notamermaid

Oh my, drisro1, we had the same thoughts, thanks for your post, beat me by two minutes . notamermaid

The Amadeus Silver III has just gone past Deggendorf towards Straubing, that means she will be passing Pfelling soon. I think she is attempting the passage, all her 135m . The Geoffrey Chaucer (135m) is on her way to Deggendorf and the Esprit (110m) is following her. See them on the map screenshot from top to bottom (green arrows): Exciting! Who will be where tomorrow? You can try to see on: https://www.vesselfinder.com/ Pfatter looks to have peaked, Pfelling is at 286cm and may level off soon. notamermaid

Nearest port is Düsseldorf. Checked it now. I binge watched Tim's videos last year. Helped to keep me sane, I love unusual places - and trains! Enjoyed riding the Schwebebahn many years ago. So unusual. Guess where Tim went a year later? That's right to another one. Another one? Correct. There is a second one nearby and - if you want to know more watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeYTtlXywUI A bit of nerdy technical and physics stuff thrown in as well. All the best for fast recovery. notamermaid

I am a bit harsh with Scenic I know. Depending on the logistical problems the Jade and Pearl may face in the Middle Rhine valley it makes sense for the company to send one or both ships on the a Tulip Time style cruise for sure. There they know how to operate a cruise without major hiccups. Still, it would be nice to see a company try Germany. There are several ports beyond Cologne: Zons as an alternative to a Cologne docking location, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Xanten, Wesel. It is possible, Viking has established a lower Rhine itinerary that includes Wesel. But if you have not explored the ports (docks) and the towns before getting such an alternative itinerary together may not be possible at short notice. For info: in 2018, when the river was low Crystal cruises went for a different option. Rather than cancelling the cruise, shortening it or rerouting through the Netherlands, they rerouted onto the Moselle at Koblenz. Granted, if several companies did that, the Moselle would not be able to handle it, i.e. the logistics at some of the ports are difficult if the frequency of ships goes up a lot. @loriva as I say it sounds to me like a typical Spring cruise itinerary but it would be good to hear more. Hopefully, wellerjohn has a couple of spare minutes that they are happy to share with us. Rain forecast for Friday. notamermaid

Correct! I was pleased to see that earlier today. The river still manages to surprise me around Pfelling, I expected no more than 260cm. There is the possibility that the several locks and dams further upstream play a part in this kind of rise, i.e. they let more water through rather retaining it to keep those stretches more navigable. Whatever the combination of dam and rain may be, it looks good 🙂. Question is: may a large ship ride on this wave and get through the low stretch? And of course when will Pfelling peak? It looks as if the crest of the wave is now just a little further upstream at Pflatter so I do not expect the good-ish figures to last. Just a small request: should I be absent from this thread for a bit and you, drisro1 or the others using a gauge website, feel like bringing good (or bad) news from Pfelling gauge etc. please go ahead. Good for me to have a "Verschnaufpause"*. 🙂 The heat is getting to me. *A nice little German word to say you need to pause an activity to catch your breath. notamermaid

At Kaub we had a temporary reaction to rain it seems. The level has fallen again to 70cm and the little peak is going past Bonn and Cologne during today. I say that ships can sail in the Lower Rhine valley but it is getting tighter between Koblenz and Cologne. With limited time I will need to come back to this another day. We need water from Lake Constance and the Aare in Switzerland! notamermaid

What?? Has the Pearl developed a draft of 2.20m? Sorry, but I do not understand this. No problem getting at least to Xanten right now. But the Waal and Nederrijn (which are the Rhine waters anyway) are interesting as well and the Dutch have some good ports to explore. Hope you have a great time with good food and lovely fellow passengers. notamermaid

The Wuppertal Schwebebahn! Amazing place. Here is a fun video to cheer you up. Find the place at Wuppertal which is off the East of the Rhine in North Rhine Westphalia. Nearest port may be Duisburg. Or Düsseldorf. notamermaid

The Inspire- really nice. Good luck and have a splendid time. notamermaid

I am afraid it is not. A difficult question and without an atlas or checking several websites not so easy to find I reckon. The river is the Aare, the second longest river in Switzerland after the Rhine. As it carries the most volume it is very important for the river levels. In fact, at its mouth it has a higher volume of water than the Rhine itself, which in hydrology terms makes the Rhine a tributary to the Aare! To put this into context of where we are as regards weather and low water levels I will talk about this a bit more, probably tomorrow. During this geography lesson the river has actually risen. At Kaub, after a peak at 77cm, the gauge now shows 75cm. Edit: well done, DougK. You posted while I was typing the answer, so you solved it. notamermaid

I am afraid it is not. A clue: the river has its source in Switzerland. notamermaid

I have had a look at the docking situation in Passau. The town is really busy. Ships - this afternoon the Viking Ingvi - also dock in the district of Lindau. For convenience for sightseeing In Passau a shuttle is certainly a good idea: notamermaid

I see on the map that rain was forecast for Munich during today, but more was due to fall further up the Isar and along the border with Austria. That looks pretty useless to me and Pfelling has shown no signs of reacting with a discernible upward trend to any rain. For now, I will concentrate a little on the Rhine where - let us say - the situation is a bit more undecided as regards sailing. The Danube in Bavaria is pretty clearly beyond all of that* this week. In this heat with nature all dry getting 30cm into the gauge at Pfelling is quite a task. And as you hint at this is not something we would want the rivers to accomplish in a day. notamermaid *good sailing for 135m ships

That is not a bad guess. But it is another river further South that I am looking for and there is no letter m in the name. notamermaid

Right, geography lesson. ("Nooo!" - "Yesss!) Who can tell me which river contributes the highest volume of water to the Rhine? This is an advanced class, so no multiple choice. notamermaid

No, not really. I understood it to mean that either the river had been kept artificially high, i.e. they retained less water and are now refilling the reservoir, meaning they are finished, or they will be doing some work on and off. AnhalterER1960 is closer to the area and the more technical mind, so I hope he will read my post in the near future. notamermaid

Trier - such an interesting city (I know I have mentioned this before ) but we can have a look at it again. This time, from a Letzebuergesch angle. The Luxembourg people when they have the weekend off, what day trips could they do? Naturally, Trier being so close it may be a good choice. The town in Germany is one of several suggestions that come from a Luxembourg newspaper. This is the article and I fully admit it contains some details I never knew about Trier: https://www.luxtimes.lu/en/travel/day-trip-trier-62834554de135b923673a320 The sooner I get to Trier the better, remember they have the huge exhibition on the end of the Roman empire this Summer (read a few posts back). notamermaid

So, what struck me as unusual is indeed unusual and some people have had a hand in it. I will explain. But first, the Elbe at Dresden. The level has steadily fallen and now correlates with the other rivers again. 65cm is really low: According to the BAfG, what happened at the Elbe was not all nature's doing. Here is the explanation for @AnhaltER1960 . Quote: "Aus technischen Gründen (Talsperren-Bauarbeiten) unterliegt die Wasserführung der Elbe derzeit stärkerer anthropogener Veränderung und entspricht weniger den na- türlichen Abflussbildungsprozessen." This basically means that "anthropos", here male and possibly a few female engineers and workmen, have been fiddling with levers, bolts, steel and concrete in the Czech Republic at the reservoir and altered the volume of water the river sends to Germany. notamermaid

According to local newspapers there was an explosion in the engine room and a fire broke out. Several people have inhaled the smoke. For more details please read (and translate): https://www.parool.nl/amsterdam/explosie-op-cruiseschip-naast-centraal-station~b38c2497/ https://www.ad.nl/amsterdam/explosie-op-cruiseschip-naast-centraal-station~a38c2497/ notamermaid

Okay, that rules me out as an influencer. I am uninteresting, not going to tell anyone about my latest pair of shoes . I will leave that to the young blonde river maidens. So good to get a letter from Scenic. What a nightmare to have all screens going blank. And I am well aware of staff shortages still going on everywhere. Have had to deal with the fallout of that and covid sick colleagues recently myself. Hope things further progress for the better for the company. notamermaid

Sorry to read that. Best wishes for a quick recovery. notamermaid

The rain sweeping over Germany yesterday mainly came down beyond the Rhine valley, meaning the biggest amount will go beyond the watershed, feeding the Danube and its tributaries. But some of it hit the area around Lake Constance, so this should add to the Rhine's drainage basin. Will see how it goes. For now, no real change at Kaub: 70cm. Forecast suggests little change for today and tomorrow. notamermaid

Congratulations! Starting in Paris, city of love? I actually I prefer this Viking itinerary over the one from Amsterdam to Basel. Okay, you do not get to put a love lock on Cologne Hohenzollern Bridge, but the Moselle has lovely romantic spots. Hope you get some impressive sunsets. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

Thanks for the rain dances and rain making implements and the dousing idea. I think we will have to use the beer garden method* as well. Pfelling gauge has dropped to 239cm but it has been even lower this morning so perhaps we will see an effect from rain later in the day. *beer is too valuable to pour into the Danube directly so drink lots of it in beer gardens lined along the river... notamermaid

Yes and no. You can do long training or short seminars, have a certificate or no certificate. It depends on who employs you and how outwardly good you want to present yourself (badges, certificate). You can join the association but for the more sporadically working guides this is difficult because the association wants you to do a certain amount of tours in a certain time frame. In Germany that is. Many German and European cities only allow their own guides, so you may have your guide travelling with you but he or she will then say in city X "your guide Y will show you around". Sticking to my own river, I could do some training and negotiating. For other areas, yes, not much of an option. But I could join a group of passengers... Would love to try out Scenic - alas - above my budget. That is why I jumped on the idea of free food and lodgings for writing and blogging. 😁 You are right, influencers just write. Never want to be that. Still, I tell you how lovely the Rhine is. I guess that makes me influence all of you! notamermaid