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  • SpydahSpain, Rhine & Danube
    1
    1
    Dia 28

    On the Melk run

    8 de outubro de 2019, Áustria ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Overnight we had left Linz and had arrived in the town of Melk in the Wachau Valley, whose main claim to fame is the baroque styled abbey. Originally it was the residence of the Bamberg family, but since the year 1089 it has been a Benedictine monastery. It is still an administrative centre for the order, and it houses a school with 750 pupils.
    The current building was created between 1701 and 1726. It is on a hilltop overlooking the town and is spectacularly beautiful. We were split into two groups and taken round by guides supplied by the abbey. We drew the short straw in that our guide was totally robotic in her delivery and seemed bored by the whole process. Evidently the other group's guide was excellent - the exact opposite.
    One wing of the building, formerly the guest quarters, has been set up like a museum, and it was interesting. Of particular interest was the library which was filled with thousands of old books most of them several hundred years old. It is strictly forbidden to take photos inside though from time to time Brian's finger accidentally seemed to brush past the shutter release. Maybe he was so annoyed with the tour guide that he became twitchy.
    The interior and exterior are so ornate, unexpected for a monastery. The building's exterior and the views from there are really stunning. We then wandered down from there to the old town. It has been restored and it too is beautiful. Even though we have been seriously over-eating and drinking too much we simply couldn't resist the urge to stop at an outdoor café for a coffee and apple strudel each.
    Once we were all back on board we continued down the Wachau Valley and stopped a couple of hours later at the small town of Dürnstein.
    It's a quaint town, not too badly overrun by tourists and great for biking. Its main claim to fame is the castle ruins on the hill high above the town. Richard the Lionheart had been imprisoned there at the time of the crusades.
    The climb to the ruins practically requires one to have the heart of a lion. It is very steep and rocky, no handrails and it is little more than a dirt track with a few steps cut roughly into the steeper parts. Mary, wisely, decided to remain at ground zero while Brian, less wisely and along with a handful of other intrepid souls, decided to try the climb. It was certainly no walk in the park, but the effort was well worth it. The view from the top, overlooking the town, the Danube and the surrounding vineyards was simply great.
    After dinner the on board entertainers put on an evening of ABBA tunes. Mary was in her element and was once again the star of the dance floor.    Leia mais

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  • SpydahSpain, Rhine & Danube
    Dia 27

    Three border crossings in a day

    7 de outubro de 2019, República Checa ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    So many choices. Sometimes it is hard to decide which one to go for. Our options were a walking tour of Passau, a full day Salzburg 'Sound of Music' tour or a full day tour to Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic. We chose the last one.
    We hadn't had a chance to look at Passau, the port where we were docked, but as our bus was driving out of the town and the morning sun was in just the right position, Brian spotted some stunningly beautiful views of the old buildings. Sadly there was no time to grab the camera in the small time slot before they disappeared from view. These Kodak moments went unrecorded, which was rather a shame. Fortunately, and by way of compensation, we were to get other equally good shots elsewhere as the day progressed.
    Český Krumlov is nearly two hours away by bus, and we thoroughly enjoyed the views as we travelled from Germany to Austria to the Czech Republic.
    The Bavarian landscape was the prettiest and tidiest by far. It all looked so green and fertile and we went through large forested areas. In true German fashion everything was tidy and orderly. The Czech Republic isn't nearly as rich, and by contrast it was far less tidy, it was less heavily wooded and the buildings in the towns and villages that we passed through generally looked a bit rundown. Our guide pointed out that much of this was a legacy still from the communist era, when there were no environmental considerations.
    A few kilometres before our destination we reached a large artificial lake, Sebevrah, which is a major holiday resort area for people from the Czech Republic and neighbouring areas. The lake itself is most attractive, though we were less attracted by the large number of hotels, pensions, guest houses and eating places throughout Evidently it is ridiculously jam-packed at the height of the holiday season. One definitely wouldn't want to be there. Furthermore, all the narrow country roads which lead to the place get totally jammed up.
    Reaching Český Krumlow the first thing we saw as we walked from the bus was the spectacular Castle Bridge. It really does stand out. Walking under it and into the town itself it was obvious that we were going to have a great time and would get the chance for some good photos in the fine sunny (but 12 degree) weather.
    Our excellent guide took us through the town, pointing out various things of interest, then up the hill to the castle. Český Krumlow has been awarded a UNESCO world heritage listing, and as a result a great deal of international money has been poured into its restoration. The result is a beautifully restored town offering many spectacular views.
    Our guide then took us up the hill to the castle, after which we had a few hours of free time. Even though the place wasn't packed, by our standards it was quite busy, with many (mainly Asian) tour groups. It made it that bit harder. But then, something surprising happened. We decided to walk a further 200 metres or so up a steepish path above the castle and we came upon these large and immaculately maintained gardens, with hundreds of metres of perfectly trimmed hedges, beautiful flower gardens and several fountains. The best part of all was that the place was almost deserted. Clearly, very few tourists take the trouble to walk those extra few metres, which was clearly to our benefit.
    After taking numerous photos we wandered down to the town, where we decided to have some lunch. After all the food we had been eating over the previous ten days or so neither of us was really hungry but Brian nevertheless was determined to try some genuine local food. We went in to one of the many restaurants. Mary wasn't at all hungry so decided on a plate of chips, done Austrian style - sliced very, very thinly and really crisp. Whenever there is duck on the menu then that’s what Brian orders. The dish he got served was huge. As well as the potato dumplings and red cabbage there was the most beautiful duck breast and leg on the bone. This giant bird had not died in vain. It was the most tender and flavoursome meat which was totally fat-free and so tender that it fell off the bone. By then Brian was absolutely full, but he simply couldn't leave it there. The cherry strudel was to die for.
    By then the tourist crowds had thinned, so Brian grabbed the opportunity after our lunch to take a lot more photos.
    We were due to rendezvous with our guide outside the Museum of Torture at 4.15pm. As we still had a bit of spare time we decided to visit the aforementioned museum. The displays were done realistically, so much so that we started wondering why anyone, us included, would voluntarily subject ourselves to the torture of thinking about such things while enjoying a dream holiday. We didn't stay there very long.    Leia mais

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  • SpydahSpain, Rhine & Danube
    3
    Dia 26

    On yer bike in Regensberg

    6 de outubro de 2019, Alemanha ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    We must have made good progress because by the time we woke at 7am we were already moored at the Bavarian city of Regensberg. We hadn't expected to arrive until around 9am. After breakfast we set off on a tour of the old town with a local German (ie non-Scottish) guide. He told us that he was a final year student majoring in politics. Regensberg is a university town and it seems that most of the local tour guides are university students.
    The city boasts many beautiful well-kept buildings and our guide told us quite a bit about the history of the place.
    It has a magnificent stone bridge which, stupidly, the Germans blew up in the dying days of the war when they were clearly facing defeat. They thought that they would slow the Allied advance, which it didn't. The bridge was subsequently rebuilt. Being Sunday all the shops aside from cafes and restaurants were closed. As it was, this suited us because it meant there were fewer people around to annoy Brian by getting in the way of his photographs. We wandered round the town for a couple of hours and visited the cathedral, which is large even by normal cathedral standards. As seemed to be the case with so many of the cathedrals we'd seen, the exterior was difficult to photograph properly because of all the scaffolding and building materials about the place. Most such buildings seem to be in a permanent state of undergoing restoration.
    Our guide had pointed out to us the best place to buy traditional Bavarian food of sausages on a roll with mustard and sauerkraut, and certainly the cooking smells coming from there were almost irresistible. Brian was keen to try some, but there was such a long queue outside the door that he reluctantly gave up.
    Even though the weather was dry it was bitterly cold so after about three hours we were quite happy to head back to the warmth of the ship.
    Brian, along with two fellow passengers, Carolyn and Juri, had booked bikes for the late afternoon. Mary wasn't terribly keen on the idea of Brian tempting fate yet again, but bike rides round the area had been highly recommended.
    The three of them duly set off, with Brian being the oldest, least experienced and by far the wobbliest.
    They rode for quite some distance along the banks of the Danube and criss-crossing the various bridges. They discovered extensive parklands and bike tracks surrounding the city as well as a really picturesque lake. In the course of their ride they covered maybe eight to ten kilometres and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Whether the many pedestrians and cyclists who came so close to being run down by an out of control cyclist enjoyed themselves similarly is another matter.
    We had booked in that night for dinner at the Chef's Table, the up-market restaurant on the ship. It was a very noisy gathering, though that was largely self-inflicted because we'd arranged to go there with a lively group of people whom we'd dined with there on the previous occasion.
    We then headed to the lounge where a very good Bavarian entertainer and his ten year old son put on a lively show with piano accordion, alpine horn and other such musical instruments.    Leia mais

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  • SpydahSpain, Rhine & Danube
    Dia 25

    Notorious Nuremberg

    5 de outubro de 2019, Alemanha ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Nuremberg's recent history is rather notorious, but the good thing is that the city doesn't shy away from its role in the period up to and including World War II.
    No leisurely lie-in this particular morning as we were due to head off at 8.15am for a tour of Nuremberg. We had another Scottish - born guide who was very pleasant, knowledgeable and informative. She is at least the third such guide we have encountered - Scottish born, long-term German resident and married with family to a local spouse. Is it a form of Scottish emigration that we were hitherto unaware of? Could it be that the Scots are always able to find better quality partners overseas? At least that's Brian's line and he is sticking to it.
    It was about a 15 minute drive to our first stop, the ruins of the giant and infamous Zeppelinfeld parade ground which was the scene of Hitler's Nazi rallies. One has to be there to really appreciate the extent of Hitler's megalomania and the scale of the buildings that he commissioned and his architect Albert Speer designed. To give an idea of size, some 700000 Nazi Party supporters attended the 6th party congress in 1934. Sufficient of the structures, including the grand platform from which Hitler harangued the party faithful, remain. One can get some idea of his megalomania by visiting this and other nearby structures, including an overscale copy of the Roman Colliseum which was never fully completed. Sheer madness.
    From there, we drove past the courthouse building where the famous Nazi war trials took place.
    We then headed to the other side of Nuremberg where our guide took us for a walk around part of the old city. It is certainly very attractive and boasts the biggest enclosed area of any walled city anywhere.
    We were then free to wander round and explore for a couple of hours. Nuremberg has a lot of interesting old buildings as well as some excellent shops. We lost a bit of time while Brian searched out a camera shop where he could get a replacement lens cap for the new camera. Camera shops are few and far between these days so we were very pleased to have found one. We could have happily spent a lot longer in Nuremberg, but unfortunately time was limited as we had to move on. One good thing was that even though it was cold the rain held off for the entire day.
    We were leaving the Main river and setting off on the Main-Danube canal which links the North Sea to the Black Sea. It is a major engineering feat, being 171 kilometres long, and has 16 giant locks. Many of the passengers, us included, spent a couple of freezing but fascinating hours on the top deck as the ship manoeuvred its way through some of these locks, which are impressive engineering structures. Three of them each have lifts of 24.7 metres, and most of them are at least 15 metres. They are 12 metres wide,. making it a tricky feat to steer our 11.5 metre long ship in there without hitting the concrete sides. We calculated that the largest of the locks required over 50000 cubic metres of water each time to fill it, equivalent to more than 1000 times the volume of our pool back home. Each lock took over half an hour to navigate. We were very lucky though because we got green lights all the way. If there are other ships either ahead of us or coming towards us then we could get delayed for a long time.
    In the afternoon a guest lecturer came on board and gave us an excellent half hour illustrated presentation about the canal and its history, which really put things in perspective.
    It seems the original canal dates back to Roman times when, obviously, it would have been dug entirely by hand. Nowadays the locks are all controlled remotely from three control rooms.
    Early in the day we were told that we'd be meeting the sister ship to the Amaverde heading in the opposite direction. Then, later, we learned that it wouldn't be happening because the other ship had had to abandon its voyage due to the low water levels in the river system. In other words we were very lucky to have made it through without us having to be offloaded and put on buses.
    After dinner we relaxed in the lounge with a couple of drinks while the on-board entertainers played and sang songs from our era. Mary made a name for herself and received many compliments for her enthusiastic singing and dancing.    Leia mais

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  • SpydahSpain, Rhine & Danube
    Dia 24

    Destination Bamberg

    4 de outubro de 2019, Alemanha ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    We'd got used to the pattern of sightseeing in the morning and then having free time in the afternoon. This time we had a leisurely morning on board while we continued on to our destination of Bamberg.

    We were warned that, unlike all the other places that we had visited, Bamberg's port area is totally unattractive. As we saw when we arrived just after lunch, that was certainly the case. Fortunately we had buses to pick us up and take us to the centre of town.

    Bamberg is certainly a very attractive town and we began by walking alongside the river from where we could admire all the old houses along the water's edge on the opposite bank. With good reason the area is known as Little Venice. We then walked quickly through the old town and up the hill to the cathedral. It and the surrounding buildings are quite spectacular, though our guide unfortunately was in a bit of a rush which limited the opportunity for photographs. Opportunities were further limited by the large amount of road and foot traffic in the area and by the fact that many of the buildings were undergoing repairs and restoration work. Nevertheless, what we did see was quite impressive.

    Our guide then took us back down the hill to the old town, leaving us to our own devices for a couple of hours. That was fine, except for the fact that round about then it started to rain. This was unfortunate because up until then the weather had at least been dry, though overcast and cold.

    Bamberg contains many shops and restaurants, and would have provided many photo opportunities also if the weather had been kinder. We were tempted to try the smoked beer, a local specialty, but as we had been eating and drinking so much on board the ship we decided to give it a miss. At the appointed time we were happy enough to get back on the bus and return to the comfort of our ship. We were certainly pleased to have visited Bamberg, though a little disappointed that the weather had prevented us from getting a lot more out of the visit.    Leia mais

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  • SpydahSpain, Rhine & Danube
    Dia 23

    The German word for kitsch is kitsch

    3 de outubro de 2019, Alemanha ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    After sailing through the night we arrived at the large town of Würzburg at around 9am. We'd been given a number of choices of activity for the morning, among them a trip to what our information sheet told us was the most famous and perhaps one of the most picturesque villages in all of Germany, Rothenberg ob der Tauber. That was the option we chose. It took us about an hour to get there, which was great as it gave us a good opportunity to see more of the German countryside, which was very scenic. Much of the land was planted out as vineyards, particularly on the steep hillsides, while the flatter areas were growing crops such as sugar beet and winter wheat. This time we had a German guide, an art historian, who spoke excellent English and who was very knowledgeable. As we all know though, Germans don't do humour very well and she shouldn't have tried. Our Scottish guide from the previous day had been way better.

    This day was a national holiday celebrating Germany's reunification, so about half the shops in the town were closed, not that that bothered us at all. Despite the closures and the cold dry weather in what should be the tourist off-season the place was quite busy. One wouldn't want to be there at the height of the season.

    The mediaeval town dates back to 1274, and it is beautifully preserved. The buildings are interesting to see, though Brian found it quite challenging to take good photos which didn't have tourists or parked cars in the way. We were given a couple of hours to browse through the town, and this was more than adequate. There were plenty of little cafes and bars to choose from, but as we get generously fed and watered on board our ship we had adopted the Nil by Mouth approach while out and about.

    What we couldn't get over was how unbelievably kitsch so much of the merchandise in the shop windows was. It gave a somewhat touristy tacky feel to the place even though it is a very nice town in all other respects.

    There is a chain of Christmas shops called Käthe Wolfahrt, which occupy prominent positions, at least in every German town we have visited so far. They do overpriced kitsch like nobody else, though they had several competitors in terms of sucking in tourists' euros.

    After spending every bit as much time as we'd wanted in Rothenberg we jumped on the buses and headed back.

    The real surprise came after lunch when Brian and a couple of fellow passengers decided to borrow bikes and go off to explore Würzburg. Mary declined to join us, having decided some time ago that she and a bicycle are not a good combination.

     Brian quickly realised that Würzburg was where we should have spent the whole day. It is a really appealing town with a lot of interesting architectural styles, beautifully restored buildings and wonderful parkland surrounding it all on three sides. It was the first time Brian had ridden a bike since our last overseas holiday two years ago, and he was quite wobbly. This being a public holiday the footpaths were filled with pedestrians none of whom realised how lucky they were not to have been mowed down by an out of control bicycle. Unfortunately we were pressed for time as the ship was due to set sail at 4pm, so it was a bit of a rushed trip . The town offers so many terrific sights and photo opportunities, and Brian would have liked to have lingered a whole lot longer. Nevertheless Mary was quite relieved to see him get back on board still in one piece.    Leia mais

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  • SpydahSpain, Rhine & Danube
    Dia 22

    Precision driving

    2 de outubro de 2019, Alemanha ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    We travelled through the night, and from what we could gather, there was a great deal happening while we were sleeping off the effects of our over-indulging. All told our trip takes us through 66 locks, each one requiring some very tight manoevering of our 130 metre long ship.

    After breakfast Brian ventured up to the top deck and was chatting with our very friendly captain while he was manoevering us into one of the locks. His aim was to place the ship within a couple of centimetres of the side of the lock, and he demonstrated some real precision tweaking of the controls in order to do it. As he pointed out, a one centimetre movement at the bow can result in ten times that movement at the stern. Once we were correctly positioned within the lock a couple of the crewmen were running around frantically operating winches and securing the ship tightly within the lock. Of course it had to be done in a way which still allowed the ship to rise as water entered the lock. This detailed procedure had to be repeated for every one of those 66 locks. As a further complication there are a few licks, referred to as banana locks, which are slightly curved. Evidently they are even more challenging, and probably explain the occasional thumps that we felt as our ship travelled through the night.

    Then there were the low bridges. We got to experience one of them. As we approached it the wheelhouse was lowered hydraulically until its roof was the same level as the upper deck. The captain meanwhile opened a hatch in the ceiling so that he could steer. At the same time we were told very strictly that we had to remain seated while we passed under the bridge, but were reassured by the captain that, provided we followed his instructions, we would be OK. As we got within a few metres of the bridge we became less confident of this and felt as though we were playing chicken with a runaway train. It was a great relief when we did pass under the bridge with no more than 30 cm between the tops of our heads and the underside of the stone bridge.

    We spent the morning alternating between admiring the scenery, taking photos and freezing on the top deck then going down to the lounge and thawing out. By lunchtime we had reached Miltenberg a quaint old town with a history going back to Roman times. Our guide there, dressed in traditional lederhosen, introduced himself to us as Jim - hardly a traditional German name. The fact that he spoke with a broad Glaswegian accent added further to the incongruity. It turns out that he met and married a local German girl and was a long term resident of the town. He was very knowledgeable, and that, combined with a typical Scottish sense of humour made our walking tour of the town both pleasant and informative. We found Milternberg to be a well preserved and interesting place. Like so many of the towns visited so far it was moderately busy, but we can imagine that in the height of the tourist season it would be a place best avoided.

    Following our excellent dinner on the ship we drifted up to the lounge where the onboard entertainers, a husband and wife team, were just beginning a Tribute to the Beatles performance. Having had a glass or two of the freely flowing wine we happily sang along, as did many others. Then Mary really entered into the spirits of things and had a really enjoyable time reliving her days as a mad Beatles fan and dancing to the music.    Leia mais

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    111
    Dia 21

    Having ones cake and eating it too

    1 de outubro de 2019, Alemanha ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We'd been told by the excellent Cheri, our Tour Director, that we'd be getting into the main part of the Rhine gorge overnight and that we'd be in an area of castles from about 4.30am. No castle is worth getting up that early for, but in a heroic act we set the alarm for 6.30am. Looking out the cabin window everything was still pitch black, so whatever we missed, we would have missed anyway.
    We headed up to the top deck at about 7.30 and joined a few hardy souls who were already there and madly taking photos. No question, there was plenty to see, with many photogenic little riverside towns, impressive church towers and, yes, quite a number of castles. Our GPS-driven audio guide would tell us what was coming up, which was very helpful. Brian managed to get quite a few (hopefully) good photos. We shall see.

    The only slight downside was the weather. There was a cold wind blowing, and even though we were well rugged up it was a bit of an act of endurance. After a couple of hours, having viewed the famous Lorelei, we retreated to the lounge to watch the changing view from there. Every so often, when there was an interesting sounding alert on his audio guide, Brian would head upstairs to get some more pictures..

    We were headed for the town of Rudesheim, where we'd been given the choice of two alternative shore activities. We could visit the museum of mechanical musical instruments or we could take a ride in a semi-enclosed gondola to the summit of the hill overlooking Rudesheim.

    As the weather was so unpredictable we had opted for the former, even though Brian was cynically expecting it to be little more than a rather kitsch tourist trap. How wrong he was! It was absolutely amazing and we'd love to have spent a lot longer than the allocated 40 minutes there.

    The museum has been in the hands of the one family for three generations and they have a true passion for collecting and restoring these ingenious machines. Most of them date back to the early years of last century and many are in good working order. Some of the more elaborate ones are up to 2.5 metres tall by about 2m wide and incorporate various instruments - piano, multiple violins, pipe organ, drums and so on. They contain the most ingenious mechanisms which are governed by perforated paper rolls similar to pianola rolls. The working models were able to play instantly recognisable versions of very well-known musical pieces.

    We'd been told that we would have enough time if we so wished to buy our own tickets and take the gondola ride. At that stage the weather had cleared a bit so we strolled the 50 metres or so and bought our tickets. It really is a highly scenic and enjoyable ride to the top. We travelled the whole way above vineyards, the Rhine Valley being famous for its wines. The views on the way up and from the summit are really great. One looks over the very picturesque town and beyond it to the river. There is also a giant memorial at the top, built in 1877 to commemorate Germany's victory in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870.

    Rudesheim is a beautiful town. While it is undoubtedly busy during the tourist season, we were fortunate enough to be there when it was very quiet. While doubtful at first we were pleased to have enjoyed both of the available tour options and so, to have had our cake and eaten it too.

    Having dined in a palace with a real live princess the previous night it would have been too much of a shock for us to go straight back to dining with the hoi polloi in the main restaurant the following night. Fortunately we had a way out of that difficult situation. The ship also has a gourmet restaurant, named Chef's Table , seating up to 24 guests. Anyone can book it at no extra cost, the only stipulation being that one can book it no more than twice on a voyage. We'd already booked it a couple of days previously for 1st October, so that worked out rather well. Our table of nine had some real characters and was rather riotous, particularly after a few glasses of the free-flowing wine had been consumed. As one might expect, the six-course meal was superb.

    As we were leaving the restaurant a quiz night was just starting in the main lounge, so we decided to join them. We won, the prize being a box of chocolates which none of us really needed. On the strength of our quiz success and of having got on so well together we made a block booking for the Chef's Table for 6 October. A great day all round.    Leia mais

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  • SpydahSpain, Rhine & Danube
    1
    11111
    Dia 20

    No eau in Cologne

    30 de setembro de 2019, Alemanha ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    While we were all tucked up in bed the ship was sailing from Utrecht to Cologne, arriving about the time that we were waking up. The really good news was that for the first time since we'd left Spain the weather was dry.

    The ship berthed practically in the centre of the city, so our guide collected us directly from the ship for the leisurely walk through historical Cologne. Its most famous landmark of course is the cathedral, and we headed off in that direction.

    To put it bluntly, we were somwhat disappointed by Cologne. It had had to be totally rebuilt after the war, but it wasn't done very well, particularly when compared to other cities which were rebuilt in ways which were far more sympathetic to their history. Certainly there are some attractive old buildings but they are generally surrounded by other buildings which are more modern and totally unattractive. Even the cathedral itself is hemmed in by an ugly museum of Roman history and various other nondescript structures.

    True, it is a world heritage listed building with a history going back to the 13th century. It's also huge, being the tallest twin spire cathedral and the third tallest cathedral of any type in the world. However the building looked rather grey and dirty over most of its stone walls, giving the impression that it needed a good pressure clean. In reality it isn't that simple, and there is quite a bit of major restoration work being done continuously to the exterior.

    We then went inside, and that was impressive. That's where we could gain an appreciation of the size of the building and admire its many stained glass windows. From there we wandered through the old town square and on to a brewery where we were treated to an "authentic " German experience. There were some light snacks laid out and, as part of the deal, those of us who wanted them were served two glasses of beer. Unlike the famous steins of Munich and elsewhere these glasses were only 200ml. Not much chance of anyone getting drunk. While we were onshore, our ship was sailing from Cologne to Bonn, so we were shepherded onto buses for the 30 minute drive to the ship.

    Throughout the trip so far we have been highly impressed by the smooth organisation and by the precision with which everything takes place. Our buses arrived in Bonn exactly as the ship was berthing.

    As mentioned, we felt that Cologne wasn't an especially attractive place, particularly when compared with other cities such as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Toledo and Madrid which we have visited recently.

    However, the day was to look up considerably. Back on the ship and after lunch the wind dropped and the sun began to shine. Furthermore we were just entering the most interesting stretch of the Rhine, so it was a great opportunity to get out on to the deck and start taking photos of the passing scenery of castles, churches and very attractive small towns.

    Dinner this night wasn't on board ship but instead was at a real live castle and hosted by a real live princess. Not that we were too overawed by the latter, since Europe is filled with faded royalty. Nonetheless, the grandly titled Princess Luise Dorothea von Hohenzollern-Namedy turned out to be a very charming lady and she welcomed us all in a long and gracious speech. We then had a free run of the grounds and most of the rooms of Schloss Burg Namedy . To pay for what must be the very expensive upkeep of the castle and grounds it is now run as a reception centre. We had exclusive use of it for a very pleasant dinner in the large reception hall.

    The Princess and her late husband's family are great sponsors of classical music and opera, and the evening concluded with a short recital on the grand piano given by an up and coming expatriate Australian pianist Robbin Reza.

    After that, it was all aboard the buses for the 15 minute drive back to our ship.    Leia mais

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  • SpydahSpain, Rhine & Danube
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    11
    Dia 19

    Amsterdam to Utrecht and beyond

    29 de setembro de 2019, Países Baixos ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    There's no point in trying to put a positive spin on it. The weather when we woke up was absolutely foul, with heavy rain and strong winds. It was far from ideal for sightseeing, but it was a matter of taking whatever opportunity one can to see whatever sights one can.

    We had the choice of either going on an Amsterdam canal cruise on an enclosed glass-topped boat or of visiting a touristy Dutch village. We chose the former. It was a great way to see this interesting and beautiful city, even though what we mainly got were tantalising glimpses of highly photogenic scenes. After the hour long boat trip we were dropped off in the museum district and told that we had an hour of free time before we'd be picked up and taken back to the Amaverde. We'd like to have visited the Van Gogh museum but our guide told us that tickets are hard to come by at short notice and that they're available always only for specific time slots. Besides, we decided that a one hour time slot really wasn't enough for a visit to that or any other museum. Instead, we headed back to the Rijkmuseum and spent the time in the gift shop and foyer area.

    During the Spanish leg of our trip we got into the habit of having a large buffet breakfast and then skipping lunch. Generally we'd then have a nice big dinner. With so much food and wine on our boat one would require far more self-discipline than we have in order to stick to such a routine. However, we did stick to having salad and fruit for lunch. At least that was the case until we discovered the raspberry ice cream dessert...

    APT are evaluating a new system whereby every cabin gets issued with a mobile phone which is pre-loaded with their software. Aside from the phones having GPS and touring guides they also offer unlimited messaging and phone calls to anywhere in the world. Were it not for the fact that we had already bought a European SIM card for use throughout Europe we would have found this to be an excellent arrangement. In the afternoon there was a briefing and help session given by the company supplying the special phones. We chose to attend, though Brian couldn't help himself. With his Brisbane Seniors Online hat on, he found himself helping several of our fellow passengers. The system is excellent, but given the age demographic, it may prove too challenging for many people.

    The rest of the afternoon was free, after which we attended the Captain's Welcome Cocktail and Gala Dinner. Given that there were 140 passengers on board it was a bit of a ritualised occasion. We joined a couple for dinner who are former dairy farmers from Canterbury, now living in Christchurch. They were good company and we spent a very pleasant evening.    Leia mais

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