River Cruisers: How Are Things Where YOU Are?

[sharkster77]

Very nice @Jazzbeau,  the cottages near Acadia NP where we have stayed for the last 30 years is not opening, and may not open next year--owner is elderly, and cannot see how he and his staff could properly sanitize 1930's era cottages properly between renters--very sad situation.

 

Enjoy!  We are jealous that our state, MA, is not allowed into ME without a 2 week quarantine, or recent test.  Given that NY, NJ, etc residents are allowed in, we find that to be a head-scratcher, since MA numbers are now low.

Edited July 8, 2020 by sharkster77

[Host Jazzbeau]

7 hours ago, AF-1 said:

Jazz; where do the stairs take you?  It looks like it goes to a firepit or cooking area.

 

Yes, down to a stone grill.  But there's a restaurant over in Bar Harbor that does Prime steaks very well, so I'm not tempted to grill myself.

 

6 hours ago, sharkster77 said:

Very nice @Jazzbeau,  the cottages near Acadia NP where we have stayed for the last 30 years is not opening, and may not open next year--owner is elderly, and cannot see how he and his staff could properly sanitize 1930's era cottages properly between renters--very sad situation.

 

Enjoy!  We are jealous that our state, MA, is not allowed into ME without a 2 week quarantine, or recent test.  Given that NY, NJ, etc residents are allowed in, we find that to be a head-scratcher, since MA numbers are now low.

 

Two sunny days, now what we call a 'typical Maine day.'  Went out for a blueberry pancake breakfast, then back to the cottage for a quiet day of reading (Master and Commander – they have the complete series at the local library here, so that should keep me quite busy!).

 

 

[notamermaid]

Two German ladies are now "in charge" of Europe, Ursula von der Leyen and Angela Merkel, who (i.e. Germany) took over the presidency of the Council on 1 July (lasts six months): https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-recovery-europe/a-54087230

 

The light lockdown adjacent to Gütersloh was lifted after a week, Gütersloh remained for another week but is now also "free" again. That is the the good news from North-Rhine Westphalia. Bad news is coming from there in that the town of Euskirchen has a potential outbreak in the Mennonite community. 13 people are positive and it is expected that up to 1,000 people will be tested in the next few days. The whole community is in quarantine but there is hope that due to them being much among themselves there is not much spread in the wider community in Euskirchen. A bit more worrying is the situation in Koblenz where three students in three halls (dormitories) have tested positive. All 350 residents are in quarantine. As the young people have probably mingled quite a bit, who knows what is happening in Koblenz and the area. Testing and tracing is underway of course. Will see how that goes in the next 48 hours.

 

The slaughterhouses, well, they are still under much scrutiny and politicians are eager to punish the wrong-doers and change the employment laws in that trade sector.

 

Things here with me are going okay and workload is picking up. Summer holidays have started in Rhineland-Palatinate and cycling is the craze. Standard bike and e-bike. The bicycle shops are much profitting from people holidaying near home.

 

@Canal archive Enjoy the haircut, I am sure it will really lift your spirits.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Thank you it certainly did, only myself and my lovely hairdresser lots of sanitising gel, face masks and a great chat plus a superb haircut.

So sad about these outbreaks we have Leicester and it’s a concern.

Jazz enjoy Patrick O’Brian you can feel the wind in your ears and the salt in the air, especially in Maine. CA

[steamboats]

Back home again... and yes, we had a wonderful cruise with lots of great food! Only 31 passengers with 36 crew (and the following cruise had only 17 pax).

 

There will be a review with lots of photos but the text will be in German (usually google translate works pretty well). But you have to wait for the first part until the weekend.

 

steamboats

[terry&mike]

51 minutes ago, steamboats said:

Back home again... and yes, we had a wonderful cruise with lots of great food! Only 31 passengers with 36 crew (and the following cruise had only 17 pax).

 

There will be a review with lots of photos but the text will be in German (usually google translate works pretty well). But you have to wait for the first part until the weekend.

 

steamboats

So great to hear of someone setting sail!

 

[Canal archive]

Welcome home Steamboats, don’t take to long returning to normal, I.e. being waited on hand and foot. I hope you took loads of photographs. CA

[Daisi]

3 hours ago, steamboats said:

Back home again... and yes, we had a wonderful cruise with lots of great food! Only 31 passengers with 36 crew (and the following cruise had only 17 pax).

 

There will be a review with lots of photos but the text will be in German (usually google translate works pretty well). But you have to wait for the first part until the weekend.

 

steamboats

 

Welcome home, can't wait for your review.  Although the Douro is one that I would love the scenery & visits, I'm not a fish lover, so probably wouldn't enjoy the food!  Life is rough when you are fussy. 🙂   Glad all went well, and that you had a good time.

 

[Lois R]

Good morning, welcome back!

 

Daisi, I want to sail the Douro as well and in my case, I LOVE seafood------fish and everything else too.😀

[jpalbny]

7 hours ago, Daisi said:

 

Welcome home, can't wait for your review.  Although the Douro is one that I would love the scenery & visits, I'm not a fish lover, so probably wouldn't enjoy the food!  Life is rough when you are fussy. 🙂   Glad all went well, and that you had a good time.

 

 

Daisi, we spent a week in Portugal last year. You can eat tons of meat and potatoes for a week if you want. Plenty of non-fish options, and nice red wines to accompany them! Of course, we liked the fish too... 

[Daisi]

Thanks JP.  I am a PEI girl, love seafood - scallops, quahogs, oysters, lobster etc, but fish...I won't tell you what my GGrandmother used to do to us kids so she would have fish for my parents for dinner when we used to live with them.  Maybe I'll have to add it back onto our bucket list!

 

[notamermaid]

Portuguese wines - lovely. I am not a white wine drinker, but the white wines I have tried are different from German, French, etc. Quite distinctive. In the country, I would certainly order one with a fish dish. Scallops, nice, but I do not like other seafood, especially not when it still stares me in the eye with its eyes!

 

@steamboats

Welcome home, glad to hear you had a great time. Looking forward to your review.

 

notamermaid

 

[steamboats]

@Daisi we had a choice of 3 main courses (fish, meat, veggie) for lunch and dinner plus for dinner a special Portuguese dish (which could have been fish or mean - and as mentioned by others lots of potatoes 😂). So no need to worry! Everyone will be catered.

 

@Canal archive you´re invited to sort out all 2,340 files on my computer 😂 - o.k. not all of them will be in my review but of sure many of them. Some of them were for my Instagram stories only (lots of short videos).

 

steamboats

[Canal archive]

I know I’m an archivist but that’s pushing it a bit! An automatic joint filing and location system would be amazing. Just got to get all camera capable bits of tech to use gps, this just might work and my job would be much easier. Pity it won’t work from the beginning of photography. CA

[notamermaid]

I have had my first "big trip out" since March, 110km round-trip! And it felt like a trip, a weekend getaway. Funny, how one can get used to being at home. There were people, lots of them, eek! Seriously, it felt safe but I have gone off crowds, with no festivals happening and me not having worked with the public much. Still no holiday booked. Small yachts and rowing boats are on the river, the weather is lovely and life seems almost normal. Until one reads the news...

 

But, the good news. The Mennonites in Euskirchen were quite embarrassed about the outbreak, cooperated well with the authorities and testing showed quickly that there has been little community transmission, no lockdown! In Koblenz students celebrated with beer drinking during daytime on Friday, they had every reason to as testing there also showed few additional cases. Quarantine for the student accommodations lifted!

 

This morning I got really worked up about the infamous slaughterhouse/meat processing plant. Tönnies, under the pandemic act, wants to claim back money from the state. They are entitled to do so and the authorities will (they have to be fair within the law) grant the money most likely. Unbelievable! And our agricultural minister made her views on it clearly known: https://m.dw.com/en/germany-virus-hit-tönnies-slaughterhouse-slammed-for-requesting-state-aid/a-54143323 

 

Deep breath. Back to the nicer stuff. A couple of weeks ago I talked to my neighbour about the thistle growing in the back garden. Normally this would have been ripped out but she left it to grow into a really nice specimen in the hope that the butterflies might like it. Earlier today a lovely butterfly flew past me in the yard, perhaps it was as on its way to the thistle...

 

Hope you can find pleasure in the small things that go right in this turbulent world. Stay safe.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

It is Monday lunchtime and I have had my first scare for this week, wanted to clean an attic helping a neighbour. We got up the steep steps and walked into a swarm of wasps. Quickly down the steps we went and decided to clean in the Autumn...

 

But much more scary is the news coming from the United States of America. I am seriously concerned. But not just about America, my own country is, you know, doing okay (I am slightly ashamed of repeating this, I mean one should be thankful and humbled). So, seeing people partying and dancing on the tables in Arizona, just made me shake my head in disbelief. Now as regards Germans it is time to set the record straight. Yes, partying! We know the "endless series of Brits behaving badly (on holiday)" and I am sure Prague was quite happy to not see British tourists for a few months. After the pubs reopened in Britain the BBC quoted a police spokesman as saying "alcohol and social distancing don't work" or something like that. What a revelation! (Sarcasm from me)

 

Now us Germans are also cheeky and let the worst offenders do it all on Mallorca rather than at home. Appalling and "we" seriously shocked the locals. Our health minister is not happy: https://www.thelocal.de/20200713/the-danger-of-a-second-wave-is-real-germanys-health-minister-warns-holidaymakers 

 

And the Mallorca online news reported like this: https://www.majorcadailybulletin.com/news/local/2020/07/11/69585/german-english-tourists-live-their-bad-reputation-majorca.html 

 

I am bl**** annoyed about those tourists. Ischgl seems all but forgotten, why does some people's memory only go back 48 hours??

 

Sorry, I needed to get this off my chest.

 

Back to butterflies and adorable cats sleeping in the plant pots.

 

notamermaid

 

[AF-1]

notarmermaid;  did you guys cancel this years Octoberfest in Munich?

[notamermaid]

19 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

notarmermaid;  did you guys cancel this years Octoberfest in Munich?

Yes. All such huge events banned until at least end of August. Ban might be extended. Due to the mass logistical preparations needed for Oktoberfest it was cancelled very early. But Bavaria also saw the danger of the festival early and decided to not go ahead with planning before it is even clear that it needs to be banned. You just cannot set up the tents within a fortnight, takes much longer according to steamboats.

 

Oh, events, by the way, so far just a couple of news headlines of Christmas markets not happening. Only small ones, no major touristy ones.

 

notamermaid

 

[AF-1]

Thanks for your reply and update.  Have a nice week

[notamermaid]

2 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

Thanks for your reply and update.  Have a nice week

And you. Look after yourself and your loved ones.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

People are driving and cycling about, I think I have never seen so many people holidaying near home since the Seventies. The towns are busy in Rhineland-Palatinate. More cars on the road, you know, some of those passengers would have flown off to the beaches in normal times... Mallorca, our favourite island, has closed many bars and restaurants in the favourite partying spots (see my previous post) again. The Mallorca/Spanish government is desperate to keep the island safe and the reputation good.

 

As regards the Christmas markets. I talked to two events people in my area and they said their planning for the Christmas market is coming along nicely. No cancellation planned, so with revisions they believe - like me - that such gatherings are possible. Come September I think we will know more.

 

To find out more about how mass gatherings work, there is a trial with sports events organizers of events of differing size. Saw it on the BBC. Interesting. In Germany such a trial will also happen in the shape of a pop concert, but scientists seem to be going a step further and trialling several scenarios including using fluorescent sanitizer to see what people touch. Deutsche Welle timestamp 13:58: https://m.dw.com/en/coronavirus-latest-who-says-health-workers-account-for-10-of-global-infections/a-54208221

 

Seen a couple of river cruise ships, but that is about it. Just NickoCruises and A-Rosa, few others. But excursion boats are becoming more popular again.

 

Had another sad sounding email from the friend in Charlotte. Misses the chance to come to the Rhineland this Summer. Plans scrapped, like so many, many.

 

Look after yourselves.

 

notamermaid

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

We just got back from our two weeks in Downeast Maine.  It was surprisingly 'normal'!  We rent a cottage that could be self-sufficient, but since it's vacation we rarely have dinner there.  All our favorite restaurants were in business for inside dining [also outside, which is great because it takes the pressure off the inside tables and leaves them for us!] with normal menus.  We had to wear masks from the front door to the table, but that was only a few minutes.  All the hiking trails in Acadia National Park are open, and we met very few people on our hikes [most were not wearing masks – but it is easy to keep the 6 foot 'social distancing' space].  Church was open, with very good prevention measures.  There were no art shows or craft shows, but that is a minor part of our vacation [especially now that we are trying to downsize rather than accumulate more stuff!]  The one big loss was the Southwest Harbor Flamingo Parade, which honors Don Featherstone – the man who invented the plastic pink flamingo lawn ornament.  [Sadly Don passed in 2015, but his widow continued to come to SWH as Grand Marshal]

 

I put in all this detail in case anyone in the US is going crazy with cabin fever and would like a vacation idea.  At present Maine requires a Covid test 72-hours before arrival except for the lucky residents of CT, NJ and NY [or you can get tested on arrival and quarantine yourself until the results come back].  We did see many license plates from States other than those four.

[ural guy]

I'm looking at a motorcycle trip from my home in upstate NY.  According to the states web sites, I can travel to PA, and Vermont.   Vermont has a map showing which counties in the adjacent states are reporting less then 400 active cases per million, if under that number there is no quarantine. 

 

New Hampshire doesn't want you unless you are from an adjacent state.  I didn't see mention of waivers.  Too bad as I love riding in the state, we've rented places in North Conway before.

 

30 miles from Thousand Islands Bridge to Canada, but that direction is definitely closed.

 

Luckily many gorgeous roads in that NY-upper PA-VT bubble.  I stay at the little park in front motels, and just putter along, keeping to myself except for ice cream stops.  Pretty low risk, and high reward for sanity purposes.  A solo motorcycle is socially distant by nature.

 

Link to map allowing travel to Vermont: shows current covid rate by county, NE USA

 

https://accd.vermont.gov/covid-19/restart/cross-state-travel

 

[sharkster77]

Dear wife just read on facebook that Trafalgar travel has suspended all worldwide tours through Nov. 30.  Offering travel credit through Dec. 2022.  We have nothing booked with them, but just offer the info as news.  As I've mentioned (perhaps too many times, LOL) that we have a Collette tour to Canada in early Sept.  This gives us more hope that our tour will NOT run.  Fingers crossed, but I cannot see Canada opening their border to Americans.  Toronto Blue Jays recently denied permission to play baseball at home.  Main reason given was all the back-and-forth border crossings between US and CAN by teams.

[Daisi]

Sorry Sharkster, but as long as the numbers down there remain high, I wouldn't count on your trip.  Parts of Ontario are opening up to indoor restaurants & bars as of last Friday, but everyone is worried this will increase our numbers.  If our numbers go up, as some of the other provinces are, you can count on it that the border will remain closed.  We still can't even go to parts of Canada....

 

On the other hand, you can now do more planning... 🙂

 

Edited July 20, 2020 by Daisi