FINAL DAYS

Docked in Amsterdam, but a short drive took us to visit Utrecht, a university town with a canal network. We took a guided tour on the canals, that included a Gouda cheese tasting. I really enjoyed the oldest that had salt crystals formed in it rather like vintage cheddar or Parmesan. Utrecht was a bit dirty & tatty with a lot of closed shops.

Won the quiz again, Linda's poem was the tie breaker winner.

All in all the river cruise was very nice, visiting some lovely places, the boat was very comfortable, but there were too many early tours for our liking. Food good, you just had to be careful with your selection. The entertainment was limited but good & Noel, the Northern Irish activities manager was brilliant. Would go with the company again.

Flight home good, trains cancelled because some Muppet crashed into a bridge, but we worked our way around it.

KINDERDYCHE

We've left Germany and rocked up in the Netherlands. Kinderdyche is a well preserved set of wind pumps that were used to reclaim a large tract of land in Dordrecht, now a suburb of Rotterdam. We climbed a working wind pump and the power of the whole thing is incredible.

It's a World Heritage Site & a lovely spot to visit, nice walking scenery.

Won the quiz again.

KOBLENZ

Koblenz sits at the confluence of the Mosel & Rhine. Medium size city. The free tour was to an original but destroyed castle, unrestored. It was too tough for us & too hot, so we went out early & caught the cable car to the fortress overlooking the city. The statue is Kaiser Bill.

Boot moored in town, so took the bike out early evening while Lin chilled.

COCHEM

Further back down the Mosel to Cochem, another wine growing region with a restored fairy tale chateau now owned by the town. Views are lovely but I went wrong walking to mustard museum and took Lin over a mountain goat ridge. That finished her off for the day, just to cap it all the museum was closed.

In the evening we had the German Swiss bell ringers. Interesting.

That thing hanging on the chateau ceiling grants your wishes. I tried it, let's see what happens.

BERNKASTEL

Bernkastel on the Mosel, beautiful picturesque town, only 1076 inhabitants. Arrived late in the morning so we had a lay in - first this holiday. Went on a walking tour with Marita. Had to delay the start because it was tipping it down. We learnt about the wine, she told us not to touch them. They start out fairly normal in the early evening,  go to bars, have a skinful, move on to the next bar, drink even more & by 2am they can only walk on their hands & knees. After about 20 mins it started to pour & we ducked into a church. The whole interlude was enlivened when one of our fellow guests burst into song - tenor, wow, very impressive in the large church 

Tommy the zither entertained us the other day. That instrument sure is something to play. Right hand thumb picks the 6 lead guitar strings while left hand forms chords/notes. Pretty normal, meanwhile first 2 finger right hand play rhythm guitar & second 2 fingers right hand play bass guitar. Wow, I can't even pick my nose without sticking a spare finger in my eye.

MAINZ & RUDESHEIM

Continuing northward up the Rhine then turning left on the Mosel. Mainz, a peaceful, smallish city with a lovely market with beautiful fruit, veg & flowers. Walked to the cathedral, then up the hill to the Catholic Saint Stephan's church that boasted a full set of Marc Chagall stained glass windows. Interesting when Chagall was a Russian Jew. Went cycling along the Rhine to see some new dockland modern developments & older boat club communities. Couldn't face the climb up the stairs to cross the bridge to the other bank.

Wine tasting at Rudesheim at the Johannisberg winery. Too much tasting for me, but Lin loved it. They had a lockup where they kept their best vintages, some back to the 1700's. Nice cruise through the Rhine gorge - many castles & little reverside towns. Won the movie quiz - not down to me, we had some good team members. More Johannisberg bubbly.

COLMAR STRASBOURG

Started our cruise northward up the Rhine. We have visited Colmar & Strasbourg, two cities that have yo-yo's between France & Germany, depending on who was winning the war at the time. Currently in France, there still seems a little enmity between the people. Colmar we had a German guide who was quite critical of French people, in Strasbourg we had a French guide who explained the meaning of the shop sign where a French monk is lecturing a pig, symbolic of the Germans & the second part of the scene, the pig is slaughtered & on it's way to be eaten. Very Catholic down here with massive cathedrals. 

Boat nice, weather's so-so, thunder & lightning yesterday. Eating, drinking too much.