official excursions for us, so we headed into town on our own. It’s wonderful that Viking docks so close to many of the towns, so we have flexibility to zip in and out if we want! Rudesheim is celebrating their 950^th year…just a baby compared to Speyer! And, visiting such old cities was the perfect way to spend my birthday and feel really YOUNG!

There’s a castle in Rudesheim that dates back to 980, and there are many vineyards along the hillside because the town is the center of winemaking for the region. It’s very much a touristy town, but beautiful nonetheless; there were many docks along the Rhine, so it’s clear that lots of river cruises stop there. We walked around town, went in a Christmas shop, and laughed at the souvenir shop selling Route 66 signs. Really? In Germany? How odd.

Back to the ship for a Wiener Schnitzel dinner with some really nice people from Texas and Wisconsin, and some of the dining room staff sang happy birthday to me and gave me a yummy Viking cake to celebrate! Mark is already trying to figure out how he can top this for my next birthday.