Koblenz > Rudesheim

Day 3 -

The first question asked when meeting new people onboard is always:  "Where are you from?"  Interestingly, the 2nd is usually:  "Is this your first river cruise?"  We've learned that most are repeaters, many having cruised China as their first Viking trip.  It's easy to pick out these expert cruisers:  they have the timing down on exactly when the buffets open, what seats in the lounge are best, when to line up for the excursion tickets.  And they know the dining room shuffle.  Sheila and I tend to look for a unoccupied table beside the window but the professionals look first for stimulating dining companions.  They'll happily choose the middle seats of an 8-top if the other occupants look interesting enough.  Better to chose before being chosen, I guess.  We tried this method this morning.  We landed a German/French college professor with 34 years teaching experience and a slight dictatorial bent, so not entirely successful, but we sure learned a lot!

By the time we recovered from our lecture, I mean breakfast, we'd docked in Braubach and the ship had a quick organized trip up to see the little castle perched just above town.  It's the only castle in the region that's been continuously occupied, therefore never ruined nor abandoned, though it had been taken over a few times.  It dates from the 1200's, so it's pretty cool to visit. The steps into the castle were extremely rough hewn,  tortured even, from the rock base; the kitchen was outfitted in medievel period furnishings and had a fireplace large to roast an ox; we saw the knights' dining room that included a toilet, an little room jutting out from the building, literally an arm's reach away from the table (and the lock was on the outside of the door, in case their enemies decided to clamber up the slimy wall and invade the castle from poop room); and a kick-ass view.

the guide is explaining how the toilet works



that's our ship docked way down there



No time to see the town as the boat's engines were fired up and most lines cast off when we returned to ship.  The crew take their scheduling very seriously, when we leave at 12:00, you better be on by 11:55 or S.O.L.!

We came aboard to find a German village set up in our lounge....

Buffet lunch of German tasties: various sausages, sauerkraut, roast pig, pretzels, potato salad, mustards, etc.  The staff got dressed up in leiderhosen and barmaid dresses, and the piano man pounded away at rollicking tunes like Roll Out The Barrel.  Good fun.  The crew really do a good job of entertaining us.  Hard on such a small ship (and full! 107 pax out of possible 120), but there's been talks, poetry contests, afternoon teas, German dancing, etc. 

After lunch thunderstorms and driving rain kept us inside staring out at the gloomy scenery.  The middle Rhine is supposed to be the most beautiful section of our trip but the weather is making this challenging to believe.  The cruise director valiantly broadcasts each important castle and town, and we dutifully turn our heads to look, but enthusiasm for sightseeing is lukewarm  this afternoon. Gradually the skies dry, and one by one the passengers creep up to the sundeck to test the fresh air and presto! 5pm = Happy Hour, sun out and mom bathing on lounge chair.  Fingers crossed this will be the end of it...

Tonight's destination was Rudesheim, which we docked at right as dinner started.  The dining room emptied out by 8pm as everyone wanted to have a little wander around town before dark.  We're only here till 5am so it's a self-guided tour or nought else.  The town had one really bustling narrow lane chocker-block full of restaurants, bars with live bands and dancing.  I think several passengers enjoyed town very much as I heard them struggling with their cabin doors at 3am!