notamermaid

Pfelling gauge better than anticipated. 268cm now, after the 260cm low this morning. Rain has now fully reached the basin of the Neckar and the area near the source of the Danube. notamermaid

Kaub gauge on course, meaning following the forecast. A few clouds with rain have already swept over the middle of Germany. More to come from the Netherlands. A hot, stuffy day today, in towns at least. In other news: on Saturday a young man tried to swim from Neuwied to Weißenthurm on the other bank of the river. A ship alerted the police. The man was apparently not in distress and got safely to the other side but this is a busy river so any attempt to swim across is highly dangerous. For that reason a large rescue operation was launched. Yesterday a fire broke out on a river cruise ship at Gorinchem. Dutch news shows photos of a Viking ship. According to a different report the ship is now back on course to Basel, so sounds relatively minor. notamermaid

Just a quick update as I will be a bit busy tomorrow. Pfelling gauge goes into the night with a further decline. 264cm. Which means it has followed suit after Regensburg and has dropped into the statistical low water figures. notamermaid

I suppose this did not come unexpected now for you, but it is certainly not pleasant to have to pack again. A real pity then. Hopefully your new crew will be as great. Unfortunately, you have to cover a bit of stretch if it is Nuremberg to Passau. I guess the logistics are best for the company like that. Many go to Regensburg and then swap from there. You will be on the road close to three hours most likely if you go a direct route. That is allowing for the coach to be slower than a car. Of course, I do not know how the tour in Nuremberg will be organized. Hope all goes smoothly and you can enjoy the Bavarian landscape. notamermaid

Well, I was going to post about bridges... Now, yesterday, the news brought excitement for this Rhine river maiden in the shape of a report of the discovery, or rather confirmation, of a Roman bridge in the Eifel region. So I will widen this topic. Grin. Basically, this is about Cologne, modern bridges, Roman bridges, a Roman road and Trier. As you probably know, Cologne is a Roman city, it was the capital of Germania inferior, and called Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, or abbreviated CCAA. Quite naturally, the Romans just did that as standard, there was a bridge crossing the Rhine to Divitia, which is now the modern suburb of Deutz. Constructed in 310 AD, it is not fully clear when that wooden bridge disappeared, but according to a city council article online it took over 900 years for there to be another permanent crossing over the river, so they say it happened around the year 960 and the next bridge was constructed in 1822 - a pontoon bridge. The modern bridge to Deutz stands where the Roman bridge was. Now Cologne has seven bridges (an eighth one is shared with the neighbouring district) and will get two more. Those two bridges are in the planning stages. This is the article from the city council, just have a look at the photo if you are interested. Plans will be ready in 2024: https://www.stadt-koeln.de/leben-in-koeln/verkehr/bruecken/zwei-neue-rheinbruecken-fuer-koeln There is another large settlement (among others) in what is now Germany that was of importance in Roman times, called Augusta Treverorum. This is now Trier on the Moselle. And at this point may I rave about the antiquities in Trier, better than in Cologne, do go to Trier, the bridge is partly still there and is much older than the Cologne bridge anyway and -snip!- where was I? Ah, yes. Roman roads. You could go along the Rhine and Moselle and the Romans certainly used the flat areas along the rivers to get to places. But from Cologne to Trier that is a bit tedious so why not cross the Eifel region, go over hills, past volcanic lakes and through swamps and build a road there? They seriously did that, through the middle of nowhere (which turns out to be not so nowhere, certainly not wilderness by any means) and that road from CCAA to Augusta Treverorum has in modern days been given the name Römerstraße Trier-Köln, and is part of the Via Agrippa network of Roman roads: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_road_from_Trier_to_Cologne This is where yesterday's news come in. To be continued. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge at 274cm. Regensburg gauge has gone into the statistical low range of figures. Not enough water now coming from the Upper Danube. Not looking good. If the forecast is correct the level at Pfelling will be below 260cm by late tomorrow morning. How does that play out at Budapest now? Still better than in July, when the level was low but not so low that we had reports of impacted cruises here on CC. I think we can assume that the July situation will return, but could it get worse? notamermaid

My pleasure. Things going really fine along the Rhine, honestly better than I had feared for August. Looking over the Danube, things are not going so well. Which is of course not good for the Grand European journeys. Just a note, if anyone is asking themselves this question: "Is there any way to completely avoid a ship swap or cancellation on the major rivers in Germany on an itinerary due to drought?" Yes, "95 to 99 percent avoidance" is possible with an itinerary on the Main from Bamberg to Frankfurt, on the Saar and Moselle, or for a more standard Moselle/Rhine option that is Trier to Cologne or as far as Wesel (or Amsterdam, which is not on the Rhine of course). All those areas have locks and/or are dug out deep in the navigation channels. What about Basel to Frankfurt which avoids the Rhine Gorge? Basically the same as above, but the tricky bit is the Main river confluence which can get affected when the level gets quite low, so not as good as the other options. More importantly: Kaub gauge at 115cm, so basically on track with the forecast. notamermaid

Yes, I have now seen German articles online about the Ravel. I would tend to think the same. There are several German/European chains - mid-range to real luxury - that do not market or hardly market to the English-speaking world. Okay, in this day and age they may have now international websites. notamermaid

Another very warm day in the valley, but we have had hotter summers. As a consequence of a fair amount of rain in July and the temperatures not being on a constant summer high, there is enough water in the Rhine basin, at least in the sense that enough is still fed into the mighty river to give us satisfactory levels for river cruising. So, to follow up on my short post yesterday. Kaub gauge is at 119cm, forecast gives us 110cm on Thursday, i.e. the loss is not that great from day to day. Friday into Saturday should see the low, meaning the bottom in the chart is suggested for that time frame. Still mostly likely to be just above 100cm. It is suggested the month will end on more than 150cm. Which would give a good buffer for the first week in September. Note that this is computer modelling visualized in a probability chart. notamermaid

290cm was given by a spokesman for the authorities, in a newspaper article, for potential problems for river cruise ships. That appears to be a level we can work with for our purposes. Viking may swap at 292cm or at 288cm or 286cm or lower, an individual decision that will be up to the two captains involved. Viking does send e-mails informing of the possibility of ship swaps according to past cruisers. Do have a look in the roll calls where a few more people report directly their experiences. Areas between Bucharest and Budapest can be low and we have sporadic reports of this but I have no way of knowing details and cannot relate real-world data to any figures in the graphs. Forecast for Pfelling gives figures of 280cm and below for tomorrow. For now, the level is stable. 287cm. notamermaid

Here we go again... Low water, meaning a bit low for the river cruise ships with the deepest draft, Pfelling gauge at 286cm. Decision time for ship swaps? Or will all get through today? We could count the days soon when the Danube has fallen below the "comfort line" this year and do the same thing for the Rhine. If we made that comparison now the Rhine would come out better than the Danube. Much better... By the way, the heat has been stronger along the Main, in Bavaria and the Czech Republic in the last four days than along the Rhine. notamermaid

Road bridges cross over the Elbe, others carry trains. But this one carries ships. The aqueduct is officially called a "Kanalbrücke", meaning a navigable aqueduct. The Magdeburg Water Bridge is the longest of its kind in the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdeburg_Water_Bridge If you would like to read a few more technical details (or look up other bridges): https://structurae.net/en/structures/magdeburg-canal-bridge I enjoyed this video, only short and I think you do not need to understand the German to appreciate the structure. A reporter of broadcaster NDR cycled along the Elbe and sailed on the Canal. He also crossed the Elbe on a ferry, a special, but old tried and tested, design that works without an engine, the German word for this one is a "Wagengierseilfähre": https://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/sendungen/nordmagazin/Wo-der-Mittellandkanal-die-Elbe-ueberquert,nordmagazin110162.html notamermaid

Welcome to Cruisecritic. On the Rhine we have mostly only the area from Worms to Koblenz to look at around this time for levels as that is where the low occurs - if it does. Nothing of note so far. Earlier this morning the forecast was not working, i.e. the website. Now here it is: Kaub at 136cm, levels till 1 September show that a high will follow a low. So to speak. All in all, probability for the level falling below 100cm is low. But it could happen. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge at 296cm. I keep thinking that there is a giant snake in the river that gobbles up the water (blame it on me growing up with Rhine legends) but I gather it really has more to do with what the authorities do at the locks. Anyway, that is getting a bit low. Will it fluctuate upwards or will the downhill slope of the graph continue? Hmmm... notamermaid

Yes, the Moselle. On that idea: You stopped in Nuremberg. You could kind of continue on that route on an itinerary that takes you to Trier/Remich. Not sure what it is called anymore, but a couple of companies do this. Germany, in essence, but great scenery (okay, not necessarily the Canal but tons of locks). Main Danube Canal, Main, Rhine (Gorge), Moselle. Trier is fabulous for history. Remich is the standard port in Luxembourg country. But if you want to skip to a different country and feel - the Rhone for taking you towards the Mediterranean or the Seine for taking you to the Atlantic. Two different oceans, two different atmospheres. notamermaid

All together now: "Es muß Nacht sein, es muß Nacht sein..." You have managed to put that into my ear in five seconds... Cindy & Bert, great duo. I remember one beer advert from television some time in the 80's that has stuck with me, Alpirsbacher Klosterbräu. A child is asked to buy some for the grandfather I think. Walks along the path, repeating the name, gets to the shop and gets the name wrong and says Klostrerbacher Alpirsbräu". Benevolent smile and correction by the shop owner follows. Alpirsbach is in the Black Forest. notamermaid

Ah, that one. On the website of Ehrenbreitstein Fortress it is called "Die Akte Humfrey": https://tor-zum-welterbe.de/de/kulturzentrum-festung-ehrenbreitstein/fuehrungen-und-living-history/ notamermaid

In other news along the Rhine: six new docking areas for river cruise ships are planned in Southern Alsace. Two of those places will be at Huningue outside of Basel. Basel is struggling to accommodate all river cruise ships, according to a Basel newspaper (paywall, I can read a couple of sentences). In Koblenz, preparations are underway for the construction of the new Pfaffendorf Bridge. As a result, the navigation channel is narrower than usual at that spot. Which brings me back to bridges... notamermaid

Plateau was reached shortly after I posted yesterday. Pfelling going down fast, I reckon more water is retained by the locks. I have mentioned before that from the Main Danube Canal water is diverted from the Danube basin to the Main basin. I do not know if one can quantify the effect. All in all with a drop of 30cm possible in 18 hours, Pfelling certainly proves to be annoyingly unpredictable/fluctuating strongly. Now at 319cm. All good still. notamermaid

Commiserations to the Lionesses. Have just read the result. I am sure they sweated more than me but it is hot here, between 28 and 30 Celsius. Still, could be worse. Miss the air-conditioning I have at work, though. I was going to bake a lemon drizzle cake (English recipe) but I will leave the oven off. notamermaid

Tons of beer around along the Main, of course. Last year I went to the beer garden of the Würzburger Hofbräu. Busy but enjoyable. Food was nice, not brilliant, and I got a (simple with logo) beer stein as souvenir. It is here: notamermaid

Interesting. Not the version I know. I have heard of the actor guide tours on the Fortress. Sound really good. I have been thinking of joining a tour (they are available for spontaneous bookings) for a few years. There is one with a soldier and one with an engineer. notamermaid

I think this may have been the beer of this company: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Schlitz_Brewing_Company Apparently, Joseph Schlitz cam from Mainz. It is plausible that one of his ancestors came from Schlitz, i.e. as used to happen people were known as soandso from Schlitz and that then turned into a family name. There was a brewery in Schlitz, their beer is now being brewed in a neighbouring village. Rheingold - good name for a beer I would say. notamermaid

The Main river - if you are new to the area you may be wondering why this thread does not come up regularly for water levels. We are in summer and the river is so deep and controlled by locks that low water is almost never an issue. Flooding affects the river as much as others. A particular aspect that is negative about sailing on the Main is the low bridges and the sun deck. But that is on page one and you can read it there. Along the river we get standard ports with little variation in itineraries but in recent years there has been a bit more choice. All the standard ports are interesting of course. Last year I went to Wertheim for the first time and really enjoyed it. I know a little of the area but would really like to see more. A small town that has been recommend to me by a very dear person is Schlitz. "Great!", I thought, but it is actually a bit far out from Frankfurt. Oh well, there are plenty of other places, mind you a town with four (!) castles really needs exploring. I will try and fit in Schlitz some time this year. The town is on one of the routes of the "Half-timbered Houses Road": https://www.deutsche-fachwerkstrasse.de/en/Homepage.html See Weserbergland-Spessart. One of the other places along that road that we have not talked about yet is Steinheim, which is a district of Hanau. It is well known for its architecture. So I checked a video since I have not been there yet. Not bad, not bad at all. I love the tower: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Steinheim#/media/Datei:Schloss_Steinheim_Ansicht03.jpg which you can apparently see from the river as well. And as always, if you feel like sharing your photos of anywhere on the Main, please do. notamermaid

Okay, got that wrong. I did not think of this one as being one of the few itineraries that do not include Koblenz. The Inspire is now sailing in the Lower Middle Rhine valley and the guests can enjoy the mountains including the famous Drachenfels. Not sure, but I think it is this itinerary: https://www.tauck.co.uk/tours/rhine-swiss-alps-amsterdam-river-cruise?tcd=rgx2023 Excluding Koblenz turns this into almost a full day (morning till early evening) of cruising. Really unusual but a nice alternative to standard itineraries. And the special excursions are highly interesting to read about. The passengers will see this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siebengebirge and of course the towers of Remagen bridge. Oh, and that area also has no bridges, the distance without one is shorter though, having passed under Raiffeisenbrücke Neuwied at km 607, the next bridge the ship will sail under is the first one at Bonn at km 651. notamermaid