Photo 1: Lola from the crew show.
Photo 2: Typical window box but with chimed bells added.
Photo 3: Piano and violin cabinet in the mechanical museum
Photo 4: Doll orchestra
Photos 5 and 6: Castles along the Rhine Gorge. Note the ongoing restoration work on the second one.
Photo 7: Typical village and vineyards.
Photo 8: The Cat Castle. Just had to include that one :)
Photo 9: Sue with her favourite waiters, 'Paddy' and 'Sean', AKA Ryan and Garry.
On Monday night we enjoyed a show put on by the crew. There are
certainly a lot of talented people working on this boat. Two of the girls sang
lovely songs very professionally and the maitre d’, Tomas, and one of the
singers danced Latin like experts. One of the guys did break dancing like a New
Yorker. But the funniest act was performed by a male staff member dressed as ‘Lola’
with a long, pink curly wig with oranges safely secreted in an enormous bra.
On Tuesday morning we left the Main River and entered the
Rhine. We docked at Rüdesheim and had probably the best time so far on the trip. First we
visited Siegfried’s Mechanical Museum which contains 350 working exhibits of
automated musical instruments made between 1880 and 1930. It was fascinating to
watch multiple musical instruments set in cabinets all being played together
simply by mechanical means. Some used piano rolls, others wooden rollers or
round, flat discs to create tunes which remind you of merry-go-rounds. One even
created the music of a whole jazz orchestra and another played three violins
and other instruments in harmony. What amazing mechanical skill they had!
After that we went to a hotel where we were served the local Rüdesheim
Coffee, a mixture of black coffee, sugar, local brandy, cream and a little
chocolate. That’s what they say it is, but Phil tried it and reckons it is
brandy with a small dash of the other ingredients. The concoction is flamed
before serving to burn off the alcohol. Just as well or they would have had to
carry Phil back to the boat :). Sue
was much more sedate…just a plain old hot chocolate for me. For a change we
walked back to the boat. Wrong choice as
it took us through the local shops offering all kinds of goodies. We had such fun, and found more things to
send back from Amsterdam!!!
In the afternoon we sailed through the magnificent Rhine Gorge which is
lined with many castles, some dating from the 12th century, and
vineyards sprawling down the hillsides. The Rhine is very busy with numerous
barges and passenger boats, but that doesn’t spoil the lovely look of the
countryside. We saw many famous sites along the Gorge including a monument to
German unification (about 1871), the Mouse Tower and the Lorelei rock and
statue. All this in comfortable chairs with drink in hand. So, what are the
poor cold people doing in Canberra? Oh, and did we mention there is a heatwave
moving towards us. 37 degrees by
Thursday. Break out the shorts and
thongs!!! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment