Our first port on this cruise is Kehl, Germany which is just across the river from Strasbourg, France. We are not arriving until 1:00pm so that gives us the morning to relax and enjoy the ship. After a great night’s sleep, we headed to the Crystal Dining Room around 8:15am. Scenic does a very good breakfast. It is buffet style but there are options you can order. From mimosas to cheeses and meats and the usual breakfast staples, there is something for everyone. We finished breakfast at 9:00am and then it was back to the cabins to relax.
All of sudden at 10:00am, the very loud general alarm starts going off. They told us last night that we would be having a safety drill but I completely forgot. We were instructed to head to the Sun Deck where we donned our life vests. After everyone was assembled, the Captain informed us that we had set a new record. It. only took five minutes for the ninety-five guests and about sixty crew members to gather.
At 10:30am, we headed to the Lounge where Cruise Director Siim was giving a talk about the excursions that were being offered. He explained each one in great detail and then we signed up for the ones that interested us. All excursions are included in the price of the cruise. He also explained how to use the QV to Go app. The app uses GPS to explain the sights you are seeing while we are sailing. This would be very useful on the day that we sail through the Rhine Gorge. The talk wrapped up around 11:30am which gave us a little bit of time to relax before lunch.
Lunch is served just like breakfast, buffet style with lots of options. We made sure to try a little bit of everything from pasta to salad to soup to dessert. Once we were done, we headed up to the Lounge where they offer a Cafe Lunch. The selection is different than what is served in the Crystal Dining Room. They offer a few salads, sandwiches, wraps and pizza. But the best part is the snack options. They have these cute little jars with everything from chocolates to candies to trail mix. We made sure to grab a couple of them.
The excursion that we chose for today was the Black Forest Open Air Museum Vogtsbauernhof. The museum lets you see how people lived and worked in the Black Forest region hundreds of years ago. We boarded the bus at 1:30pm for the one hour drive to Gutach / Schwarzwaldbahn. Our guide was Uter and our driver was Florian. Uter entertained us with interesting facts about the Black Forest region.
We arrived in Guatch around 2:30pm and Uter explained that the museum is self-guided. You get to go at your own pace exploring the various historical buildings. She said to make sure and be back in the lobby at 4:00pm for the Black Forest Cake making demonstration. We spent the next hour leisurely walking around learning about rural life in this region of Germany.
At 4:00pm, we all gathered back in the lobby for the best part of the tour, the cake making demonstration. Debbie who I believe runs the on-site restaurant, showed us how to make Black Forest Cake. It starts with the first of four layers of chocolate cake. This is followed up with a layer of sour cherries. And then alternating layers of cake and whip cream. And do not forget to throw in some Cherry Brandy. It is then garnished with cherries, whip cream and chocolate shavings. Now it was time for the best part, sampling the cake. Unfortunately we could not eat Debbie’s creation since Black Forest Cake is best when it has time to rest and chill. But she did have slices for everyone to enjoy in the restaurant along with a beverage. I have to say that having Black Forest Cake in the Black Forest is way better than Black Forest Cake at home. We had about a half an hour to shop before it was time to get back on the bus.
We arrived back at the ship around 6:00pm. We had enough time to relax for a little bit before heading to the Lounge for the Captain’s Welcome Toast at 6:45pm. Dinner was served at 7:00pm and it was another delicious meal.
We went back to the cabins to do some planning for tomorrow’s day in port. We want to make sure to maximize our time since we have quite a bit of it. We headed back to the Lounge at 9:15pm to play “Evening With the Stars”. We scored thirteen out of twenty, putting us in fourth place. By 10:30pm, we were back in the cabins ready for a good night’s sleep.
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