Oct 1 - Bernkastel

Dinner last night was lovely. We dined with Jane and Phil (fellow cyclists) from near Coventry in England, and Vanessa and John from near Sydney, Australia. Excellent British commonwealth representation, although we inevitably get asked from where in the US we hail. We had a five-course (not seven!) Italian meal, presented and served with meticulous attention to detail and service and copious amounts of wine. We laughed up a storm and got to know our fellow travellers a bit better. We all decided to skip Disco Night in the lounge, but saw lots of others breaking out their dancing duds.

We set sail from Koblenz last night about 10:00 p.m. The fortress is lit up at night - it was lovely to see its shape disappear into the distance as the captain maneuvered the ship backwards up the Rhine, around the German Corner and onto the Moselle River. We will be sailing all day. The soft hills that we saw along the shoreline yesterday have become mountains, not the Alps or the Rockies kind, but more like the Laurentians. There are vineyards everywhere - it was a delightful view to enjoy during breakfast.

After breakfast, I bundled up against the brisk breeze and light mist and went to the upper deck. Only half of it was open, so I walked about three miles on a short course to burn off some of last night’s delights. Spectacular scenery to keep me occupied. There are many, many bridges that the ship must pass under on these rivers. The wheelhouse is mounted on four giant pistons that move the wheelhouse up and down to allow, often with only inches to spare, for the ship to pass under. Quite a feat of engineering.

Andreea is giving us a talk about Witchcraft this morning - some of the most famous European witch trials/convictions/executions occurred in this part of Germany. This afternoon, there is a tour of the Galley. We did this tour on our last cruise, so we are passing on the opportunity. It was fascinating to hear about the logistics of feeding 158 passengers and ~40 crew from a small kitchen. Discipline is paramount and once the waiters have given their orders, ONLY the chef is allowed to speak. Menu planning is an art unto itself, as supplies must be loaded at various ports and local specialities are featured as we pass through that area. Details - it’s all about the details.

In another fit of lunacy or healthy living, not sure which, Doug and I have signed up to do a 25-km guide bike tour from Traben-Trarbach to Bernkastel. The ship will stop only long enough in T-T to let the cyclists off. We will rendezvous with the sane people and the ship in Bernkastel.

We survived the bike ride which was led by Jorg, wearing the yellow jersey (like the leader in the Tour de France) and Gunther acting as sweeper/caboose. We started out on a dedicated bike path that followed the bank of the Moselle River. We passed through pretty villages and saw many wineries. We could have reached out and touched the grape vines. The Scenic Pearl chugged along the river beside us for a while. The Dutch and the Germans love trailers/RVs/campers/caravans. We saw hundreds of them parked along the river. We rode through light rain for quite a while, but the sun came out when we stopped about halfway at a little café with glorious views of the river and the steep wineries. Back in the saddle. We did another stop at an old monastery built in 1283. It still has a lovely little chapel, but its main draw now is its brewery. The rain kicked in again as we made the final assault on Bernkastel where we found the ship. It had to shimmy its way over to the bank and get steady before the gangplank could be lowered. I was in the shower two minutes later. Time for dinner now.

Went to a violin concert at 9:15 p.m. held in the lounge. It was delightful - the violinist was a young lady who played a wide variety of pieces. Well done.

It’s been an active day. Time to get this write up loaded to the website and then, as my father used to say, “assume the horizontal.” Sadly, still not enough internet strength to allow pictures to upload.

Tomorrow’s destination - Luxembourg!Read more