notamermaid

Happy Thanksgiving to you over there. I have of course no connection to that holiday but guess what I got into the Christmas holiday spirit! After glum days, last night my mood changed because I saw the announcement on the internet that the "Love Actually" people are doing an interview special as a twenty years celebratory thing. I was a bit slow to catch the Christmas market and Advent spirit but last night a big smile was put onto my face. Wish I could watch it on ABC. Streaming on another channel is probably not available to me either. But I have the trailer that I can watch again and again. notamermaid

@ural guy where did you take the photo of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, in the convent? The Opera House looks grand, a pity I did not have time to go in when I was there. notamermaid

Never heard of one, but like in the UK we have "forbidden zones" in Germany for army training. Perhaps the area is hiding in plain sight, in a building with number 51 on the door... Question is where. I would go for Lüneburg Heath. Talking of weird places. Switzerland has roadside villas that can kill an army. Behind the facade there are bunkers with weaponry in them. Read up on the "Toblerone LIne". Defenses built during WWII. Mauthausen. A brutal thing. I have no intention of ever going there. A pity is the fact that I can never see the town as a tourism place. I never knew a town actually existed until some years ago, for me since school it had always been "Lager Mauthausen". notamermaid

I imagine us all meeting up one day on a river cruise. You at the bar, us with drinks getting all engrossed in a current affairs conversation. Suddenly there is this quiet voice in the background from the man with towel in hand and mixing the cocktails saying "guys..." I had a teacher at school being very insistent on us learning all the European countries and their capitals. Unfortunately, a few countries got "rearranged and created" so by the time I went on my river cruise I had no idea about Slovakia and Bratislava being on the Danube. Kind of weird how much has changed in Europe in thirty years. Alsace as a region probably being even more complicated. Fun fact: there is a hotel in France and Switzerland. In the Jura mountains, right on the official border, it runs through the hotel itself. It is in La Cure. notamermaid

The MS Swiss Ruby is back on the Neckar! At least she will be in 2023, this time not chartered by Riviera Travel. The vessel has moved on and is in the fleet of Viva Cruises, next year sailing the Dutch and Northern German canals and rivers. But she will also be doing stretches on the Rhine mainly combining other rivers with it, like Rhine, Moselle and Saar for example. On the Neckar she will be sailing like this: https://www.viva-*****/en-us/cruiselisting?destinations=all&departures=all&dates=all&ships=MS SWISS RUBY&adults=2 It is Stuttgart to Saarbrücken and the reverse, in autumn and focusing on wine. The two directions differ in the ports and while both are great, I would recommend Stuttgart to Saarbrücken. notamermaid

The gentleman of the authorities talking in the video was really pleased with the rescue operation. He says that the captains communicated well and the river worked in their favour as well. Basically, the ship ended up docked where it had intended to - just eighteen hours later. So, to the good news and the new river cruising itinerary. notamermaid

Thank you for your detailed answer. That sounds great. I think I could not sail or be away from home over Christmas but New Year's Eve I would like to spend on a boat. notamermaid

The authorities stopped fully loaded ships for longer and I am not sure if they are back sailing yet. The ship was freed yesterday and traffic as such is running. It has been raining, nevetheless the river is a little on the low side. Essentially, the locks keep the navigation channel deeper than in some stretches of the Rhine that are free-flowing. The Neckar and with that the sections that are old branches are much cleaner now than they were in the 70's. Here is a video of the ship being freed and turned with the help of the river's flow: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/mannheim/schiff-blockiert-verkehr-auf-dem-neckar-bei-eberbach-100.html notamermaid

Thankfully not as long lasting. While the Neckar is a much smaller trading route than the Rhine, nevertheless some companies depend on the smooth running of shipping along the Neckar to the ports of the Rhine and to customers. Not sure how they could have possibly managed to put the thousands of tons of goods that were held up onto lorries at short notice. The lorries themselves are often the smaller problem the much bigger thing can be finding enough drivers. Salt - which the stranded ship carried - is a typical load on the Neckar, statistics say last year 18 percent of the freight transported was salt. The main goods are the sector of building materials and earths which made up 41 percent last year. Overall, 5.1 million tons of goods were shipped on the Neckar in 2021. notamermaid

A barge loaded with salt got stuck in the Neckar and the river was closed to traffic. Earlier today the ship was freed and others can now pass the spot but only sailing empty. The authorities want to check the riverbed with sonar imaging first but allowing traffic to fully resume. Here is an article with photo (and German audio): https://www.hessenschau.de/panorama/festgefahrenes-schiff-auf-neckar-bei-hirschhorn-befreit-v3,schiff-in-neckar-festgefahren-100.html No chance passing it with that angle towards the river. You can see that the river is so much narrower compared to the Rhine or Danube. The ship is only about 100m long. But for actual sailing of river cruise ships the width of the river is not the real problem, ships with a length of 110m and 11,40m are allowed on the Neckar. 11,40m is the standard maximum length of almost all river cruise ships in Western Europe. As mentioned before, the locks restrict the length more than the regulation of 110m does. But there is good news for international river cruisers as there is a new offer available. I will get to that shortly. notamermaid

Castles and palaces are such brilliant settings for markets. Hopefully I can get to one this year. Some markets are only at weekends so are not so easy to fit into a river cruise schedule. In the Rhine Gorge, a castle does such a weekend event. It is Burg Rheinstein: https://www.burg-rheinstein.de/en/ There are many others across Germany, Austria and I am sure other countries as well. Regensburg Schloß Thurn & Taxis is one you can reach on a river cruise easily and it is open all week. The Reichsburg in Cochem has its market from 10 to 12 December. I would love to see a moated castle, or Wasserschloß as the later and bigger version, in North Rhine-Westphalia. There are some really attractive ones. So far I have only been to one (private) winter event in a small one near Bonn. A great experience. As pontac has recently posted a fascinating review of their narrowboat trip, I was wondering @Canal archive have you ever read about or done a winter event trip on the canals in England? Perhaps a bit cold. Do people spend much time on the boats in winter other than the ones they live on them? There are some great markets now in England, I mean theoretically one could sail through the canals into Birmingham or Manchester to see the markets. notamermaid

Thank you. Never read about this. Of course, here in Germany the authorities grew very suspicious of British foreign nationals - among others - during WWI and WWII. But I have not looked into any stories, i.e. if people where detained or relocated. notamermaid

Agree. Looks great as it is, cannot wait to see what it looks like when flipped. notamermaid

Perhaps you can teach me something in return: what are "relocation" camps? Does it have something to do with the POW from Europe? Until a few years ago I did not know that Germans had been brought to America during WWII. Apparently there is a restaurant with museum in a former camp in Illinois. One report that I have found says that there were 150 (!) camps in the US. Apparently the prisoners worked mainly in agriculture. Makes sense when your own men are over in Europe fighting. notamermaid

Lovely. I am already falling behind you with visiting. Had to work and have not been to one yet. Mind you, few were open before today. But I was able to get a trip into the hills in yesterday. The Westerwald hills, to a workshop that makes the huts, houses and landscapes for nativity scenes. You know, a "Krippenbauer". He buys the figures and ornaments in. Many from Italy. Spoiled for choice, oh the decoration, the smell of wood in the workshop! Will get back to the place shortly in another post. Today it was household duties, tomorrow it is time to start decorating. Deck the halls - but not with bows of holly. notamermaid

Thank you for sharing your adventure. I have seen the narrowboats on the canals near Manchester in the Peak District and the crew operating all the lock gates. Fascinating. Would like to be on a narrowboat for a bit, not sure that I could handle such a long trip, though. notamermaid

I just meant that one story is repeated over and over and stays in memory and the other story is forgotten. With the camps around Remagen and with other POW camps (and many other aspects of war history) and the bridge it is such a case. I am an example of that, it also works with my memory. The bridge story I have known for decades, probably since school, know the famous photos and so on. It makes perfect sense as the significance for the advancing of troops East is undoubted by historians. I only learnt about the camps about twenty years ago when I went to the Peace Museum for the first time. Perhaps I should have chosen a better word. Not saying it is deliberately forgotten. Another aspect that has been overshadowed by Remagen bridge, again for the same significant reason, is Urmitz bridge and also the reconnaissance flights in the area, not sure if that is the word, where the troops took journalists after May 1945 in planes so they could take photos of the damage caused by bombers. I have only learnt this in recent years. With so many years that have elapsed now, more is in the public domain and I have been able to obtain such a photo myself via the internet. Exactly. Not for very long, less than a year overall in fighting in France, etc.. Within Germany, not sure, not within the modern borders of Germany. I do not remember what happened when in Belgium and Lorraine. The troops mainly supported the French and the British and as an independent army operated only a short time. Nevertheless, at the end of 1918 there were more than two million American soldiers in Europe. A huge number stayed in Germany (mostly the Rhine area) as an occupying force until 1923. The reduction in numbers there was gradual. The first left in 1919 and the last ones left the Rhineland specifically in 1923, fully handing over to the French occupying forces. I am not sure if there was a large military presence anywhere in Europe after that. Details I am sure are on history sites on the internet. With WWII still closer to us in years and the stronger and prolonged presence of the US military it is natural that it should be much more present in people's minds outside of Europe. The airbase Ramstein, is sometimes in the television news here, in the regional ones called SWR. notamermaid

Glad to read it. Christmas markets, snow and sailing with APT. I can hardly think of a better combination. APT has the great exclusive events. On the Rhine you will visit Namedy castle, a fantastic small venue with such a pleasant host. I hope I can go there this year on a day trip. River looking good, Pfelling high enough for pleasant sailing and Passau low enough to get through under the bridge. notamermaid

I think that Remagen bridge and the camps nearby are a perfect example of looking at one thing and blending out the other. No real criticism in this - it happens. Good to learn about it. Thinking about it, I have only just realized that people from the US who I meet through work almost always ask me about WWII and my area's history, so several years ago I made sure I learnt the basics to be able to answer questions (apart from knowing general history about the war through school). But they so far have never asked me about WWI. notamermaid

It has been a cold day today and we did get snow in the high hills in North Rhine Westphalia. I think it just missed Rhineland-Palatinate (more or less), having drifted from the Northwest towards the Southeast via Hesse. Due to the rain and a bit of storm - finally - the trees have lost a lot of leaves. But the Christmas lights will brighten up places from Monday. River levels are rising but Maxau in the Upper Rhine valley has already peaked. It is likely to remain at a good, not high, level for some time, meaning there should be plenty of water for the Rhine Gorge into the beginning of December. notamermaid

Indeed. Just relax and let yourself be pampered. notamermaid

So you boarded in Passau instead of Regensburg becuase of water levels? All good now as Pfelling has risen further: 360cm. notamermaid

Yes, that is not a good story - for want of a better expression - and not a part of the heroic deeds along the Rhine. I wonder if any guide could tell you much about it on a river cruise. I am relatively unfamiliar with this but it has been the subject of at least two German history books in more recent years. There is a lot to learn about the theatres of war, for a good overall picture a two to three hour tour of a site is just not enough in my opinion. But then, it is best not dealt with on a regular cruise but should be more the subject of an in-depth land trip I would say. notamermaid

A day trip to Königswinter part 2 continued from post #1111 The restaurant we chose is called Jules Verne and has a French theme, specifically coastal, hence the name. The proprietors gave it the name also because French writers came to the town of Königswinter and were inspired by the river, for example Victor Hugo. Here is the menu with the info: I can well imagine that they intended this play on words: Geschichte is history and Häppchen is something small as well as a small thing to eat, like an appetizer or finger food. Bite-sized history, I suppose could work in English. Anyway, the food. I chose a Croque Monsieur: I really enjoyed what I got for the price. Not perfect, but recommended nevertheless. A good quick lunch. This is the (coffee)bar area: Notice the walls, they have left them without wallpaper and no new lick of paint. I liked the "faded glory" effect. Time to go to the museum via the Rhine embankment. The tram heading North: You can see that the line is right at the embankment. And a bit further on are the landing stages for the excursion boats and the ferry: Beyond the raised platform for the tram is the "Moby Dick" sailing past. Yes, that weird blue construction is a boat named after the whale that swam in the Rhine, the animal was nicknamed after the one in the famous book. Right next to it is the ferry "Rheinnixe" and there is also a barge in the background. The museum: You may (or may not) wonder what a cheap-looking plastic donkey statue is doing standing in front of this Baroque townhouse. I will explain in a next post. notamermaid

The Christmas markets in Trier and Koblenz have opened today and I have watched the first video footage of both (TV news report). Nice. Saving energy means that lights are reduced and Trier is closing an hour earlier than in past years. River levels looking good and we may get the first snow in Rhineland-Palatinate overnight, but if so only in the high Westerwald hills, probably above 500m altitude. Snow is more likely to fall in Hesse and further East, also perhaps in the hills near the Danube. Planning a trip into the hills on Sunday. But first, the second part of my trip to Königswinter. notamermaid