Going Cruisin

We spent the morning up on the sun deck enjoying the sunshine with 25 degree temperatures.  Boris, our Activities Director, carried on a non stop commentary about the sights and the scenery as we slowly made our way along the Rhine.  As of about 9:00 am we have left the Main River behind.  We will be navigating the Rhine until we finish in Amsterdam.  By the way that is closing in.  Not sure I like that thought.  This has been quite the trip. For 40 miles castle after castle could be seen, 28 in total.  Some are restored to their former glory, many are just ruins.  Trees, castles, churches, and campgrounds (well maybe the campgrounds on the banks of the Rhine do not belong in this list...they have way too much of a permanent look).  Scenery like no other! PS Just an update on our health.  We are both struggling to shake this bug that has taken us on.  Each day we take 3 steps forward and one step back.  But rest assured we are ...

Up front I have to say that the title might seem a little strange.  In fact I am sure that I have used it before.  But that was back when we used to ride our bicycles.  So what the heck does this have to do with anything?  Well, today we went for a bike ride. For the first time on this adventure we were able to throw on our shorts.  The sun shone and the temperature for the first time on this adventure actually made it above 25.  So it seemed like a great day to go for a ride.   As you will see, our bikes were not exactly the same as we are used to riding.  It felt a little bit weird to be heading off on orange and blue bikes with a bunch of tourists.  But then again, I guess we are tourists. We rode from Wertheim to Freudenburg.  It was 25 km of bike path riding along the side of the Main River.  It was great.  At the finish of the ride, we were handed a glass of beer to drink.  I should say that we were handed a gla...

 Whatever is going around on board this boat is a little hard to kick.  The theory that in 2 days everything is fine is "Bull....".  I am feeling somewhat better but still struggling and now the bus has run over Sue! However, Sue decided to go on our planned excursion into Wurzburg anyway.  After a short bus ride we met our Portuguese Guide.  He is a student here in Wurzburg at the local university.  More about that...because he comes from another EU country, he is able to study anywhere in Germany for 250 Euros a year.  He does not speak German but can take his courses in English.  His degree will only cost him 750 Euros.  How crazy is that?  It really makes you wonder about the damage that Great Britain has done to their younger generation with Brexit. We toured the Wurzburg Residenz.  This place was the official residence of the region's prince - bishops.  Say what you want these guys were royalty and certainly acted as such...

 Just FYI.  2 blogs are posted today! It was a quiet evening yesterday.  At least for me!  I did not partake in dinner or any of the lounge festivities.  Feeling lousy on a holiday 'stinks'! Like Nuremberg, the cruise boat docking area is in the modern industrial area of Bamberg.  If you build a waterway new business will spring up.  So another bus ride was required to get into the old city.  The good news was that it was only a 10 minute ride this time. Bamberg has one of the best preserved examples of medieval architecture in all of Europe.  It received no damage during the war.  It has examples of Gothic, Baroque, and Romanesque architecture.  It is fascinating to see timber style buildings that are so old still being used. Bamberg's prosperity has always been linked to water.  It was the starting point for shipping on the Main River (pronounced Mine) and now is the northern starting point of the Main- Danube Canal.  It...

 Today was a tough day.  At least it was for me.  My cold, or whatever this is, is brutal.  I best describe it as congestion, a cough, and a headache that feels like your head is being squeezed in a vice.  It appears that more than half the boat is suffering from this.  As a result, our 4 hour bus ride from Passau to Nuremberg to get to our new boat, seemed a heck of a lot longer.  Our new vessel, the Viking Ve, was ready when we arrived.  They are accurate when they say the boats are identical.  But I miss our lady who cleaned our room who called me Mr. Kevin and will certainly miss our bartender Christian and his sense of humor.  Oh well, when I feel better, maybe the new one will be just as entertaining. Our 2 tours were now at the same time so we chose to do the 'Surviving the War - Art in Nuremberg'.  The dock in Nuremberg is outside of the city.  Nuremberg was never a port city.  In 1992, a canal was opened that link...

This just a quick note to say that the blog post will be a little delayed.  Our transfer to the new boat combined with our afternoon expedition running overtime (traffic jamb in Nuremberg) meant a late arrival back to our boat.  So with the introduction to our new crew and Boris giving his presentation it was dinner time (even though I am not partaking again).  This bug has grabbed a hold of me to say the least.  Half the darn boat is sick and hacking right along with me.  It just means it will be another night before the bartender gets to know my name and room #!!!! Stay tuned!!!

                                                                                 Regensburg Skyline Medieval Bridge with original infrastructure. Project to recognize Regensburg Jewish families who died in WWII. These plaques on the cobblestones are outside the homes they were deported from. The home of Emilie and Oskar Schindler when they lived in Regensburg. St. Peters Cathedral St. Peters Cathedral interior

Last evening we were informed that we would be unable to get through the Regensburg area.  Water levels are too low to safely navigate.  Only 7 inches but it might as well be 7 feet!  Yesterday we turned around and returned to Passau. So the plan is that everyone is being bused to Regensburg this morning for the planned excursions.  Sue has just left.  I have decided to stay behind with a handful of other people, all of which make me feel young.  However, I have come down with a cold.  I suspect that these 'old' people have more  energy than I do today.  When I got up this morning, I felt like a bus had hit me, stopped, backed up and ran over me again.  I am hoping that a day of rest with some drugs will do me good and set me up for the continuation of the adventure tomorrow. As for the transition to get us onto another boat, that is a little bit more complicated than we were led to believe.  Imagine that!  The buses left for R...

 Last evening while sitting listening to Boris, our cruise activity director, we were given a heads up that there was a 50% chance that we would be changing boats somewhere along the way.  It sounds like the river levels are too low somewhere between Regensburg and Nuremburg for our boat to pass through.  We may be bussed ahead and board another Viking boat to continue our journey.  We suspect that a boat coming the other way will turn around as will ours.  They tell us that if it happens it will be seamless.  We will not know that we are on a different boat as they are exactly the same.  That part is true...but... we will have to 'break in' another crew of staff...just when they had gotten to know us and we could see their individual personalities.  If history repeats that should only take us one evening...at least for the lounge staff!  Later today the decision is going to be made. We arrived in Germany today in Passau.  Passau is at t...