We spent the entire day slowly cruising on Germany’s Main (pronounced Mine) River with no onshore excursions. The ship passed through many locks, often dropping us down by only a couple of metres each time. It was a warm, sunny day, probably mid-20s, and the skies were blue.
We travelled through some really picturesque countryside. Many of the hills had been cleared and planted with grapevines. We’ve been told the pickers attach themselves to ropes in order to manage on the steep slopes, and toss the grapes over their shoulders into buckets as they detach them from the vines. Where there were no vines, the natural forest remained.
At intervals on both river banks, were small towns and villages. People stood and waved as we passed them. A number of riverside caravan and camping grounds appeared to be at capacity on this Easter long weekend. We passed people fishing, cycling, boating, skiing, walking and hang gliding.
For much of the day, a large number of the boat’s passengers found a seat on the forward sun deck and just enjoyed a day of leisure watching it all pass slowly by. A couple of times, very low bridges brought warnings from the captain that no one was to stand until we had safely passed underneath.
It was a relaxing change from the busy activity of other days on the cruise, but soon we’ll reach Rudesheim and the excursions will start up again.
On The Road With Garry 