INTERNET
On the boat sucks. Who would think you get better Internet on the big blue ocean rather than traveling down the Rhine River?? So many bridges and locks dear Boca. Aggravating and putting Boca so behind in her blogging responsibilities. As she tries to blog away, then loses the connection and her work, cussing like a truck driver and surely raising eyebrows from those within 50 feet of her...
Bubba says "throw that dam computer over board and stop bellyaching about it...." Hmm. Men. So he buys her a bag to fit the occasion...
The M.S. Treasures arrives in Ashafenburg. Gesuntite! Back on the coach and we motor off to medieval and picturesque Rothenburg. Ah the The Romantic Road and Rothenburg. Romantische Strasse is a 220 mile road from Wurzburg south to Fussen-connecting old castles, unspoiled villages and lovely countryside. Yes Middle -Ages, looking like time stood still. One of the oldest towns on the river is Rothenburg ob der Taubeer. The countryside sweeps unimpeded right up to Rothenburg's ring of medieval ramparts. Pleep asks, Dad what's a rampart? Not many monuments but the narrow streets and charming squares are a piece out of historical Germany- with a strict adherence to preservation policies. Never mind the tourism. And bless the American civilian with the US forces during WWII, who argued successfully to stop bombing. Bravo!
Pleep goes medieval. He has met many new German play pals. This town looks like a Disney Set. And speaking of Disney, Boca met a lady on the tour who has worked for Disney for 46 years....right out of high school. She is on holiday and back to work in 2 weeks. Loved her career there- helping open Tokyo Disney, French Disney....and now Shanghai. Impressive career Ingrid. Hats off to sticking with the magic kingdom theme. Pleep kept getting her drinks in hopes of an invite for some behind the scenes fun.
While Boca hops from one Christmas store to another and Bub chants "NO NO NO MORE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS! We've got 3 of everything."
"But I think we could use these 2 steins." Sure there's always room for the husbands stuff.
Cobble stone streets killing Bubs back. He walks down the streets like a drunken sailor. Bubs use the cane. "Nah, makes me look like an old man." If the shoe fits wear it Bubs.
Church and The Reformation
Good old Martin Luther changed the face of the Roman initiated Catholic church in Germany. This young monk didn't care much for the worldliness of popes and prelates, excessive ceremony, and the sale of indulgences so after making a lot of noise he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church and he spent his time translating the Bible from Latin to German enabling the Germans to start the "Lutheran" religion and break from Rome and the Catholic Church.
Hence the church we visited today- while a Luther Church today was originally a
Catholic Church. They did leave most of it intact...take note of the alter. Central and eastern Germany is predominately Protestant while Bavaria and the Rhineland mostly Catholic.
Climbing castles every where...Lahneck, Martinsburg, Steerenberg, Liebenstien, Katz, Gutenfels, Nolling, Bromserbur, Klopp....and more. Sounds like a damn law firm. Don't even get me started with the poem the "Lorely"...you know how romantic ol' Boca is....this area of Germany is steeped in history. And blessed by the sun lots of grapes grow. Not a fan of Riesling, Boca is learning to appreciate it. More prosting please.
The Rhine flows for 820 miles- through 4 countries. Pleeps favorite view are the perched castles. This area has become one of Europe's great tourist landscapes and we can see why. Wowowowowow! As you know ol'Bubs and Boca are partial to the big ships but you can't beat the scenery and smooth sailing here. Youza!
Historically one of the worlds busiest trading routes and still today many barges coming and going...heading out to Rotterdam at the head.
RHINE-MAIN-DANUBE CANAL
Locks and no bagels...on this trip we will go through 68 locks. A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied-used to make a rive more easily navigable. Yahoo.
Yes, one huge diff between an ocean cruise and a river cruise are the locks along the rivers. Most river cruise ships are designed in such a way not to waste any space and just fit into the the locks. We've experienced 11.40 meters going through a 12 meter lock. Way to go El'Capitan! Never mind a bump here or there.
The Rhine-Mane-Danube Canal located in Bavaria Germany connects the Main and the Danube across the European Watershed- running from Bamberg via Nuremburg to Elohim. The canal connects the North Sea ad the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea- providing a grand time for us tourists. The present canal was completed in 1992 and is 171 miles long. Bubs loves going through them....
The Emperors and all that royalty started messing with these water ways in the 700's. Hear of the Ludwig canal? I didn't think so. The connecting the waterway project really started cooking in 1938 south of Nuremberg.
But WWII got in the way and the project really didn't start back up until 1960- to the tune of 2.3 billion Euros....almost 20% of the fee went for environment protection projects. I guess that must cover getting rid of the gazillion cigarette buts we see all over the cobble stones.
The 2006 census counted 5,280 vessels traveling the Rhine. Locks of fun.
Locks of love for Bubba.
This is called the cill- a narrow horizontal ledge pounding a short way into the chamber from below the upper gates. Don't let the rear end of our boat hang on the cill oh capitan!
SPEAKING OF WATER WORLD....back in Naples-
And speaking of water, we received a notice from Collier County Water Department notifying us that we just went through 56,000 gallons of water recently and they thought they would bring it to our attention. Say what? Are you %$#^^)*& Me!!!! Vunderbar. Emails and face time cranked up- neighbor, Alex, friend, pool man, yard man, water meter reader, plumber and any other swinging &^$% that would take a look to figure it out...did get the water turned off to stop the bleeding- still have no clue of what leaked or is leaking? Open to any suggestions or ideas. There's something about when Boca and Bubba hit the road the water comes....who could make this up??
On the boat sucks. Who would think you get better Internet on the big blue ocean rather than traveling down the Rhine River?? So many bridges and locks dear Boca. Aggravating and putting Boca so behind in her blogging responsibilities. As she tries to blog away, then loses the connection and her work, cussing like a truck driver and surely raising eyebrows from those within 50 feet of her...
Bubba says "throw that dam computer over board and stop bellyaching about it...." Hmm. Men. So he buys her a bag to fit the occasion...
The M.S. Treasures arrives in Ashafenburg. Gesuntite! Back on the coach and we motor off to medieval and picturesque Rothenburg. Ah the The Romantic Road and Rothenburg. Romantische Strasse is a 220 mile road from Wurzburg south to Fussen-connecting old castles, unspoiled villages and lovely countryside. Yes Middle -Ages, looking like time stood still. One of the oldest towns on the river is Rothenburg ob der Taubeer. The countryside sweeps unimpeded right up to Rothenburg's ring of medieval ramparts. Pleep asks, Dad what's a rampart? Not many monuments but the narrow streets and charming squares are a piece out of historical Germany- with a strict adherence to preservation policies. Never mind the tourism. And bless the American civilian with the US forces during WWII, who argued successfully to stop bombing. Bravo!Pleep goes medieval. He has met many new German play pals. This town looks like a Disney Set. And speaking of Disney, Boca met a lady on the tour who has worked for Disney for 46 years....right out of high school. She is on holiday and back to work in 2 weeks. Loved her career there- helping open Tokyo Disney, French Disney....and now Shanghai. Impressive career Ingrid. Hats off to sticking with the magic kingdom theme. Pleep kept getting her drinks in hopes of an invite for some behind the scenes fun.
While Boca hops from one Christmas store to another and Bub chants "NO NO NO MORE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS! We've got 3 of everything."
Cobble stone streets killing Bubs back. He walks down the streets like a drunken sailor. Bubs use the cane. "Nah, makes me look like an old man." If the shoe fits wear it Bubs.
Church and The Reformation
Good old Martin Luther changed the face of the Roman initiated Catholic church in Germany. This young monk didn't care much for the worldliness of popes and prelates, excessive ceremony, and the sale of indulgences so after making a lot of noise he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church and he spent his time translating the Bible from Latin to German enabling the Germans to start the "Lutheran" religion and break from Rome and the Catholic Church.
Hence the church we visited today- while a Luther Church today was originally a
Climbing castles every where...Lahneck, Martinsburg, Steerenberg, Liebenstien, Katz, Gutenfels, Nolling, Bromserbur, Klopp....and more. Sounds like a damn law firm. Don't even get me started with the poem the "Lorely"...you know how romantic ol' Boca is....this area of Germany is steeped in history. And blessed by the sun lots of grapes grow. Not a fan of Riesling, Boca is learning to appreciate it. More prosting please.
The Rhine flows for 820 miles- through 4 countries. Pleeps favorite view are the perched castles. This area has become one of Europe's great tourist landscapes and we can see why. Wowowowowow! As you know ol'Bubs and Boca are partial to the big ships but you can't beat the scenery and smooth sailing here. Youza!
Historically one of the worlds busiest trading routes and still today many barges coming and going...heading out to Rotterdam at the head.
RHINE-MAIN-DANUBE CANAL
Locks and no bagels...on this trip we will go through 68 locks. A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied-used to make a rive more easily navigable. Yahoo.
Yes, one huge diff between an ocean cruise and a river cruise are the locks along the rivers. Most river cruise ships are designed in such a way not to waste any space and just fit into the the locks. We've experienced 11.40 meters going through a 12 meter lock. Way to go El'Capitan! Never mind a bump here or there.The Rhine-Mane-Danube Canal located in Bavaria Germany connects the Main and the Danube across the European Watershed- running from Bamberg via Nuremburg to Elohim. The canal connects the North Sea ad the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea- providing a grand time for us tourists. The present canal was completed in 1992 and is 171 miles long. Bubs loves going through them....The Emperors and all that royalty started messing with these water ways in the 700's. Hear of the Ludwig canal? I didn't think so. The connecting the waterway project really started cooking in 1938 south of Nuremberg. But WWII got in the way and the project really didn't start back up until 1960- to the tune of 2.3 billion Euros....almost 20% of the fee went for environment protection projects. I guess that must cover getting rid of the gazillion cigarette buts we see all over the cobble stones.The 2006 census counted 5,280 vessels traveling the Rhine. Locks of fun.
Locks of love for Bubba.
This is called the cill- a narrow horizontal ledge pounding a short way into the chamber from below the upper gates. Don't let the rear end of our boat hang on the cill oh capitan!
And speaking of water, we received a notice from Collier County Water Department notifying us that we just went through 56,000 gallons of water recently and they thought they would bring it to our attention. Say what? Are you %$#^^)*& Me!!!! Vunderbar. Emails and face time cranked up- neighbor, Alex, friend, pool man, yard man, water meter reader, plumber and any other swinging &^$% that would take a look to figure it out...did get the water turned off to stop the bleeding- still have no clue of what leaked or is leaking? Open to any suggestions or ideas. There's something about when Boca and Bubba hit the road the water comes....who could make this up??
