Thursday 1st October Rhine Cruise Bonn

We depart Cochem at eight o’clock just as I go for breakfast. Today we are travelling from Cochem back up the Moselle to Koblenz and then returning to Bonn where we spend the night. The plan is to reach Bonn by 15:00 allowing an afternoon at leisure before our captains dinner tonight.
The cruise is lovely today with the sun coming out.
“Bing Bong! Coffee time”
“Bong Bing!” We all shout back after being instructed by Stephen earlier.
Tania then tells everybody about departure times, bill paying etc.
Just as we are having coffee Tania is back with another announcement informing us that we are approaching our second lock of the day but there is a red light stopping the ship due to a fault with the lock gates. We will have to wait for them to be repaired. This announcement was made before 11:00 and it is now 12:30 and we are still waiting! A pretty place to be stuck though! And it is still sunny.
We are soon on our way and through the lock by 13:00. The weather has turned a bit today and we experience our first rain of the holiday.
We cannot make any time up and do not arrive in Bonn until 18:00 which is a pain as we have to go and retrieve the coaches before dinner.
Phil and I go back to Univers Reisen to collect our coaches and Dave to the parking space near the railway station. We paid €64 to park the four nights which I am quite happy about and then drove back to the river to park for one last night.
We were late into dinner but being coach drivers are used to eating quickly and soon caught up with everyone else! The dessert tonight came out in a fanfare of sparklers hoisted aloft by the proud chefs. A nice way to end our dinner on the last night.
It is the captain's ball tonight! We don't really see the captain as he appears by the bar, sees his reserved table occupied by some of the passengers, and disappears!
Most of the waiting staff spend the evening at the bar having a drink and dancing to the music. They are mostly Slovakians and seem a very happy bunch. The highlight of the evening was Stephen taking to the microphone and involving evrybody in a rendition of "My Bonny Lives Over The Ocean!" Very funny and a great way to get everyone going.
It's a pity tonight wasn't last night as we can't have a drink and have to be up early tomorrow to fetch coaches and load luggage.

Wednesday 30th September Rhine Cruise Cochem

Up at 07:30 for breakfast feeling a bit better than yesterday morning. The ship departed Rudesheim at six o’clock this morning but I didn’t hear a thing.
Today we are sailing with the flow of the Rhine and travelling much faster than the last two days. We make our way back up to Koblenz and then join the Moselle towards Cochem, our home for the night.
There are three locks we have to navigate which will slow the journey down and we expect to arrive in Cochem at three o’clock. The locks are incredible and we must drop 30 feet each time we enter one.
The Moselle is not as wide as the Rhine and the scenery although similar to that of the Rhine seems much softer and gentler. You are much closer to the vineyards that cling to the hills and it is a wonder that they can grow with all of the rock. I wouldn’t want to be picking the grapes on some of these vineyards as they are so high and steep.
Dave makes lunch today!
This afternoon we are taking most of the passengers to the castle situated high above Cochem and spend the lunch hour taking numbers on who will walk and who will go by taxi.
Stephen is going with the people in the taxi as he needs to be at the castle first to organise the tickets and tours. Phil and myself will walk up with the others.
The boat is late and seems to take an age to dock but we are in no rush and soon the two groups have sorted themselves out and we are on our way.
The ship has docked on the opposite side of the river to the town so we have to walk across the road bridge, along the promenade and then up the steep road to the castle. And it is steep. My poor little legs! I asked the lady driving one of the taxi’s for the best way to walk to the castle and she showed me saying it will take half an hour.
We manage it in about twenty minutes and arrive at the same time as the first taxi! It made me sweat a bit but I enjoyed the chance to really stretch my legs and have a decent walk. It is worth coming up for the views alone, they are fantastic.
We are split into two groups and Stephen takes his on the first tour while we wait for the second guide.
Our guide appears and introduces himself as Comi but as one of the passengers remarks he looks a whole lot like Lenny Henry! He is very jovial and obviously proud to be showing us around the castle. In one of the rooms he cracks a joke about opening a door which is bricked up behind, warning beforehand for people to have their cameras ready. It is funny but Comi can’t stop giggling at his joke.
I wasn’t too impressed with the castle as it is not that old and all of the furnishings, paintings and fittings are additions that make it feel more like a museum than a castle. The outside is very impressive though and as I said earlier the views are magnificent. The tour last just under an hour and Comi provides a very interesting and light hearted tour.
The walk down to the town is a lot quicker than the walk up and I had forgotten how attractive Cochem is.
Dave makes and eats dinner tonight!
After dinner the four of us walk into town for a beer and hopefully to see some football as Chelsea are playing in the Champions League against a Cypriot team tonight.
We find a bar with the football on but not the Chelsea game. It is a Sky Sports channel in German showing Bayern Munich versus Juventus. All of a sudden the game switches for a few minutes to another game and then to another so I manage to catch a few minutes of Chelsea’s game amongst all of the other matches. Chelsea win 1-0 so I’m happy.
There are a couple of English lads in the bar who are a right couple of chancers. They spend a while boring us with their tales of earning 150-200 Euros a day laying tarmac and driving a lorry and of being put in prison for five days while being completely innocent! Luckily they move on, charm and all, to two unfortunate German girls!
Back at the boat we have a couple of drinks at the bar before being told the bar is now shut as it is past midnight. We have a Swiss boat moored alongside and I wander in there to ask if there abr is open but am told it is both closed and only open to the ship’s passengers. I don’t think they were to impressed.
Then Atilla, one of the waiters, came back in from an evening out and found a couple of bottles of Leffe beer which we took up to the sun deck to enjoy. Mind you I don’t know if enjoy is the correct word as they are a very strong 6.6 per cent!

Tuesday 29th September Rhine Cruise Rudesheim

Wake up at nine o’clock feeling like I didn’t get to bed until three o’clock!
I miss breakfast so go to the bar at half nine for a coffee only to be told I will have to wait until ten for the bar to open. I feel better than I probably deserve to but am in need of a coffee so the half hour to ten is a bit of a drag.
As I was dressing I heard Stephen wish everybody a good morning over the tannoy system and inquire as to where the drivers are! Our secret is out!
“Bing Bong! Coffee is served in the lounge”
Just what I want to hear as I enjoy a second coffee of the morning.
I spend the rest of the morning reading Sunday’s papers in my cabin.
We arrive in Rudesheim soon after midday allowing the afternoon at leisure or maybe go wine tasting!
“Bing Bong! Lunch is served”
No Dave! I saw him earlier and he didn’t look too good. I think he has the wine flu!
After lunch 22 of my group and 4 of Phil’s group take the little tourist train to go wine tasting. The group from Lucketts are doing a similar thing but to a different winery.
Our little train weaves its way through the narrow streets of the town to the wine tasting of Adolf Storzel.
We are all given a glass of wine as we enter and take our seats in the lovely little room decorated with old photographs and bottles of wine.
“Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, my name is Adolf, you may have heard that name before!”
“I was a lieutenant the other one was only a bloody corporal!”
“Does anybody have any questions?” is followed by silence, “We have ways of making you talk!”
All this delivered with a strong German accent and a smile, as well as telling us the process of the wine making from grape to shop. A very good way to spend a couple of hours.
The rest of the afternoon is free so I have a walk around the town and then go back to the boat for a siesta. There is a rumour going around that Dave is up and about!
“Bing Bong! Dinner is served”
Dave appears not looking much better than earlier. He has had a rough day and doesn’t eat much dinner. Phil and I don’t mind as we share his schnitzel!
No wine festivals this evening!

Monday 28th September Rhine Cruise Boppard

Wake up at eight having had a decent sleep and feeling good. I am sat at breakfast with Dave, Phil and Stephen who is the guide on Dave’s coach. Breakfast is a buffet with plenty of choice and very enjoyable.
The weather isn’t too bad this morning with sun threatening to come out and when it does it is very warm. I spend most of the morning on deck with a lot of the passengers. It is the most relaxing feeling sailing down the river and exactly what I need at the moment.
The ship doesn’t do a running commentary preferring to sell guide books/maps allowing people to follow the river themselves. Stephen offers to give a commentary and does a very good job. He has the ideal voice for a microphone.
Tania is the receptionist/purser who speaks very good English and makes all of the announcements on the microphone.
“Bing Bong! Morning, coffee is served”
At half past ten coffee is served in the lounge and on the sun deck and at half past twelve lunch is served!
There is a notice board in the reception area that gives the menus for the day as well as any information we may need. All this coupled with Tania’s announcements and Stephens commentary is making my job even easier!
What I am enjoying is the difference between seeing the Rhine and its villages by road and by boat. I have driven this part of the Rhine many times but this feels like a new adventure.
We are due to dock in Boppard at three o’clock but are running late due to having to slow down because of the low water and arrive at four o’clock.
The rest of the day is free in Boppard but we have offered either the chance to go on a railway up the Hunsruck Mountain or take the chairlift to the top of the mountain/hill overlooking Boppard and the Rhine. We have eighteen people wanting to go on the train and four on the chairlift. The rest of the group will do their own thing in Boppard.
I walk the four to the chairlift and then arrange to meet the other boys at the railway station by 17:10. All in all there are 81 people going on the train and Stephen has all the tickets! We wave them off and then decide to have a beer by the river. I don’t know what they will see as I can’t see in the dirty windows so I presume they won’t see much out of the windows!
Dinner is once again at seven, “Bing Bong!”, and afterwards the four of us decide to walk into town as there is a wine festival on. It is quite amazing that the streets surrounding the square where the festival is on are quiet giving no indication of the festivities going on close by. As soon as you walk into the square you realise why the streets were quiet, everybody is in the square that is surrounded by stalls selling all of the different wines of the region and a large stage is at one end with the local orchestra playing. What a lovely atmosphere.
We are soon perched against a high table with a small glass of wine in front of us enjoying the music. We finish our drinks and leave the empty glasses on the table as another round of drinks are bought. Dave then collects the empty glasses and goes off to buy a round that has cost very little because you receive a Euro back on each empty glass! Very clever and funny especially as some other people had just left their empty glasses on our table! The beginning of a long night! And Dave doesn’t even like wine!
Stephen receives a bit of stick from Dave for drinking water at a wine festival and is soon back on the rose!
The orchestra are very good playing a lot of modern music that we all recognise and a few people are having a little dance. Not us mind! We may be having a jolly up but we are not that jolly yet!
I lose all track of time as Stephen goes back to the hotel and we move on to another bar in the square that we are attracted to by a group of Irish folk with a guitar. Soon we are sat with them as they sing their songs. I asked if somebody could sing the fields of Athenry as I like the song and one of the ladies duly obliged. I would like to tell you everything that happened but it is all a bit of a blur and I don’t really remember too much!
It was so nice to be able to go out without the worry of having to drive the next morning and I think we all filled our boots because of this! Stephen arrived back at the ship only to be locked out and had to clamber over to the other side for an open door. The night porter looked shocked as he told Stephen that he thought everyone was in bed only to be told there were three more still to come so he left the door unlocked.
Just for the record Stephen arrived back at the ship at 01:30 and the three musketeers arrived back at 03:00!!