A European Stroll - Switzerland to Amsterdam - a Prelude

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Usually, I write about my strolls in and around Nova Scotia, but recently, in April 2023, my husband and I took a river cruise trip of a lifetime.  It was such an amazing trip, which involved lots of strolls, that I decided to share our adventures!

To share a little background as to one of the reasons we embarked on this incredible trip, we need to flip back a year.  In January 2022,  my husband was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.  It was a very stressful year for our family, so my husband and I really needed some down-time to try and forget about chemo, treatments, CT scans and the stress, even for just a little while. I had heard about river cruising from work colleagues and when our local Automobile Association hosted an info night featuring AMA Waterways, we jumped at the chance to attend!

Wow!  We weren't disappointed.  The presentation was amazing, and it also made me realize how much I missed Europe. Having grown up in Lahr, Germany, when I was young, I had been yearning for a trip back...it had been 45 years since I was last there!  So, the thought of returning was incredibly attractive to me. Plus, being on a river cruise ship meant it was smaller than an ocean ship, which was better for my husband.  Less crowds which meant more relaxation.

According to AMA Waterway's website, it was founded in 2002 by three families; however, their story started earlier, with the first ship designed in 1975!  They've had quite a lengthy history with river cruising, and based on reviews, we knew they were the company for us. Here is a link to their site:  https://www.amawaterways.com/explore/our-story

We booked a 7-day Enchanting Rhine tour, with the optional 4-day pre-cruise to Zurich and Lucerne, Switzerland. We would then be transported to Basel, Switzerland and begin the cruise portion of our journey which ended in Amsterdam.



As this is a prelude to our trip, I will be posting each day in a separate blog.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did writing them.  And, if you are thinking about taking a river cruise, I can't sing enough praises about the company.  The crew was amazing, the food was incredible, and the excursions make me want to go back again and again.  There's so much to see! The rich history of the places we visited, plus the castles that nestled the Rhine river will forever be etched in my heart.

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All the best!



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