Travel-blogging is not new. We just do it via high-tech nowadays. But other than that, most of the elements have stayed the same across the centuries.

Have you noticed how water inspires travelers to write? Maybe that’s because it’s hard to hike up a steep mountain while jotting down observations. But floating along a river? There’s plenty of time to take up the pen. So, placing myself in the footsteps of some legendary travel-bloggers (Mary Shelley being one of my favorites), I’m going to do my best to describe this upcoming journey down the Rhine.

Or, better said, journey up the Rhine, as we make our way from Amsterdam to Basel. And what will be the topics? As Enrichment Speaker for The Smithsonian the Viking Sun, I’ll have all the fodder I need: we’ll pass through centuries of history and talk about everything from the monasteries founded by St. Hildegard to Rhine ecology.

So, join me for the updates that will appear here and on our Professor Carol Facebook Page. If any of the Discovering Music students have questions about the Rhine or history and culture along the Rhine (Germany, France, Holland, Switzerland), please send them along, and I’ll do my best to answer them. Or have fun trying, at least.

Image: Marksburg: Holger Weinandt (CC)