notamermaid

Okay, this is what else I have been able to establish. There is the Quer-Durchs-Land-Ticket, as you mention, which you can use for the whole way and as far as I can establish also between Frankfurt and Mainz as you are leaving the regional sector around Frankfurt. There is also the Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket which you can use for the journey but it is not valid between Frankfurt and Mainz as there is no agreement between the two states for that part of public transport. A few busses are also excepted. Journeys and their respective ticket combinations may show up on your screen as not being available because as the DB attendant explained the prices are not fed into the system by Hesse regional public transport authorities. That is why you can see Mainz to Cochem for example but not Frankfurt to Cochem. This makes comparing prices a bit more difficult which matters for you for the prices for Quer-Durchs-Land-Ticket 49 euros for two Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket 31 euros for two So now for the missing part Frankfurt to Mainz: looks to be 5.60 euros per person. You can buy either ticket on the day or pre-book but I do not know if you can buy the ticket for the missing part in advance. It sounds a hassle to me. Here is the Verkehrsverbund in Frankfurt: https://www.rmv.de/auskunft/bin/jp/query.exe/en#focus In short, in theory (apart from the missing bit) you can buy the whole journey in advance as a standard ticket or you can "buy as you go along" on the day which makes a lot of sense for the regional trains as you do not reserve seats on those. For the fast trains on which the special saver tickets (the two above I mean) are not valid I generally speaking would reserve seats and buy in advance for convenience. Questions are: how much money are you willing to spend for the convenience? How much money would you like to save by buying on the day and doing away with the convenience (and potential stress if you do not make the fast train you booked in advance)? Hope this helps in playing around with the intricacies of Geman rail travel. notamermaid

The French have beautiful canals which some fascinating engineering for that time, i.e. the 18th and 19th centuries. Could not believe it when I first read that the idea of the Main Danube Canal goes back over a 1000 years. But it wasn't the Romans... It was Charlemagne, the Fossa Carolina is an archaeological remnant: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossa_Carolina#/media/Datei:Fossa-luft.jpg His dream was only realized in the 1990's. But enough nerdy stuff from me. 😁 Hope they hear all this on board. notamermaid

Yesterday's rain which I did not mention as it did not look substantial to me on the weather map has turned out to be enough to push the level at Pfelling to over 300cm. Just in case there may be an error in the gauge computer reading I checked the other stations. It is correct, they have all risen accordingly since last night. Really nice. A roller coaster depending on rain and no rain... So for now all good. Pfelling is at 310cm. notamermaid

That is a highly interesting alternative. I did not know about this. Knowing the confusing stations at Frankfurt airport, this is a good idea I think to get round that problem. As an aside: @CastleCritic is it always the industrial port for Uniworld or do they use Kehl in Germany as well? notamermaid

The Main river which StartrainDD are on now is a standard German highly engineered river, making it a federal waterway, but the Main Danube Canal is "two classes above" in engineering, basically connecting the continent, it should be compulsory teaching on any "Grand European". Some info at least and a bit more for the nerds and tech guys. Perhaps that will come at Bamberg or Nuremberg or when they cross the European watershed (there is a monument there I believe). notamermaid

Würzburg Residenz is well worth seeing. If you do not feel like going in proper, just take in the interior just behind the big doors (the ticket office is not at the entrance directly and you can sneak in for 30 seconds before an attendant arrives (this is what happened to us last year, but then we decided to tour it and enjoyed it). Not too worry if it does not work. I recommend the park to the right when you face the massively impressive facade, walk around the building and at its rear is the rose garden. Ten minute stroll through it, really good. From there we headed to the shops and the Main river. There are a couple of impressive churches along the way, etc. The Marienburg is impressive and you can take public transport up there. But I have not been in because one exhibition is closed (masks also required). Very much enjoyed the Würzburger Hofbräu Biergarten at its feet at the bottom of the hill (sort of, bad description of geography by me) a couple of weeks ago. From 2020: the square with market The Residence is a challenge to squeeze into a photo! Whatever you decide to do, enjoy. notamermaid

Sorry to read that. In 2018 I really felt it when I stood at the Rhine in disbelief, thinking "where has it gone", close to tears. Hope your river cruise on the lower Danube will not be affected, news does not reach me that much here as you know, about anything beyond Budapest really, so do not know details. Whatever happens, have a great time in Budapest, a fantastically interesting city. notamermaid

Not good. And you are right about Europe, the Po river in Italy is officially experiencing a drought, news says. Snapshot at Pfelling 5pm says 276cm, literally inching closer to official statistical low water level. Bavaria experiencing the highest temperatures in Germany today. Rain along the Danube forecast for Thursday. notamermaid

Have now been able to confirm with a helpful DB employee that on the day you travel (and probably on other days) there is construction work going on near Mainz so S8 or S9 are the options instead of the standard trains. Hence the fact that the connections are different and more complicated than when you first researched. Other info to follow. notamermaid

Nice to hear from you again and glad to read you had a nice cruise. Did you enjoy all the excursions? Have you got a favourite? Thank you. notamermaid

Remember now. It is regina river cruises and they, according to a river cruise blog, now are also back to normal without any restrictions. notamermaid

Before I get too busy this week with tourism (hooray the tourists are back!) and helping out at an event, a quick look at the river levels: Maxau 463cm, on a slight upward trend forecast to end tomorrow, followed by slow steady decline Kaub 143cm, unlikely to react much to Maxau, slow steady decline Koblenz 142cm, following Kaub trend quite closely as no river in the Rhine Gorge will add much water in this heat Cologne 206cm, has reached a plateau, as the Moselle is low I expect that stretch from Koblenz to Cologne to follow the trend of the Rhine Gorge Kaub falling below 100cm? Unlikely this week. The Danube in Bavaria? Struggling! notamermaid

The forecast was brutally right and the expected happened. Pfelling gauge dropped down to 286cm already early in the morning with a further decline to 280cm by lunchtime. notamermaid

I hope they do not convert the River Queen too much. She is a queen on the rivers, so stylish, I love seeing her sail as she is (the exterior). I do not like whites and greys, maritime brass and blue is my preferred combination. The interior is already updated but leaning towards Art Deco so fine for me as she is. Yes, our days due to European Summertime are very long still. notamermaid

And according to Wikipedia Herr von Lassaulx (a famous architect in the Rhine valley) rebuilt the castle "in keeping with" the old parts still standing at the 19th century, so some of the Medieval original is still standing today which I assume makes the crenellations real old. I have actually never been up there, so getting just a little envious. I fully understand 🙂 . That castle is not a standard visit on river cruises. Enjoy! notamermaid

Are you going up to Rheinstein Castle? This is the one, right? https://www.burg-rheinstein.de/en/ notamermaid

Thank you for sharing. I see you had the option of visiting the cold war bunker today. Cool (no pun intended). Quite a different experience from the standard. That is the money vault, isn't it? https://www.bundesbank-bunker.de/en/ notamermaid

Thanks for saying hello and good to hear you are enjoying yourself. Sounds like the Moselle has just go another fan. notamermaid

I should have expected you to find an exception . Speaking of colours, apparently the buoys on the Rhine on the right used to be black, then international regulation meant those had to be sprayed green (says the video I linked). Videos and the Rhine Gorge. Continuing from post #274, here is a short video of an excursion boat trip on the Rhine by Deutsche Welle: https://www.dw.com/en/upper-middle-rhine-valley-a-unesco-world-heritage-site/av-16995075 And a drone flight video with commentary (which I have posted before but is worth doing so again): notamermaid

The level at Pfelling has indeed fallen, to now 298cm. Question is whether that level can be sustained. There is no strong downward trend now. A "slow decline" is probable though, meaning the forecast suggests the level may go down to 286cm tomorrow. notamermaid

Lovely . Terrific day in the Middle Rhine valley. Just a tiny bit of cloud in a blue sky. Hope your trip up to Marksburg was great. Wondering where the ship dropped you off. Anyway, you are enjoying the Rhine Gorge as I write, so have a great afternoon. notamermaid

Stretching my abilities, need to get my head round this with a commuter I think. I never book regional trains unless I am travelling far and rely on a specific connection. Will be back... notamermaid

Interesting. The (package etc.) holiday industry is certainly very competitive. Perhaps it is just something that has become standard practice, i.e. not practice here in the EU and UK. A German company with such conditions? No way. Standard practice is early bird reductions etc. notamermaid

That is how I see it. I was shocked when I read about this, me coming from European consumer laws. By that I mean I am not even sure that this would be legal in the EU. It is certainly unheard of. Unless you book within a very short time before your cruise. As I always say it would be a no-no for me if I was in the US. notamermaid

I think the autocorrect needs glasses. Those are not nuns, nuns are black and white, not red . notamermaid