A few hrs in Mainz & the journey begins

We set out from the boat heading into town and up the hill where we found a lovely church – St Stephanskirsche at the top of the hill. It was just lovely – a wedding was taking place and a woman sang “Hallelujah” as we were there. The windows are fantastic – glowing blue – they were created in 1978 by Marc Chagall as a symbol of the Jewish-Christian bond. From there we walked back to the town and sat in the square opposite the Dom St Martin and enjoyed a beer (A dark Allgauer and a fresh pretzel. Then we had a stroll around the old town before heading back to the boat at about 530. The MS Andante is an older boat, green and white and will have 78 guests on this trip, including 21 Ghostriders. Our cabin (115) is downstairs thanks to a stuff up by the travel agent – we did request the top deck! The cabin is compact with 2 single beds and a toilet/shower combo – we do get a small window however, although you do have to stand on the bed to see out – the fresh air it provides is lovely none-the-less. Welcome briefing was at 5.45 and then it was time to go for dinner which involved multiple courses (radish salad, mushroom soup, mei goring, stuffed capsicum and veggies and rice pudding to finish) and was rather tasty. Then to end the night it was our briefing for tomorrow – sadly we received the news that because of mooring issues at Speyer our planned one way ride to Speyer via Heidelberg was now a return ride to Heidelberg – but what can you do – suck it up and peddle on!Read more