notamermaid

There are some fantastic canal systems in England. A pity that they are not wide enough for a river cruise ship of a commercially viable size like, say 60m by 8m. Or are they? Wondering about the depth of them. Talking of depth. The engineering skills and the coming steam engines brought exciting times to the Rhine 200 years ago. I mentioned Lord Byron, then William Turner. Those painters and writers of the time (several more besides those two) were the last to travel by conventional methods. Soon after from 1817 onwards and then with more (figurative) speed in the 1820's new and faster modes of transport changed the landscape and the river forever. notamermaid

Indeed. All good in Germany. It is forecast to gradually get warmer Thursday to Saturday, more what we expect in April, so nicer conditions for those sailing this weekend. Have a great cruise. By the way folks, 1 May as "Workers' Day" is a public holiday in Germany, Slovakia and Hungary but not in Austria. Austria has the 1st of May as its National Day and is therefore also a public holiday. notamermaid

In post #249 I mentioned "Mill Day". There are actually two such special days when mills are in the focus of the public eye. The first one is 11 May, that is in Switzerland, the "Schweizer Mühlentag" 2024: https://www.muehlenfreunde.ch/de/schweizer-muehlentag/2024/ An interactive map shows you where the mills are. The second one is 20/29 May, the "Deutscher Mühlentag" 2024. https://www.deutsche-muehlen.de/muehlen-erleben/deutscher-muehlentag Here one can look in the database, click on search Deutscher Mühlentag 1: https://milldatabase.org/search/germany I find this one intriguing, it is a ship mill, meaning on the river: https://milldatabase.org/mills/germany-schiffsmuhle-ginsheim The replica shows you the technical construction of 1900. http://schiffsmuehle-ginsheim.de/boat-mills-in-ginsheim/ notamermaid

As we are talking about Vienna: there may be more obvious sights that you are likely going to look at while in the city. But why not check out the zoo? It has an interesting history and a fabulous setting with some beautiful architecture. Here is a documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj18gj6cksk&list=PLAocIS-jUf43o_1sY5kyJu4KfaV9Km9bo&index=85 notamermaid

There is some really nice footage in this. I did not know just how many wine cellar are in Traben-Trarbach! I have been into four. One of the things they cover in the narration is the replica of the wine ship found carved as a tombstone for a Roman wine merchant. Found at Neumagen-Dhron they called it Stella Noviomagi. Noviomagus Treverorum is the Latin name of the town. You can book a seat for one of the sailings or even hire the entire ship. Website in German only unfortunately: https://www.neumagen-dhron.de/weinschiff-stella-noviomagi/ notamermaid

Thank you for your kind words. Here is the Rhine Falls website: https://rheinfall.ch/en Unfortunately, the webcam is currently off and undergoing repairs. It is snowing above 400m altitude today in various places around Germany, i.e. this morning. This has moved now to 700m altitude as the temperatures have gone up in the last five hours. We have had a rainy and blustery morning with a bit of hail here in the valley. I put my winter coat on, temperatures are in the single digits. It has snowed on the Nürburg, the castle of Nürburgring race track fame. notamermaid

A new development in the Iffezheim lock incident. The captain of the ship has now been formally accused of endangering ship traffic due to having drunk alcohol. If the court accepts this will be a proper court case. The ship has been confiscated so as to potentially cover the cost of the lock repair should the owner (and insurance) of the ship not pay for the damages. The damage to the lock gate is estimated to be over 2 million euros. https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/karlsruhe/schleuse-iffezheim-schiff-primavera-beschlagnahmt-100.html notamermaid

Ah, yes, Schnitzel Wiener Art is also made with chicken. A small restaurant nearby where I live offers that. Turkey I guess works also but I assume it could get a bit dry. Still, a good chef can do wonders... The tourism website suggests trying these: https://www.austria.info/en/things-to-do/food-and-drink/top-austrian-dishes I like Linzer Torte, have actually never tried the Knödel. I absolutely loved the apple strudel the pastry chef made on my river cruise. Baked to perfection, not too sweet, with a light vanilla sauce. My favourite dessert on the cruise. notamermaid

Will it work this year, yes, that is the big question. So far we are doing well. Slow snow melt with the occasional good day of rain in May and June would serve us well for July and August. Lake Constance is well filled and above the long term mean. notamermaid

River levels. The level at Maxau did stay below 600cm. The level at Kaub went to 314cm and is now stable. All good. A bit exciting: will it snow in my state tomorrow? We had a bit of hail yesterday and it is cold for this time of year for sure. No snow in the valleys but we may see a bit in the Eifel region. Snow guaranteed in North Rhine-Westphalia. The state has - perhaps surprisingly - fairly high mountains. They are a nearly two hour drive from Cologne. There is snow in the South of Germany of course, in the mountainous parts of the Black Forest. notamermaid

Have a great cruise. Quiet a few sweet delicacies to try along the Danube, especially in Austria. Whereas Sachertorte originates from Vienna, nobody knows for sure who invented the Donauwelle. In Vienna, Wiener Schnitzel is a must. Food nerd fact, but an important one: "Wiener Schnitzel" is made with veal whereas "Schnitzel Wiener Art" is made with pork. It has to be made clear in a restaurant menu which you are getting, veal or pork. notamermaid

On Sunday I had a trip out into the Eifel region. A cold day, but the reward was some lovely cake and - a reminder of a special day in local history. If old machinery, technical details and history is your thing then mark "Day of Mills" in your calendar for your river cruise or land trip. More on that soon. notamermaid

The Ems is a river that like most starts with a tiny whole. Here the stream just a few hundred metres from its source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ems_(river)#/media/File:Ems_nahe_Quelle.jpg River cruise ships can sail on the Ems, but that is only possible since modern man has altered the river. For the transport of the ocean ships the river is artificially dammed so much that ships of a draft of up to 8.50m can use it. This thing does it: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emssperrwerk#/media/Datei:Flug_Leer_nach_Emden_2010_252.JPG Would love to see that - flat land, sheep, all quiet and then this massive monster of a ship is coming past. notamermaid

Making waves - Danube waves Okay, one wave actually. The Donauwelle is a cake with a wavy pattern and containing cherries. Have a look at the photo and try it when you are sailing on the river if you like: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donauwelle Of course you could bake it yourself, there are recipes on youtube with full instructions. notamermaid

I use this map: https://www.pegelonline.wsv.de/gast/karte/standard and via this website you can get to the countries you need: https://www.doris.bmk.gv.at/en/fairway-information/water-levels/international-water-levels Hope this helps. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

From Romantic poets to modern day infrastructure. We have talked about it before, but here is a short bit of info on the next stage of repairs at Iffezheim lock. Last year a gate was hit by a ship, check the footage in the video in this article. The engineer is using his little 100g hammer he says to hear the difference in sound in the concrete which occurs when there is damage. Currently the chamber is dry so they are doing all kinds of maintenance including dismantling the gate chains. Fortunately they have suffered only little damage. Work is on schedule and the chamber ready in November. https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/karlsruhe/rhein-schleuse-iffezheim-reparatur-schiff-unfall-100.html notamermaid

It is cold in Germany with the clouds bringing rain from the Baltic. A return of snow brought by "Väterchen Frost" from the Baltic (and Russia). This so far has not made the river rise, most of the rain has stayed over the Rhine while the snow is retained in the Vosges mountains. These will then drain their water mostly into the Moselle when the temperatures rise. Here is a webcam of Metz, the square at the Cathedral: https://metz.fr/decouvrir-partager/webcams/place_armes.php notamermaid

It has been a cold day with gusts of wind and rain, a mix of sunshine and clouds. But the air was clear and visibility good which of course is good for taking photographs. Snow may return to my state on Wednesday but only to the high hills. It snowed this morning in the Eifel region which has mountains of over 600m. The Hunsrück, that is South of the Moselle and West of the Rhine, contains the highest mountain in Rhineland-Palatinate with 816m. It has also snowed in the Vosges mountains which you can see from Strasbourg and Colmar. The highest summit is the Grand Ballon with 1,424m. notamermaid

That is unfortunate for you. The weather will continue to stay cold for a few days so at that altitude the snow will most likely stay on the ground for a bit. This is the forecast for Wednesday evening: You can look at the weather in Lower Bavaria (Niederbayern) here: https://www.br.de/wetter/action/bayernwetter/bayerntabelle.do?regio=Niederbayern&id=0 Or look at the more detailed page for searching for a place here: https://www.br.de/wettervorhersage/wetter-bayern/bayern/ It will not be raining as much in Rhineland-Palatinate and minimally warmer so the chance of snow is there but it will not be near the rivers, just in the far high hills. notamermaid

On Thursday I mentioned that the river is rising and we would see a level at Kaub of close to 300cm. This basically still stands as a forecast, with the level now reaching 300cm to 310cm most likely. The current figure is 292cm. Further upstream the level is also good. Maxau gauge forecast says the level will most likely stay below 600cm next week. That would be 1 June for a proper forecast with the reliability increasing every day and being fairly good four days out. If the levels reach a critical point either way - high or low water - then a few hours can make all the difference. For June low water is a negligible risk, high water does not happen often. The Moselle is not really afflicted by low water thanks to the locks but it can of course flood. notamermaid

As it is cold it has been snowing in Bavaria (of course), it is just a bit statistically unusual to have snow as low as 400m in altitude on 20 April. Still, it can happen at the beginning of May. Snow cover in the Bavarian Forest: https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/weitere-schneefaelle-im-hoeheren-bayerischen-wald,UAU77ww The report mentions Freyung. That is here, only 40km from Passau: It is the temperature that means when docked in Vilshofen or Passau or Linz, you will have rain but could potentially have sleet on the roads when taking excursions into the hills. Weather report says that snow is possible in Salzburg. notamermaid notamermaid

The poem that saved a mountain The Drachenfels is a mountain at Königswinter and part of the Seven Mountains range, the Siebengebirge. There are actually over 50 mountains and hill formations in the range. Curiously, I could only find two that have the word -ley or -lay in it. That is different from rock faces further upstream that are often called Lay. So Lay is an older word, the term that is only used in modern High German is Fels. The Drachenfels has the dragon legend attached to it but the name is probably derived from the stone that the Drachenfels is made of - Trachyte. This volcanic rock is perfect building material which can be sculptured well. The Romans used it and famously Bonn Minster and Cologne Cathedral are made from the stone quarried in the area, the latter being to a large extent made out of the Drachenfels itself. When Lord Byron looked at the mountain he saw the ruin of the castle and on another part of it stone was still quarried. It is believed that part of the castle ruin further disappeared due to the quarry. Rock is known to have come loose and having caused land slides. Tourists had come to the area before Byron but his poem was an instant hit in Britain and drew the crowds to the Drachenfels. First it was the painter William Turner, then other writers followed. The "conventional" tourists flocked to the Rhine valley from the 1820's, especially when the first steamers made travel easier and faster. The Drachenfels was in danger of disappearing from the landscape if large-scale quarrying had continued. Disputes between the locals who wished to preserve the sight and the quarry owners already started in the 1820's and continued until the Prussian king himself stepped in and bought the "mountain" and gave it protected status. The mountain made famous by Byron's poem was saved. Mining in other parts of the Seven Mountains range continued until 1930 when all of it became protected. notamermaid

On May 11, 1816, Byron and Polidori (the latter wrote a diary with dates and descriptions of places) passed the Drachenfels mountain but curiously did not actually visit it. They travelled upstream on the left bank of the Rhine so went from Bonn to Remagen and then Andernach. "The castled crag of Drachenfels" is in the third canto of the epic poem "Childe Harold" and I have quoted only the first verse. At Rhine kilometre 644.1 (left bank) you are supposed to have a great view of the Drachenfels. The Drachenfels is to the Lower Middle Rhine valley a bit what the Lorelei is to the Upper Middle Rhine valley. Heinrich Heine (yup, him of the Lorelei poem) went to the Drachenfels in 1820 and - what else - wrote a poem about it. notamermaid

Lady Caroline, herself not quite an innocent woman, called him "mad, bad and dangerous to know". John Polidori by the way started the genre of vampire stories during that meeting in Switzerland. notamermaid

Ouiii, happy surprise. I did not expect the Wall Street Journal of all publications to remember Byron on this day. And I fully admit that I had not thought of Byron had I not read an article in an online publication on Byron a couple of days ago. notamermaid