Miltenberg & Wertheim

Sitting in yet another lock right now and going upwards. We have been through ten or twelve of these during the night, each one raising the water level 10 feet or so. Pretty good going for a boat 135 meters long.

Breakfast is over. So many lovely things to choose from. Arthur  had to stop at four courses today. Simply could not go on. Don't worry Matt and Andrew, I did not forget you. Couldn't resist taking a photo of my poached egg (yes - just the one)  to put here as soon as I have access to an upload equiped machine.

We have a glass blower giving a demonstration in the lounge in an hour or so. We think it's partly a sales pitch, or certainly and advertisement, as part of the 2nd of today's outings, visits his home town - Wertheim - where he has his business ...and is full of glass blowing things for sale. Apparently, Wertheim has quite a community of select glass artists.

A few hours have passed and so too have a number of German towns. The visit to Miltenberg was wondnerful. It is such a picturesque town. We tramped all over the place, took many pictures and finally ended up at the Christmas Market. Here, with Colleen and Tony in mind, we sampled the "Kinderpunch" it being the non-alcholic hot fruit punch common in many markets.The first one was simply a hot fruit cordial with spices included. It was such a success that we tried another, this time being told that it was a special grape juice blend. It was indeed delightful, being definitely real grape juice, hot and spicy. Just great for a winters day in this part of the world even though the sun was out and the day glorious. We also shared some "Reibekuchen mit Apfelmus" - a flat hot potato fritter thingy, served with a generous blob of apple puree. Quite delicious.

We explored alleyways, climbed stone stairways, meandered around many winding streets, and generally enjoyed the entire village. Loved the distinctive pink/red stone many of the buildings are constructed from... and finally made our winding way back down many steps to the centre of the village.

After a couple of hours it was back to the boat for lunch and cruising on to Wertheim. We did not take the off boat tour this time, choosing instead to stay aboard as the boat cruised a little further up the river. Marvellous sunny but cool afternoon with us tucked up inside the lounge occasionally toying with a drink or cookie or snack. All of this exhausting exercise was occasionally interrupted by having to raise the camera and take another picture.

All of which means that we are tired by now (about 6pm) and ready for dinner! This will be ready at 7pm so meanwhile it is time to add to the blog.