Yorkshire Phil

We are on our way home, we left Douglas at 08:45, sea state is force three and calm. There isn't a cloud to be seen but cool on the back of the ferry as we are out of the sun. Our friends texted to ask if we fancied a BBQ at theirs this evening so that tops off the holiday and no cooking again.

Another cracking day here, hardly a cloud to be seen and a nice 22oC. We had a guided tour of the mountain route of the TT course with a visit to a church where the government body passes their laws and a potted history of the island. As they say every day is a school day. Sadly we are leaving tomorrow with an early start to catch the 09:00 ferry. We have had a great holiday and have been blessed with the weather, which seemingly isn't always good. The food has been excellent albeit limited choice.

Another good day for us on the sunny isle of Man. Looked out at 08:00 this morning to check the weather and we had a cruise ship anchored right in front of the hotel. It was the Seabourn Sojourn, which is on a round Britain cruise. . We had another tour today, we started with a steam train ride to Port Erin which was partly along the coast and partly countryside, we went through some lovely villages. We then had free time in Port Erin before visiting the Calf of Man at the very bottom of the Island, lovely views along the cliffs, there were quite a few seals basking in the sun. We then moved on to Castletown which was the capital in bygone days. Another quaint town with a castle, they had a big screen in the town square showing the Olympics so we settled down in the sun on nice bid deck chairs to watch the win in the biking and bronze in the horse jumping.

A gorgeous sunny day here, we had a tour to Peel, this was the jewel in the crown so far, a lovely fishing village with a castle and fine beaches, we called at a small transport museum on the way home at Jurby which was nice, brought back memories of school buses and our first cars, mine being a Vauxhall Viva (road legal) that is. We have a tour to the south of the island tomorrow and a train ride on one of the old steam trains.

We have had a good day, coach trip to Laxly in morning to see the wheel and a mooch through the village, not much there but it is interesting reading about the zinc mining. We then moved on to Ramsey where we had three hours to do our own thing, we were not over impressed with the place but they had a Costa. We came back over the mountains using part of the TT mountain stage of the track. It was like driving over the Pennines especially with the heather coming into flower. After dinner we decided to walk down the prom into Douglas central, our hotel is at the north end of town so it is a fair hike. The wharf area was buzzing with everyone sat outside the pubs enjoying the warm summer evening. There was live music on at the RNLI club which was heaving. By the time we got back to the hotel we had been walking for two hours at a good pace.

It has been a long day today, we set off at 07:00 travelled to Lancaster where we had nearly two hours for a spot of lunch and a mooch. We then got the Steam packet ferry for a leisurely four hour mini cruise to the isle of Man. It was very pleasant and we sat out with beer and our books. We arrived at the Rutland hotel just before 19:00 where we were ushered into the restaurant for dinner, which was very good. By the time we got back to the room the luggage was waiting, we showered and changed then went out for a stroll along the front. We are looking forward to our trip tomorrow.

Thanks Sandra, we are are now in Munich airport having free beer and German sausage salad on Tui, so not all bad.

The first boat has evacuated group one, we are waiting for its return. It looks like Tui have charted a plane and we are all going home together, stopping at Manchester then continuing to London. Brian and Marilyn are on the first boat. It is going to e a long day but as long as we are all safe. It is getting quite hairy on the river, one of the emergency service guys said they are expecting at least another meter rise with the boat being stuck for at least five more days.

We have some action, it looks like they are looking at an option of getting us off?

Canapés and cocktails on deck this afternoon, the sun has popped its head out. Having a great time. We have been told that there is enough food and booze on board to see us through our Noah days.

Looks like we need a bigger boat.

We docked in Deggendorf this morning and walked into the town centre. It is a lovely quaint town with a nice square and lots of bars and cafes. We had our usual coffee and cake and enjoyed the ambience. We will now remain here for a couple of days and be taken by bus to Passau tomorrow and Ragensburg on Monday which we're our next two stops. We will then see what is next. Apart from the hitch with the water levels we are having a great time, we have spent time with Brian and Marilyn @brian1 setting the world right. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Dull and a little damp here, we are now in Germany. The river level is high and we have had to miss Passau as we needed to get under a low bridge. We have a new stop today and not sure what happens next as we cannot get under the next bridge.

Our grade cabin is still more than what we paid, you win some you lose some. We just got an email saying we were getting another $100 obc for the missed ports. All donations gratefully received.

We are on day four of our cruise, the weather has been great with wall to wall sunshine. We sat and chatted with @brian1 Brian and Marilyn last night. The food has been nice, not a big choice, certainly less than our last river cruise. No complaints from us. We are in Vienna today, our first time, beautiful place but too much to see in one day.

Where is everyone this morning? We are now at the airport after a quick check-in and security check. We weren't sure what to expect with it being a bank holiday. Costa for breakfast and now sat waiting for the gate to open.