We are in Bavaria and in Franconian wine country. Alll along the river grape vines were growing up the quite steep hillside. The vine rows are actually up and down the hill not across. It is quite a cool area for growing wine which is why the vines are only planted on the hillsides and only those hillsides that face the south. This is how the grapes get as much sun as they need. Upon arriving out our port of call (Wurzburg) we had to moor alongside another crui...

Today we entered the Main River (pronounced Mine River by the Germans). It is over 500km long and one of the more significant tributaries of the Rhine River. The Main has 34 large locks with the lowest one having a change of 2.3m and the largest of 7.6m. There is virtually no room on either side of the boat as we go in and we continue to find it amazing that the whole process can be done without touching the sides of the lock. Having said that when the water come...

The ship did not do any sailing last night until 0430 as today we sailed through the 'castellated' Rhine Gorge. Nevena pointed out the various sites - towns, castles and other points of interest. The commentary went on from 9 until 12 when we had an early lunch and disembarked at Rudesheim. During the commentary they served the famous Rudesheimer Coffee about the same time as we passed famous Lorelei Rock - the song is to do with the legend. After lunch we got ...

This monring we arrived in Cologne and immediately after breakfast we headed off to the Medieval Town and the Cathedral. Today is a national holiday in Germany being the 25th anniversary of the reunification of East and West Germany. Basically just about everything will be shut but that did not not bother us as there was not time for shopping. Firstly we wandered alongside the river for a bit passing a flea market which would have been interesting to have a loo...

The boat did not go anywhere last night as there are some tours scheduled for Amsterdam. We had already selected a tour which would take us out by bus into the countryside to see some windmills in action, some cheese making and some making of wooden shoes. The commentary on the bus was excellent, helped by the dry wit of our guide. The country was flat as expected with a large portion of it below sea level. As we got further inland it became quite foggy and we ...