River Cruising Water Cooler

[Host Jazzbeau]

Catching up on blogs!

 

In July DW and I took a wonderful trip to Maine and Nova Scotia, including a short cruise on THE CAT high-speed car ferry from Bar Harbor to Yarmouth.  I have posted the full blog and photos here, for those who are interested:

 

 

[notamermaid]

It is international cat day today. Yesterday, the cat next door showed me (my legs) that claws rule and today I have seen her kitten briefly. This café/restaurant in Trier has given over its space to the furry wonderful small beasts. Okay, the humans are allowed to share: https://katzentempel.de/standorte/trier/

And there are other places like that in Germany.

 

notamermaid

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

19 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

It is international cat day today.

According to 9 out of 10 cats, every day is international cat day.  😁

[jpalbny]

28 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

It is international cat day today. Yesterday, the cat next door showed me (my legs) that claws rule and today I have seen her kitten briefly.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Our cats celebrated this a day early. They left a small dead mouse for us, in the middle of the kitchen floor! Their parents were very proud of them and they got some extra treats for their efforts.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I should have pointed out that the other cat is Schrödinger's, so we don't know what it thinks...  😏

[Host Jazzbeau]

8 hours ago, jpalbny said:

 

Our cats celebrated this a day early. They left a small dead mouse for us, in the middle of the kitchen floor! Their parents were very proud of them and they got some extra treats for their efforts.

[Canal archive]

Our friends dog - retired gun dog, small beautiful Cocker Spaniel, yesterday presented him with a huge rabbit nearly as big as herself, luckily she remembered her commands - sit and leave which evidently she did beautifully off ran the rabbit - living to be caught another day and she was so proud of herself she strutted around tail up for the rest of the day. I’d say not bad for a slightly elderly retired lady. Get a cat to do that!

 

Ohh and does anyone know what any cat thinks including and excluding Schrödinger!

Edited August 9 by Canal archive

[notamermaid]

It has been a long day and I spent a large part of it travelling to the Moselle and visiting Bernkastel-Kues. It has been more than two years since I was last there, close to three I think, so I thought it may now be time to check out the museum for cars and motorbikes rather than spend much time in the town itself. The "Zylinderhaus" is in Kues, on the outskirts of it. In short: it is a bit of a walk from the river cruise ship docking places so if you are into old vehicles and are short of time, get a taxi. I mean, half-timbered houses, the castle and all that is great but if you are seriously looking for something different and want to learn about German history of motoring and every day life, this is so worth it. I am a girl, do not understand cars or ride a motorbike and had a great time. Bonus was seeing men smiling and a father explaining things to his son. No chattering women. I shall retire happy.

 

Have a good Sunday.

 

notamermaid

 

[CPT Trips]

17 hours ago, notamermaid said:

No chattering women.

That would be a welcome respite on a river cruise 

[notamermaid]

17 minutes ago, CPT Trips said:

That would be a welcome respite on a river cruise 

I am still working on that river cruise which focusses on more male topics. Should skew the male female ratio on that itinerary heavily in that welcome direction. In all seriousness, that museum was such fun partly because of the probably more than 80 percent male visitors. It may have been influenced by the Harley Davidson gathering in a nearby town. Although not his type, seeing all the bikes made me think of @ural guy.  Parked outside was a BMW, the owner said it was from 1981. And inside were BMW, NSU, DKW and many I have not even heard of (see comment above, girl of the arts I am). And the cars were a delight as well. I really appreciate the old designs. There was one car that a Dutch man had driving all the way to Moscow and back and then in another year even went along the Route 66 in the US.

 

So far I have thought that the Rhine is a great river for all technical stuff, for a boys' river cruise, but I am considering extending it to a ten nighter with a sailing up to Bernkastel-Kues and back. If you take your woman along you can always leave her for a couple of hours among the Medieval buildings and interesting small shops on the other side of the river. 🙂 A bit more on the trip will go into the Moselle thread some time.

 

Working title for the cruise is "Carburetors and Castles".

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

How about including some tech stuff for crafting ladies such as the textile museum in Bolbec near the Seine and the silk ateliers in Lyon. 

Edited August 11 by Canal archive

[notamermaid]

2 hours ago, Canal archive said:

How about including some tech stuff for crafting ladies such as the textile museum in Bolbec near the Seine and the silk ateliers in Lyon. 

Will stay with Germany with my idea but you make a very good point. Something crafty-technical would be good. Must look into such a thing on the Rhine. Textiles is a little tricky, I may look towards Krefeld.

 

notamermaid

 

[ural guy]

In Scotland we visited a textile mill, but it was more about the massive amount of water power they harnessed to power the mill.  A new type of turbine was used, which upped the efficiency. Spouse and 2 daughters found it interesting...2 of the 3 are engineers, so maybe that's part of it.

 

Notamermaid, yes that museum sounds like a good visit.  Yeah, no Harley's for me.  I do have 2 2004 BMW RT1150's...one on the road and the other a donor parts bike.  They have boxer engines that will go 200,000 miles easily...paired with a transmission that will die without maintenance. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 hours ago, ural guy said:

Yeah, no Harley's for me.  I do have 2 2004 BMW RT1150's...one on the road and the other a donor parts bike.  They have boxer engines that will go 200,000 miles easily...paired with a transmission that will die without maintenance.

So we shouldn't expect a report from Sturgis?  😉

[ural guy]

9 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

So we shouldn't expect a report from Sturgis?  😉

Negative.  I mostly ride by myself, or I have spouse/dog in the sidecar.  I like nature and hate loud pipes (exhaust) and crowds.

 

I've never understood people who want to be in the 1%, rugged individuals.  And then they chose to dress all alike, like cosplaying a role.  

 

I pull up, with my odd bike and awesome dog (or wife knitting socks in the hack), and there are smiles all around.  My wife was approached at the ice cream stand last night...'is that the dog who rides in the sidecar?'  Yes he is, and he's a very good boy.

[Canal archive]

Strangely one of my neighbours is just taking delivery of his new bike can’t see the make but big, low slung with huge fat tyres and it has a low growl. I’m being really nosy!

 

Its a Ducati touring bike, I think looks good!

Edited August 12 by Canal archive

[ural guy]

23 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

Strangely one of my neighbours is just taking delivery of his new bike can’t see the make but big, low slung with huge fat tyres and it has a low growl. I’m being really nosy!

 

Its a Ducati touring bike, I think looks good!

A Ducati, at least he's thinking outside the box.  It probably has a V-4 that's giving it a unique exhaust note.

 

A side note, how the rider's 'uniform' goes along the with bike manufacture.  Harley's and leather, BMW and hi-vis suits...when we were in Germany, one piece riding suits were popular.  If a couple were on a bike, the suits would match.  We use to joke that if they broke up, he'd have to find a new girl of the same size.  Those suits were tight.

 

I go for hobo chic, the safety vest flaps around when we're moving.  Jeans have pads built in.  Not pretty, but cars and trucks are much bigger than Georgie and I.

 

[Canal archive]

Now he’s a real Cutie and I mean the hairy hound. My brother in law is a Triumph nut his pride and joy is at least 30 years old. I never made it onto the mean machines just the scooters - Lambretta 200 Gt it just hasn’t got the same kudos.

[Daisi]

Every year up in Peterborough, they do a charity "pack the lock" weekend. This year they had the most out every - setting a record for 625 canoes & kayaks, as well as 410 vessels. We've been up for this a couple of times, just didn't manage to make it this year. This is what the canoes & kayaks looked like. 

[ural guy]

Daisi-  Thanks for posting, that lock looks very cool, like a bowl of Fruity Pebbles cereal.  A couple of hours away, never heard of it, but I've seen lots of videos of the oddball one in UK that also raises the entire basin of water.

[gnome12]

18 minutes ago, ural guy said:

Daisi-  Thanks for posting, that lock looks very cool, like a bowl of Fruity Pebbles cereal.  A couple of hours away, never heard of it, but I've seen lots of videos of the oddball one in UK that also raises the entire basin of water.

This is a hydraulic lift lock, It has 2 basins that raise and lower on opposite sides. This picture was taken when they were in the middle, thus, side by side.

[Daisi]

@ural guy the Trent Severn Waterway has a couple of unique locks - there is another lift lock just a bit north of the one in Peterborough, although not quite as big. They also have one that runs from one side of the road, across the road, and down to the river on the other side by rail - I've attached a video for you.  I didn't get the part from the other side of the road, as I wanted to see it go down the chute. 

 

It's quite a scenic trip to drive along, would make a great bike trip. 🙂

[Canal archive]

Search the Anderton Boat lift an interesting bit of technology or this

the Falkirk wheel reputed to be inspired by  Celtic Axe it replaces a flight of locks by lifting and lowering canal narrowboats, the red boat is a trip boat so you can experience this modern version of a lock. It is just a tad scary in your own boat!

[Canal archive]

I think there is a recently restored boat lift in France will find out where.

[pontac]

On 8/4/2024 at 7:09 PM, notamermaid said:

Saw the Scenic Jasper on the Rhine a few days ago and thought that you will have a splendid looking ship. Hope it contains wine that is even better than the ship looks from the outside. I know you know the area but perhaps there will be pleasant surprises still for you. Have a good trip.

 

notamermaid

 

Thanks. It must have been on its way to Amsterdam for us. 

 

This is a weird cruise, itinerary doesn't make sense. I'll detail why in my trip report. 

 

The ship design isn't up to standard of Vikings Longships. 

 

It's interesting to get a story from a different guide, for example in Bernkastel last year guide said house with very small ground floor and bigger upper floors was built when tax was on area of floor space. This year guide said ground floor was stone built to protect against fire and stone was expensive. 

 

I expect we'll cruise Mosel again as it's really picturesque, so I wonder what guide 3 will say 🤔

 

Found some nice wines.

 

On Mosel now on way back to Koblenz.