Leaving Koblenz we're on the Rhine. We cruise along through some hills and see the famous "Lorelei" statue. She's reputed to call sailors to the shore and wreck the ships.
The map shows Trier to Koblenz, and shows part of our next leg - that from Koblenz to Mainz and then to Worms as we head south toward Switzerland.
Underway about 1300 to cruise the Rhine Gorge & see Lorelei. The clouds have finally burned off so the day turned out quite nice. Saw many castles and ruins of castles. We saw Castles Katz and Maus again.
The weather was mostly cloudy so some of these pictures are a little dark.
PhotoLink
The picture to the right shows vines growing up the hill as far as possible with a castle's ruins above them. Very typical.
Our group of six dined in the special area tonight and enjoyed it fully. Part of the door was open allowing a fresh breeze and the six course meal was very good.
About 2100 we tied up in front of the Rheingoldhalle in Mainz. Later there was a piano/singer duet that did jazz songs down through the years.
4/13/18
At Mainz, where the canal branches off to the Danube. We're supposed to do a Gutenberg walk in the morning and run around by ourselves in the afternoon. Dark with mist & light rain all day.
PhotoLink
So we joined the 0900 tour. It started with a walk up the shore to the Fischtorplatz street or place leading past fish-mongers to the cathedral. The cathedral dates from 1,000 AD and is a huge thing. It's unique in having two altars, one on the east end and one on the west, and also unique in that the main altar is to the west. It was constructed to copy the Pope's church - not the current one but the one in 1,000. So these are the only two churches with main altars to the west.
We walked then into the Gutenberg museum which shows things having to do with old printing and the changes brought about in the world when books became available. No longer did you have to believe what the churches said, but you could read it for yourself. Not much is known about him but he was surely an entrepreneur.
We also saw 1.5 Gutenberg Bibles in a vault. He printed them in separate volumes, so they have one full Bible and the New Testament of another. The last one sold was auctioned for ten million dollars in the 1980's.
Now it started raining lightly. So we decided not to run around town but to return to the ship. We did that with a stop at the apotek for tylenol, at a bookstore to get a poster for Susan, and the tourist center to get a pin for D and a tee-shirt.
There's nothing else on the agenda for today so we'll just read and stay warm and dry.
Saturday. Speyer
4/14/18
We looked out the window (after sleeping in) and found sunlight. Neither of us is back to good health, so we skipped the 3.5 mile guided tour. Also, we've been to Heidelberg so we skipped that optional tour.
PhotoLink
We did a moderate breakfast and decided to do our own mini-walk. We went from the ship to the Dom fairly directly. The Dom is another huge pile of stone from the 11th century. There's a roofed enclosure next to it that houses a hill with Christ praying and others characters standing around. Very different. The cast bronze doors are very heavy but swing easily enough. This particular church is quite austere inside.
We left the Dom and angled back toward the river, getting quite lost in the process. We found the Historic Museum for the district and we found a carnival area that included a ride called the "Wilde Maus". Finally D spotted a landmark and we could retrace our path from there. The iPhone says we stepped 1.8 miles.
The wall between the lounge's dining area and the foredeck had been put aside and the awnings extended so the whole forward area was open to the gentle breeze. We had our light lunch out there, then returned to the lounge proper to be seated comfortably while we read our books.
The others came along and drifted away. We listened to the disembarkation lecture, followed by the Strasbourg port preview, both given by our Program Director. There is some concern among passengers that the strikes now taking place in France will impact returning flights. We can't see how we'll be affected.
We returned to the cabin with our good-night drinks. Watching TV (Downton Abbey) and doing computer chores until we fall asleep.
4/15/18
Actually the ship tied up at Kehl, Germany, a few miles from Strasbourg and sent the buses into town. Once again, we're not feeling great so we stayed aboard and read and rested.
PhotoLink
We did the necessary packing for tomorrow and paying our bill, including tips for the crew. We tipped our cabin person and bartender a little more separately.
The picture to the right is our view to the west across the Rhein to France. For the next 200+ miles, the Rhein is the border between the two countries.
The Captain's cocktail party came off this evening with smiles all around.
We went to bed early.
In the morning we will leave the ship early into buses somewhere outside Basel. The buses will tour Basel on their way to the Rhein Falls and then to Zurich.
Top
Next Page
