The Magical Adventures of Jennifer and Steve: Cruising the Rhine Valley – I Can See Your Dudelsach and Your Assmanhausen

A bit of a slow start this morning, no trip to the fitness centre. We docked in the town of Rudesheim, which made me think of the song Rudy Can’t Fail (this one is for you SO). We took a mini-train into town, which was really a tractor and wagons decorated like a train. The highlight of the town was Sigfried’s Music Museum, which we took a pass on. We heard from others that it wasn’t that great. We found another Christmas shop and picked up a few more gifts. We then took a cable car up to Niederwald which gave us great views of Rudesheim and the Rhine River. We headed back down to walk around the town. We walked along the famous street in Rudesheim called the Drosselgasse. It is very narrow and short, but has lots of restaurants and tourist traps. This town/area is known for its Rheingau Riesling wine, so we went on the hunt for some. This type of wine is not really to our tastes, but we found one that we liked. We opted to walk back from town instead of taking the mini-train. The weather was warm and sunny.

The afternoon itinerary included several hours cruising the Rhine Valley Gorge. This part of the Rhine has been designated by UNESCO as a world heritage site. The area has lots of castles, only seen from the Rhine as well as vineyards and wildlife preserves. One of the highlights is the Loreley. It is the narrowest part of the Rhine between Basel and Amsterdam, ~160m. Because it is narrow, the current is very fast and hard to navigate. The legend is that a lady, Loreley, sits on a rock calling to sailors, causing them to crash their ships. The weather in the afternoon started out sunny and warm, but turned cloudy as the afternoon went on. Regardless of the weather, the scenery was beautiful. We docked in the town of Boppard around 4:00pm and it was back to beautiful hot sunny weather.

Dinner tonight was a little special. Since we booked our trip through an American Express travel agency, we are part of the Mariners Club. As Mariner Club members (unbeknownst to us at the time of booking) we get a special bonus or thank you for booking through them. The first was cocktail reception tonight where we got to meet other Mariner Club members. There are ~12 on board the ship. We all ate dinner together tonight, but it was not a special menu, just the ‘standard’ one. We also get one of the optional excursions for free; that will take place in a few days.

Final notes on tonight’s dinner. It was good, but not as good as other nights. I went for the ‘Travelling Lite’ option as I’m starting to feel like a big fatty. Jennifer had pancakes with spinach and cheese (essentially thick crepes stuffed with spinach and cheese). The pancakes were dry and needed a sauce, she didn’t even finish one. I had fillet of sole with risotto (risotto is a light option?!?!), and it was good. No cream was added to make the risotto creamy. After dinner, we had classical music in the lounge by a trio that came on board to play for us.

Tomorrow, we are in Cochem (pronounced Co-Hem; like you are spitting up something) in the morning and a tour/wine tasting in the village of Ediger Eller in the afternoon. The Ediger Eller portion is led by the mayor of the town. I wonder if he knew that when he ran for election.