Nomads a drift

The sail for the day was from Wertheim to Koblenz and for the Americans on board (most everyone) it was Thanksgiving Day. Part of the previous days route was via bicycle then boarded the ship in Freudenberg.  From there the ship sailed all night and all day the next day ending up in the port of Koblenz. At one point during the late mornings sailing the captain guided the boat towards the starboard side allowing a vessel to pass on the port side.  Suddenly the boat lurched and a loud crunching and scraping sound was generated.   The captain applied power to the propellers in an effort to make sure the vessel had the additional momentum to walk over the rocks and mud that laid in the path.  The captain was successful in making sure the boat did not run aground.  A great deal of muddy water surrounded the vessel as it plowed like an ice breaker through the obstruction laying just beneath the water line.  It is a good thing that this vessel is scheduled fo...

The day’s objective is to travel from Wertheim to Freudenberg by bicycle, and then set sail all night and the next day.   The day began with a slightly different challenge.  First thing in the morning, Kevin checked his phone to discover a text message from the CITI credit card company.  The first thought that went through Kevin and Theresa’s mind was that the text was a scam and there was no way we elected to click on the embedded link.  Something in the back of Kevin’s mind said to find a way to validate the text so he logged on directly to the secured Web site for CITI.  There he discovered several suspicious purchases all conducted on their anniversary.  The first was a phone order to some web site for 85 cents.  This was the trigger by the fraudulent user to confirm the credit card was a viable target.  That was rapidly followed by two airline tickets on Delta and two additional charges to yet another merchant not recognized by Kevin....

A bump in the night at 1 AM assumingely thru a lock, resulted in a 2 person crew painting from a small boat along-side the 1st level first thing in the morning. Theresa was still not feeling well and it was made worse by Kevin leaving the balcony door open all night with temperatures of 27°! When she discovered this at 4 AM it was immediately remedied and back off to slumber. When we rose in the AM and went down for breakfast, we noticed that there were frost scrapings on the parked cars.  Do we really want to venture out in this? The tour for the day was a bus ride to a Residence (palace) that was an indoor 1 hour tour followed by a walk thru the city to the ship.  Theresa was still suffering from the Budapest plague but was willing to put on the layers and see the sights.   Upon entry to the palace you had to show your ID and proof of vaccination.  Germany is serious about fighting COVID, though they are in the middle of a serious outbreak. The Prince-Bishop w...

On this date November 22, in the year of 1975, Kevin and Theresa were joined in Holy Matrimony.  Where was the person who needed to speak up on why this marriage should not have taken place?  Just say NO! The morning started as any other day on board the ship.  Spit into a test tube as the first thing you do.  Do Not brush your teeth, Do Not drink any fluids.  Put the test tube in a marked envelope and seal it.  These envelopes were then to be delivered to the front desk at the time indicated on the envelope, this was usually by 7 or at the latest 8 am. The oldy-weds awoke by 6:30 am and wished each other happy anniversary.  Theresa’s Happy Anniversary was very nasal as she now has the Budapest crud thanks to Kevin. The days included excursion would be a short bus ride towards the town center.  From the drop off site the guests marched towards the heart of Bamberg.  This little village was along a fast-flowing river.  The river was vital...

Nuremberg is a large sprawling city that had been fully reconstructed after World War II. This area had heavy manufacturing for Germany which made it a strategic target by the Allies.  This resulted in more than 90% of Nuremberg being destroyed.   Our tour today focused on an old medieval castle that had never been conquered due to the unique structure of the fortress walls and associated mote.   For reasons not fully understood the castle and its high tower were not touched by air raids during World War II.   Upon leaving the Castle Kevin and Theresa recognized signs that a Hash run had visited the castle only a few days earlier.   Both saw hair arrows directing the runners up an old set of stairs onto a steep wide walk way that rose up to and into the castle area.  Our friends from the SDH3 (San Diego Hash House Harriers), and our friends from SWRH3 (Sir Walter Raleigh Hash House Harriers) groups would be pleased that Rambyte and Mainf...

Around 1 am Kevin was awakened by a large bump that shook the bed followed by a high- pitched scraping noise.  Theresa lay asleep so it was not her.  He laid there waiting to determine if any action may be required.  No announcement on the intercom as the ship continued to make way up the river.  Sleep was soon resumed.  The next morning the ship was docked in Regensburg and Kevin and Theresa were up by 7 am for a full breakfast and to prepare for the walking tour of the town.  The walking tour was focused on the old architecture and life of the 13th and 14th century was described.  One section of town still had walls that had been erected by the Roman empire.   Regensburg was a city of wealthy families.  These families would build what the tour guide described as Trump Towers.  The purpose of the tower was to demonstrate the wealth of the family that occupied the residence.  Oddly the towers were of little use as only the firs...

Kevin was still fighting the Budapest bug, but insisted he could manage the 1.5 hour walking tour of the city.   The highlight of the tour was another St. Stephen’s cathedral that claimed the largest cathedral organ in the world with just under 18k organ pipes! Our guide was an opera singer and treated us to a short rendition of one of her favorites.   There were again a mix of architectures that dated from Roman Empire days.   One of the buildings near the river recorded the various years of flooding in the city.  Alarms went off when flooding was near and folks would fill their first floors with fresh water so it would keep out the river nastiness when the river came flowing in.   The cool thing was the narrow cobblestone streets that climbed and curved throughout the town lined with building 4-5 stories high.   Arches were constructed to brace the old structures so they would not lean in or away from the street.  Cute shops, cafes and othe...

The river trip to Melk was surrounded by old castle walls, historical architecture as well as the tiered hillside grapevines, notable to the vineyards of this region. Kevin slept after breakfast then mustered a bit of energy for lunch then he was down for the count to battle whatever nastiness he picked up in the ‘healing’ mineral waters of the Budapest spa.   Theresa pushed on and went on the tour of a working monastery that also was home to a school for the gifted as well as a handful of monks.  A large section of the museum and the church did not allow photography so sorry for the lack of pictures.  If you want to see some of what was on the inside here is a link.   Notable was the gas prices and amazing $7 per gallon! Back on the boat Theresa checked once again on Kevin who was still in healing sleep mode.  So she worked on the blog posts and met some fellow passengers in the lounge area. Dinner time came around and Kevin thought he was recovered enough...