Bad Ems to Holland

On Monday we left our idyliic mooring and headed down the River Lahn to BEd Ems, an old Spa town from the 19th Century. There were lots of moorings and we chose a quiet one on the edge of town. We walked back into the town with its beautiful buildings - Georgian I guess we would call them though what they would be called in Germany I am unsure. As we wandered arouund we saw a sign saying 'Kurwaldbahn'. We weren't sure what Kur was (later discovered to be mean cure' but waldbahn seemed to suggest a forest railway so we went down a small alley and arrived at a funicular railway that took us up the very steep sides of the Lahn valley to the top where a vast plateau stretched before us with lots of forest walks and the Kur part, a hospital. I guess the spa nature of the town has evolved into a place for long term recovery of some illnesses

. After a walk through the woods we stopped at a cafe and Wendy ordered an eisschokolade drink which was delicious. The view was stunning from the top.

Next day we left the Lahn and entered the Rhine again, and were quickly hurling down river and past Koblenz where the River Moselle (Mosel) joins. After that the force of the river seemed to ease and the the turbulence was gone and the current cut back to a gentle 5 km/h. We stopped at Oberwinter for the night and yet once again we commented on how the Germans have spoilt all their lovely river valleys by putting railways on both banks and having them cart freight wagons 24 hours a day. Many of the towns on the River Main, Lahn, Neckar and the Rhine have busy railway lines going through them creating a racket night and day.

The next day we arrived at midday at Cologne (Koln). We walked the 3km into town and admired the beautiful cathedral, the tallest in Europe. It is certainly massive.

We saw the mortal remains of the magi (the three kings) in a golden casket, unfortunately well away from tourist hands, and wandered around the town which was heavily bombed and lost most of its old character. Lucklily the cathedral remains intact, as so the story goes it was used by the bomber piots as a landmark on their sorties into Germany.

Then another long day on the Rhine down to Wesel (132km) where we had stopped the same day a year earlier. The last day in Germany started a bit moist but it cleared by mid morning and we headed down the Rhine to Holland where it became the Neder Rijn and then changed names a bit further on to the Waal. We stopped at the town of Nijmegen which was an key part of the Operation Market Garden in WWII and celebrated in the film "A Bridge too FAr".  The bridge is still there. The small harbour was full and the water levels very low but we sandwiched into a spot somehow, and enjoyed a nice Portugese kebab meal on a floating restaurant on the quay. We were back in Holland after some 3 months in Germany.

We continued down the Waal the next day before it became the Merwede and stopped in Sleeuwijk Yacht Harbour we met Linda and Leon from London. Leon kindly took Wendy to the supermarket and after tea we enjoyed a couple of hours conversation with them on their 12.5m boat.

Today we have moored in an idyllic spot in a remote area called the Biesbosch which is only accessible by water. The glorious summer we have enjoyed so far is fast deserting us as we experience a more maritime climate again.

This week we are heading for Delft, Leiden and Gouda before calling into Montfoort to pick up Petra and Nico for a 5 day cruise to Roermond where we will be leaving the boat.

A Tale of Two Rivers

It has been an idyllic summer’s day on the River Lahn. We are tied up in the middle of nowhere in a wooded valley by a sharp turn of the River. Everywhere we look we see wooded slopes. A few swans sidle by to have a look. Bees are buzzing and there is a general feeling of indolence in the air. Its not too hot (like last week) but hot enough to search out a bit of shade in the middle of the day. It is quiet with only an occasional canoe passing by.

The Lahn is a quiet slow moving river, a tributary of the mighty Rhine that is navigable for 65 km from the Rhine to the gorgeous town of Limburg. But first we had to get to the Rhine from Frankfurt.

We left Frankfurt on Monday morning and by lunchtime we had joined the Rhine at Mainz. The current was very feeble, just 2 km/h and we made steady progress down river for a couple of hours until we arrived at Rudesheim. Within the space of 400m the current surged from 2 km/h to 9 km/h and we were hurled into the start of the Rhine Gorge. There were castles to the left of us, castles to the right of us, and a boiling, swirling torrent beneath us. We couldn’t take on the vista to start with us as there were many boats to steer past, some on the right of us and some on the left. Some going up and some going down.

We passed by vineyards perched on the steep slopes and always castles and more castles and lots of trip boats weaving their way along the river. The gorge got steeper and steeper and soon we rushed past the famous Pfalz, a castle on an island in the middle of the River.

Then suddenly ahead loomed a huge rock – the Loreley rock. Here the river carves an S bend around this huge rock and the river became a maelstrom with whirlpools, overfalls and a very narrow channel to steer to. The depth plummeted to 15m.

There are signal stations along this part of the river to tell upstream traffic what huge barges are swinging down stream.

The suddenly it seemed to quiet down and the town of St Goar came into view. We swung across the river and headed very slowly back upstream and through the narrow entrance of the harbour and found a place at boat harbour there. Above us was the huge fortress of Rhinefels and the town was a mere 300m away.

The next day we climbed up to the fortress and admired the great view from the top.

Then we wandered down through the woods to the lovely old town and caught a ferry across to St Goarhausen on the other side.

But things went downhill from then as the harbour master and some of the visiting boats held an all night party right next to our boat and none of us could sleep. We  were not impressed!

So we left rather tired the next day on our way to the River Lahn which enters the Rhine just above Koblenz, where the Mosel River also enters.

What a contrast the River Lahn was, as there is no commercial traffic and the locks are only 4om long. It is very popular with canoeists who travel downstream all day an are then picked up and taken back to their cars upstream. There are a few rather unusual hire boats as well.

We stopped for the night at a lovely old walled town called Dasenau and had a drink at the Old Wirthaus or inn that was hundreds of years old. Next day we headed upstream and arrived at Limburg. This incredible ancient town was where Tracy had to leave us. It has a most beautiful cathedral which was right next to our moorings. These are two views of the cathedral in the evening and the next morning.

We walked Tracy to the railway station the next morning and then started our trip back downstream and stopped at the most beautiful halt on the whole river at Hollerich. We had planned to stay for just one night but we have extended that to two nights.

Tomorrow we carry on down the Lahn before entering the Rhine again and then continue for another 300km on the Rhine until we reach Holland later this week.

Back to Frankfurt

It was a wet day on Monday, the first for quite a while, but in between the showers we walked around Wertheim and climbed up to the castle ruins above the town and took in the sweeping panorama.

The next day we cruised down to possibly the prettiest village on the Main, Miltenberg where we had stopped for two days on the way up.

Set on the edge of the vast Odenwald forest, the town attracts visitors by the thousand but from our quiet quay a few minutes walk from town, the town looked lovely in the warm evening light.

Next day we headed for Aschaffenburg and tied up at the very friendly Nautilus Boat Club where we stayed last time. It is the best mooring on the River Main and we stayed there three nights awaiting the arrival of Tracy from Zurich on Friday.

Saturday saw us heading for Frankfurt on a perfect hot day (34C) where we tied up in the Westhaven at our usual mooring.

Today we wandered around the old town which quite frankly is very overstated and tried to escape the heat of the afternoon sun under an umbrella. We managed to get the English Sunday papers at the railway station which is not far away so we had something to read in English for a change.

This week we head down the Rhine through the very challenging Rhine Gorge, the fastest, narrowest, busiest, most hectic part of the Rhine. Once we start there is no turning back.  Then we turn into the quiet, non commercial River Lahn and cruise gently up river to Limburg. More next week.

Bamberg to Wertheim

Early on Monday morning we left Bamberg and hooked up with a barge that was going our way. This made it very easy as all the locks were ready for us. It was a long day and we pulled into the quay in Schweinfurt to meet up with Alan and Inge, friends of Nick and Monika who we were joining at a local Italian restaurant that night.  Alan helped us out by driving to an automobile accessory shop where I purchased some windscreen wipers as the more expensive marine ones did not fit properly.

Next day on to Kitzingen with Vivien proving at the age of 9 she was a really capable steerer of the boat.

We ate out at a beer garden near by that has been recommended to us, but it was terrible food and the owner just didn’t care. The Golden Goose in Kitzingen is a place to avoid. The others had all finished their food by the time my string duck was placed in front of me.

Then next day onto the quaint town of Ochsenfurt still surrounded by ancient walls and towers.

We had a lovely quiet mooring in the middle of town courtesy of the local motor boat club. They even offered to barbeque our sausages that night on their large BBQ and we joined them around a large table for our meal and local wine they offered us that was produced just across the river from where we were dining.

The next day was the last full day for Nick and Monika and an easy run of one lock and 12 km took us to Eibelstadt where we had stayed on the way up. In the afternoon, Nick, Monika and the girls caught a bus into Wurzburg and Wendy and I biked along the terrific Main Rad Weg  or Main Bike path, that runs all the way along the River Main. It is paved all the way and there are hundreds of “Bed and Bike”  places where you can turn in for the night.

Wurzburg is a beautiful city with a great castle which we didn’t have time to visit and many beautiful churches.

including the cathedral (Dom in German) that was badly bombed in WWII and has subsequently been restored in a motley of styles.

We wandered over the ancient stone bridge and saw many other lovely buildings and churches. We needed much more time to explore this ancient city properly, but alas an afternoon was all we had.

Nick and Monika picked up a hire car in Wurzburg and after one last night on the boat left the next day for home and we continued down the Main to Wernfeld where we  stopped for a few days, before a long day down to the picturesque village of Wertheim.

The weather has been perfect all week with temperatures over 30c every day.

Next week we continue down the Main to meet up with Tracy, a friend of Wendy’s, who will be joining us for a cruise through the magnificent Rhine Gorge and the River Lahn.

Back to the Main

We stayed three days in the lovely town of Beilngries. The first day we went for a 20km bike ride along the canal to the beautiful walled town of Berching. We rode around the walls and turrets and tried to find an ice cream shop but they were all closed on a Monday.

It was a very hot day. Perfect weather! Unfortunately we got a puncture in one of the bikes on the way home. Luckily it was only 3km from the boat.

On the way back we stopped to admire the monastery at Plankstetten.

On Tuesday we spent the day painting  (or touching up) the hull and generally cleaning the boat from top to toe.

We wandered over to see the old location of Ludwig’s Canal, the original canal built to link the Main with the Danube some 150 years ago. Not much was left of it. A huge barge went by as we crossed over the bridge.

On Wednesday we left at 6.30 am as we had a long long way to get to Nuremberg. Unfortunately at the first lock we were delayed with commercial traffic for 3 hours. That turned a 9 hour day into a 13 hour day and we arrived at the Nuremberg Motor Boat Club tired and thirsty. We passed through more very deep and turbulent locks that day.

On Thursday we left for Forchheim and were met there by Nick. After a lovely BBQ in the garden. On Friday we spent the day relaxing in the garden before heading to Kreuzberg beer Garden in the evening where I had the best BBQ’s mackerel ever. Slowly cooked over a wood fire and served in paper. Accompanied by a litre of delicious beer. Wendy had a shoulder of pork with dumplings.

There were many happy people easting and drinking in the warm evening and Cindy, Nick and Monika’s dog found it all very comfortable as well.

On Saturday we went shopping for hardware bits and pieces and on Sunday we left in the afternoon for Bamberg. We wandered into the town for a lovely meal.  This week we head back down the Main River with Nick and Monika and Vivien and Leslie and Cindy.