October 8, 2015

October 8, 2015

                    

We woke up before the alarm, the sky was partly cloudy and the temperature is 12 or 13 C. We had the continental breakfast on the Aquavit Terrace at a table for two.  The satellite Internet connection is extremely slow, but the text upload was done in less than five minutes, after we were able to get the connection again.  Uploading photographs is excruciatingly slow – 20 minutes or more per photo – if the connection does not fade. 

Claus, the program director gave a talk at 10 about locks and canals around the world. China was the first country to conceive the idea. Of particular interest was the description of the Eco-lock where a series of reservoir tanks hold water that is pumped in and out of the locks, rather than using canal or river water for the lowering or raising of boats in the lock.  A version of the Eco-lock is part of the design of the third set of locks of the Panama Canal, which we saw under construction two years ago.  After the presentation, we walked around the three levels of the ship, since the Sun Deck is closed, to get some steps registered on our pedometers.  There were lots of people in the lounge and on the Aquavit Terrace open desk relaxing and taking advantage of photo opportunities as we cruised along the Main River this morning on our way to Miltenberg, Germany.  There are 154 steps from the glass doors of the Aquavit Terrace and its deck to the end of the hallway on the third level.  There is just the start of the leaves changing colour.  There is very little commercial shipping on the Main River.  We only saw one barge.    

The draft of the ship is about two meters so at least two and half meters of depth is needed for the ship to use the waterways.  We are still hoping that we can sail to the Danube in a few days and not have to change ships.

Shortly before Miltenberg at the 121 km distance marker, there was the Franciscan monastery, Engelberg, on one side and Kleinheubach Castle on the other side.

The ship arrived in Miltenberg shortly after noon before the lunch service that started at 12:30.  After lunch, when we were back in the cabin, we opened the sliding doors to hear the two o’clock bells and noticed a white swan swimming near the ship’s side, looking for food to be tossed to it from the verandas or French balconies.  It looked beseechingly, at the people in the openings, in the hope of a reward.  Steps 4,165. 

We disembarked just before 2:30; one of six groups of 30 for the walking tour of Miltenberg.  Andrea, our guide, explained the flood protection system for Miltenberg, then the sign for the public toilets, cartoon, in German “Vatter do!”, a young son exclaiming to his drunken father this way! Then the group proceeded along the main street, pointed out was the protestant church up the hill outside the old city wall, since it was a Catholic town; the new city hall, built in the late1800s, with lovely red flowers in the flower boxes, which used to be a hotel at Engel-platz.  WE learned some history and that the town was almost destroyed during the 30 Years War and took over a century to recover.  As we walked along the main street, we came to the oldest hotel built before 1590, known as Reisen Hotel, where princes stayed in olden days.  It had a unique feature – an opening on the ground floor for the horses and carriages to enter, which kept the mud from the streets off the riders’ shoes or the lady passengers’ dresses; the ground floor offered shopping and a pub, too.  It is also known as the Giant’s Inn, because of the name of the beer brewed on site. Site breweries are signified by the six pointed star under the sign of the pub. The hotel was built around 1411 and is known for sure to have existed since 1590.  Next we got to the former city hall where the ground floor was the market in centuries past. Further down the street was a building built in 1333 and had an addition added, but the addition’s half timber design was somewhat different than the original.  The tour ended at the 1583 fountain that brought fresh clean water to the town. The tour ended here. We had Claus take our picture by the fountain, before we walked uphill 69 steps and numerous inclined ramps to the castle to get a view of the valley.

After the walking tour, we had almost two hours of free time to explore the town before returning to the buses to take us to Wertheim to meet the repositioned ship.  There was a lovely view from the castle and then we took a different route back to the fountain square. We stopped at a unique wine store on the main street which is built in the hillside and has a constant temperature about 8 C and bought some local wine to enjoy in our room. We walked around the town and found a lovely treed park before returning to the meeting point where we stopped at a bakery for a soft pretzel.  The group was assembling in the square to take buses back to the ship, which had proceeded to Wertheim. The buses arrived at the dock about five minutes before the ship and everyone was onboard within 15 minutes to continue the trip to Wurtzburg (only 42 km by road, but 14 hours by river and locks).

Dinner was at 7:30, rather than 7, and the daily briefing was at 7:15 to tell us of Thursday’s agenda.  We also heard that at Nuremburg, we probably will have to switch ships due to low water levels, but the staff will also switch ships.

For dinner we were presented with bruschetta on toast, then the appetizer of Crab cakes or duck breast, three thinly sliced pieces; Rib Eye Steak and vegetables or Black Cod and rice for entrées, accompanied by red or white German wine – two or three glasses. Then for dessert, we had Tiramisu and coffee or tea.  At 9, Lazslo, the pianist, started to play. Tonight, the first set was swing, there were at least nine couples dancing!  We danced most of the first set, including Larry dancing with Roni, the concierge, before calling it a night.  Final day’s steps 17,223. Almost 16 km.