For several days now we have been out of the River Rhine & on its tributary the 'Main' which is much smaller & has a lot less Barge traffic. We are still constantly going through locks, lifting us 10 -12 feet each time.
Today our shore excursion was Bamberg & again it was a little different with colourful stories & history delivered by our clever guides.
This afternoon we entered the Main river canal, an incredible engineering feat that I have never heard of, that was only opened in1992.The canal is 170 klms long & is built entirely within Germany it joins the Rhine to the Danube & thus Eastern & Western Europe. The massive lifting heights of the locks & the aquaducts which allow ships to sail, way above existing roads, valleys & waterways, are incredible. This canal allows river commerce & shipping to run all the way from the North sea to the Black sea in the middle East. The locks have increased enormously in lift height with 3 in a row at 81 feet per lift. The entrance to these locks look like a garage door that would never fit a ship. There was only ever a couple of inches clearance all the way around the ship. The inside of the lock felt like a ravine with its Vertical sides.
Next day... Today we did a long excursion in Nuremburg all very interesting & also very different from other places we have visited.This is the site of the WWII war trials. The 4 of us decided to have lunch in town where they make the best Bratwurst in Germany (this same claim is made in every German town). So we had Bratwurst, sauerkraut, & kartofel salad washed down with a couple of pints of black Bavarian beer, all enjoyed under a large shady tree on a sidewalk cafe.
The boat we are on is very modern & new as it was only launched in March of this year. Everything to do with the boat is great. That was until today when we were approaching the entrance to one of the very large locks & as the boat is 135 metres it requires bow thrusters to manouver into the locks. Unfortunately the bow thrusters failed. I was standing on the very bow of the ship taking some pictures of us entering the lock, when I noticed we were going to miss the hole by about 3 metres. Yep we missed & crashed into the concrete edging & that certainly woke everyone up. There was a loud crash & stuff fell off the tables everywhere & several crew came running to the front of the ship to examine the damage & there certainly was some crunched metal. After the first hit we bounced off & hit the other side almost as hard. Eventually we scraped into the lock but the rest of the day was at half speed as one of the main generators isn't working.
At dinner time the boat stopped for a moment at the side of the canal as a taxi stopped & dropped off an engineer & some equipment for running repairs.
Next day....Arrived in Regenberg at around 10am & the boat is back at full speed & the the bow thrusters are again working. The engineeer must have had a busy but succesful night. The walk around Regensberg was very nice but incredibly hot, around 37 degrees. Roz wasn't feeling well & stayed behind in the air conditioning. During the afternoon a huge storm was building behind us & has finally caught us just as we were about to enter another lock. The waves got very large & the wind was blowing at about 50 knots with very heavy & cold rain. It has certainly dropped the temperature & no doubt provided the captain with a lot of difficulty in getting into the lock. Over the next few hours we will be finally joining the Danube.
As time goes on our geography knowledge is improving greatly.
Today our shore excursion was Bamberg & again it was a little different with colourful stories & history delivered by our clever guides.
This afternoon we entered the Main river canal, an incredible engineering feat that I have never heard of, that was only opened in1992.The canal is 170 klms long & is built entirely within Germany it joins the Rhine to the Danube & thus Eastern & Western Europe. The massive lifting heights of the locks & the aquaducts which allow ships to sail, way above existing roads, valleys & waterways, are incredible. This canal allows river commerce & shipping to run all the way from the North sea to the Black sea in the middle East. The locks have increased enormously in lift height with 3 in a row at 81 feet per lift. The entrance to these locks look like a garage door that would never fit a ship. There was only ever a couple of inches clearance all the way around the ship. The inside of the lock felt like a ravine with its Vertical sides.
Next day... Today we did a long excursion in Nuremburg all very interesting & also very different from other places we have visited.This is the site of the WWII war trials. The 4 of us decided to have lunch in town where they make the best Bratwurst in Germany (this same claim is made in every German town). So we had Bratwurst, sauerkraut, & kartofel salad washed down with a couple of pints of black Bavarian beer, all enjoyed under a large shady tree on a sidewalk cafe.
The boat we are on is very modern & new as it was only launched in March of this year. Everything to do with the boat is great. That was until today when we were approaching the entrance to one of the very large locks & as the boat is 135 metres it requires bow thrusters to manouver into the locks. Unfortunately the bow thrusters failed. I was standing on the very bow of the ship taking some pictures of us entering the lock, when I noticed we were going to miss the hole by about 3 metres. Yep we missed & crashed into the concrete edging & that certainly woke everyone up. There was a loud crash & stuff fell off the tables everywhere & several crew came running to the front of the ship to examine the damage & there certainly was some crunched metal. After the first hit we bounced off & hit the other side almost as hard. Eventually we scraped into the lock but the rest of the day was at half speed as one of the main generators isn't working.
At dinner time the boat stopped for a moment at the side of the canal as a taxi stopped & dropped off an engineer & some equipment for running repairs.
Next day....Arrived in Regenberg at around 10am & the boat is back at full speed & the the bow thrusters are again working. The engineeer must have had a busy but succesful night. The walk around Regensberg was very nice but incredibly hot, around 37 degrees. Roz wasn't feeling well & stayed behind in the air conditioning. During the afternoon a huge storm was building behind us & has finally caught us just as we were about to enter another lock. The waves got very large & the wind was blowing at about 50 knots with very heavy & cold rain. It has certainly dropped the temperature & no doubt provided the captain with a lot of difficulty in getting into the lock. Over the next few hours we will be finally joining the Danube.
As time goes on our geography knowledge is improving greatly.
The castle we just left in Nuremberg.
The glockenspiel on the church in Nuremberg.Lots of stuff happened at 12 oclock. The buglers bugled, drummers drumed, The bell ringer rung & a whole bunch of dudes came out & danced around the king.
View from our ship as we pass over a valley & road on an aquaduct.
Approaching the 81 foot lift lock, which we crashed into.
A ship just leaving the lock just before we tried to enter.
Looking up from the top deck of our ship. The water fills right to the top.
An aerial shop of an overpass on the Main canal. (I did not take this picture)
Roughing it, waiting for something exiting to happen.
A casket in the cathedral in Bamberg containing the remains of 2 saints. The church also had the remains of a dead pope.
A 800 year old building where the fight scene of the 3 musketeers was filmed
Another hot day in some berg or other.
A stone bridge built over a tributary of the Danube in Regensberg in 1120
Yvonne on that same stone bridge.
The storm is building
The storm is seconds away
Part of another castle in Nuremberg. Forgot the date but its pretty old.
Europe is full of old stuff if they don't bulldoze some soon there won't be any room for anything new.
