This morning when we awoke it was raining......and it rained on and off all day. Such a shame because the medieval town of Miltenberg is so pretty. But the good thing was, that there was no wind! But we did struggle to keep cameras under the umbrellas and rain drops off the lens, during our visit to the town in the afternoon.

During the morning we turned onto the Main River, pronounced 'Mine'. The name 'Main' means 'The Snake'. The Main is a smaller winding river and is said to be much cozier than the Rhine. It is 524 kilometres long and one of the more significant tributaries of the Rhine river. It's catchment basin competes with the Danube River. The largest city on the Main River is Frankfurt. Extensive works have made the Main navigable for river shipping from its mouth at the Rhine via the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal (RMD Canal). The mouth of the Main River is 384 kms away from the junction of the RMD Canal. If the river was straight it would be half this length. The river has gained enormous importance as a vital part of the European 'Corridor VII', the inland water link from the North Sea to the Black Sea. The Main River divides Germany mentally and physically into north and south and has been named the 'white sausage equator'. There were lots of quaint villages along the banks of the Main river.

We will experience many locks and plenty of low bridges, over the next few days whilst cruising the Main, so much so, that the upper deck has been all packed down. Side rails were laid down, deck chairs folded up and the sides of the swimming pools laid down as well. The upper sundeck is now out of bounds to passengers. There is still a small area near the bridge that we have access to, but there may be times that access to this area will also be roped off. Particularly during the night. The bridge of the ship even needs to be lowered at times, so the ship can fit under the bridges. The AmaReina is 11.45 metres wide. Many of the locks, particularly towards the end of our journey on the Main river, will only be 12 metres wide, so that means there will not be much clearance on either side of the ship. Sometimes the locks will be slightly curved and we have been warned we may feel a bump or two as we go through the lock. We will travel through 34 locks during the 386 kilometres of travel on the Main river and the highest we will be lifted is 7.6 metres (24.93 feet). Our river cruising is going to be very, very interesting.

During the morning a glass blowing demonstration was held in the lounge, by a gentleman named of Mr Ittig. He was 39 years old and started blowing glass when he was 18. Both his father and grandfather are glass blowers. This third generation had decided at 18, that he was more interested in playing in a band. Twenty one years on, he manages to do both and by all accounts has done very well for himself. It seems that the more he gives, the more he receives in return! Mr Ittig has raised money for the church by producing a unique glass coin every year and this is sold at Christmas time. 5000 of his special millennium glass coin were sold in 2000. Normally he makes 2000 each year for the church to sell. In the lead up to Christmas he also gives of his time and expertise to help children blow themselves a bauble and he works with the youth in his town. His blown glass was very beautiful. I did resist the temptation to buy though, so there is none being shipped home or in the suitcase.

After lunch with our rain jackets on, and a red APT umbrella in hand, we met our tour guide for a walking tour of Miltenberg. The town is said to be the 'Pearl of the Main River'. Our guide who was Scottish, had married a German girl and said "He was passionate about being a tour guide in this lovely medieval town". He even had the German leather shorts on! Pete has decided he doesn't need a pair to take home.

Miltenberg was founded in the 13th century, but settlement does date back much further. There was a fortified Celtic town on the mountain above the old town, dating 5th century BC. The place was also important as a Roman border town and it was situated on important trade and smuggling routes. Controlling the entrance to the Main valley and the traffic on the river was Miltenberg's biggest asset. But this did mean that the town was always on the 'conquer list' of invaders wishing to establish supply lines. It is said "That the inhabitants were smart enough to surrender in most cases".

Miltenberg suffered greatly after the 30 years war and could not afford to replace its old medieval heart with its half timbered houses. So it is also said "They are stuck in time and the town is straight out of a fairy tale". Most of the homes in the 'medieval town' are privately owned. There were lots of shops as well to tempt the tourists. And just to make our walk through the medieval town a little more interesting, we took part in a 'Treasurer Hunt'. We had a sheet with six questions on it and during the tour, our guide gave us the answers at some point in his presentation. The 'Treasure Hunt' would have also been more enjoyable without the rain! But lots of people joined in the fun and put their answered sheet into the box on the ship in the hope of being the prize winner. The prize was a cuckoo clock. Only thing was it was all in pieces in a box and you had to paint the pieces and put it together! It was quite different and if we had known what the prize was, we may have visited Rita's art shop and she may have made a few sales. As we walked through the town we were given things to sample. Like pretzel, German medicine (Krauterlikor or snaps as they say), German sausage and chocolates.  

We actually caught buses to take us back to the ship further up the Main river. We had the 'Town Cryer' as the guide on our bus. He was the guy dressed in his costume, waiting for us outside the historic hotel. We went through a small town where the famous Romertopf clay baking dishes are manufactured. The special clay for the famous dishes is only found in this area of Germany. Some months ago what the guide said would have gone over the top of my head. But the Sandison family gave me a Romertoph baking dish for my last birthday and it does bake chicken in particular, perfectly! And the dishes are promoted as healthy cooking!

To finish off another lovely day we were entertained after dinner, by a male singer this time, who sang Roy Orbison, Dean Martin and Johnny Cash songs. All of the songs he sang were from an era, that the majority of passengers enjoyed and knew well!. We do have a few passengers under 40, but they do stand out from the rest! The majority have been married for more than 40 years!