It a short blog tonight because we didn’t have that far to go overnight, but the locks do slow things down. Sometimes we had to wait for another ship or barge coming the other way to clear before we could go in. Most of the locks so far have been 2 or 3 metres, so it doesn’t take that long to get through, maybe 30 minutes or so.
We were sailing all morning, reaching Miltenberg around 1 PM , so we left the boat after lunch to meet up with a guided tour of Miltenberg. Since the Main river is relatively close to the town and it has mountains behind it, only a narrow strip of usable land is left for the town. In past centuries, Miltenberg has been flooded regularly. The historic centre, has often sustained considerable damage in these floods. Only in the 21st century efficient measures, including a flood wall, have significantly reduced the effects of these floods. The old town dates back to the early 1600s. Here’s some of the older buildings.
MIltenberg derived much of it’s wealth from Red Sandstone, which can be seen in many builings throughout Germany, but was also used in the construction of the Kremlin in Moscow. Red Sandstone has a tendency to absorb water, which makes it quite volatile in fires and it is susceptible to breaking down when there is too much salt around, like when the paths are salted after a snowfall.
Once our tour was over, we headed back to the ship to resume our journey down the Main River. It was different to the highly scenic trek through the Rhine Gorge yesterday, such that I didn’t feel the need to take photos at every turn, but it was relaxing watching the world go by. The eating never stops on this cruise, so soon enough we were eating dinner again.
Tonight was a big event, with it being ‘Name that Tune’ music trivia night. We again won the quiz night with a score of 36 / 40. There will be another quiz night and we will look to win the triple crown!
Until tomorrow!
Rob's "Beats Working" Blog 