The Best Day of our Trip Yet!!!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Rhine River, Thuringia, Germany
Slept in...up at 8:00 am.  Headed to a narrative where our Cruise Director, Dragan gave us a blow-by-blow description of our trip through the Rhine River Valley....lots of castles, villages, churches and cities and a tremendous amount of European history from the Romans to present day. It was like listening to a professor giving a history lesson with the things he pointed out right on the shore!!! Truly amazing. He spoke for 2.5 hours, non-stop and was interesting all the way. We watched from the observation deck because the weather was beautiful...high 70's...lower 80's. We got to wear shorts today!!!

At 11:00 am we had an early lunch and headed to shore at the little town of Rhudesheim, Germany . What a beautiful little town....tourist heaven! We took a little train (Dragan called it Thomas the Train) and he was close to being right.  Very small. Anyway took it to a musical cabinet museum located in the town. They have musical instruments that play themselves (similar to player pianos) dating back to the 1500s. Tremendous museum. We were welcomed by a woman who sounded more than a little Nazi...."You vill do dis and you vill like it!!!"  LOL!

Afterwards we headed to a place called the Rhudesheim Schlosse where they serve an interesting drink. Large mug, add congnac (liberally!), light it on fire to carmelize the sugar, add coffee to put out the flame, add whipped cream (liberally!) and finally dust with chocolate. Surprisingly an extremely good drink! Sandy had only a sip. Drinking is not her speciality.   

We walked around town to shop...Ahh, now there's Sandy's specialty! Didn't find much, but we ran across a quartet of Russian singers (one was playing an accordian) . They were magnificant...so much so that I bought their CD...so yea, I came all the way to Germany to buy some Russian music. Oh well.  

We walked back to the ship, having a beer along the way...well, I did! Made it by 3:15 pm and then we were under weigh. OK, Sandy and I had a discussion about the term...under weigh. I told her it was correct. She said it was "Under Way."  When we looked it up we found out that "Under Weigh" was a nautical term which meant the ship was leaving port....I said, "Ah ha, I'm right!"  She said, "Read on."  It happened to mention that the term "Under Weigh" was "old and outdated."  I just told her...so am I!!! (Of course she knows I'm right, but don't tell her...I'll never hear the end of it!!!)  

We spent the next couple of hours on the top deck where it was absolutely beautiful...Sandy reading her book and me talking to my new friend John, the Aussie. He and I have developed a bond, and I'm not sure why ....maybe because he reminds of my grandfather. Farmer...and all round good guy.  

At 4:00 it was time for tea with cakes....like we haven't eaten enough already. Spend the rest of the time before dinner with our Aussie friends (John, Mari, Wendy and Merv). Wonderful people.

They had to lower the deck (hydrocially) to get under a bridge. Seems like they may have to do that more often later on tour trip.  

Back in the room they have a special TV camera which is mounted on the front of the ship and shows what's ahead. Another intersting item. They tell you to close your blinds when you are in port because sometimes other ships dock next to us...they say not so much for what they might see, but what you might wake up to and see in the cabin across from you!!! (Slaughtering hogs...slaughtering hogs...just to get that out of my mind!)

At 6:50 pm it was port talk with Dragan about tomorrow's itin. Then dinner with the Aussies...the dinners are nothing short of outstanding.  Everyone just gourmet meals.  

Blog and bed....this is truly turning into a vacation of a lifetime...despite the problems in Amsterdam. I can hardly keep the smile off my face!  

All the best my friends!!!

Dave & Sandy                 
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