Riquewihr and the Wine Road in Alsace, France

On July 31, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn France17 Comments

During our visit to Strasbourg in the Alsace region of France, we did a day tour on the wine road. The highlight of the tour was visiting the old, walled town of Riquewihr with its historic charm. From what we understand, it is busy all year round, but is extremely busy during the summer and early fall when the vineyards are in full operation. We were there in December, so the Christmas markets were in full swing, which made it even more magical.

Walking the streets of Riquewihr is truly like taking a trip back to the 17th century. It is one of the few villages that remained virtually untouched by World War II and the wall that surrounds the town is still completely intact. The main street is lined with shops selling a variety of tourist items, but if you want to really see the historic part of Riquewihr, take the side streets and make your way around the inner wall of the city.

The city is officially listed as one of the most beautiful villages of France and it lives up to its reputation. The medieval architecture remains as it did centuries ago and is truly breathtaking. There is only one entrance into the village and walking toward the clock tower with the arched entrance is really something special. We visited several other villages on our tour such as Ribeauville and Eguisheim, but Riquewihr was by far the most interesting village that we visited.

The entire countryside is covered by vineyards and the region is famous for its Riesling, but produces other varieties as well. We stopped for a wine tasting at one of the local vineyards, Gustave Lorentz, where we tasted several wines and purchased three bottles. Our favorite was the Crémant, which is a sparkling wine that is very similar to champagne.

If you plan a visit to Strasbourg and Alsace, Riquewihr should definitely be on your itinerary. Be prepared to battle the crowds and you can expect traffic to be at a standstill as you near the village. We were fortunate to be on a tour as our guide knew how to get us past the traffic and drop us off near the entrance of town while other people had to park twenty to thirty minutes away.

Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland

On February 18, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Ireland5 Comments

Christ Church Cathedral (The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity) sits in the heart of Dublin in the medieval section of the city. Dublin doesn’t have an old town like many other places in Europe that we have visited, but it does have some historical points of interest, of which this medieval church is one of its gems. Both the interior and exterior of the church are visually stunning, although perhaps not as ornate as some other churches from the period.

Of particular interest is the crypt that lies below the church. It contains the remains of many monuments and historical motifs that are quite fascinating to see. It is the largest crypt in all of Ireland or the UK and definitely worth taking the time to go below the church and checking it out. One of the oddities on display are a cat and rat that were mummified in the pipes of the organ in the 1800’s. Perhaps a little macabre, but still interesting.

Considering that the majority of Dublin is a modern city with only a few historical landmarks remaining, the Christ Church was well worth the visit. We ended up visiting the church on our first day in Dublin, partially just to get out of the rain, but we ended up passing by it a few times before our trip was over. Each time we passed by, we seemed to find another point of interest such as the memorial to the victims of the Armenian genocide and a “Homeless Jesus” statue that was gifted to the people of Ireland.

Clearly it is more spectacular on a bright and sunny day, but whatever the weather, we found Christ Church to be very interesting. Obviously the medieval architecture is always interesting, but the artwork is fascinating as well. Since we cannot and wouldn’t use flash photography, there is only so much that we could share, but hopefully you find it as interesting as we did.

Spending Christmas in Prague

On December 26, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Czech Republic11 Comments

As we mentioned, we decided to go to Prague over the Christmas weekend since we didn’t have any family in town. We still have another day before we fly back to Frankfurt, but it has been a wonderful time. Apparently a lot of other people had the same idea and it has been extremely busy, even on Christmas Day itself. Old town was packed with tourists and we were glad that we booked dinner reservations in advance. There is a lot to share, but for the moment we are just soaking it all in and trying to absorb everything that we have seen. This is just a tease of some of the sights that we have seen. Prague has lived up to all expectations, a truly memorable experience.