notamermaid

Yes, all good for now. Kaub level running a little below the forecast all day today. Is stable though. 124cm. We can anticipate it getting lower than 120cm. Slight risk it will scratch the 100cm mark on Monday. Should rise after that low point, i.e. which ever figure it will be on Monday. Have a great cruise. A double one. Great! Have you mentioned before how you will be getting from Basel to Budapest? I do not recall. notamermaid

I think snow is coming to the North of England, the forecast certainly said Scotland. We will see more snow Thursday to Sunday, depending on region. I did not know that existed, interesting. Have only ever made normal mince pies. I have tried filling that contained orange or cranberry from shops, but I have only bought standard ones this year. notamermaid

I have been out and about a bit but have not much time to take longer trips to Christmas markets that needed more than an hour's attention. So it has been smaller places so far. One afternoon was an unplanned stop at Andernach. But first, here is one of my standard German food traditions. I have mentioned the supermarket chains that stock regional stuff. From REWE I get just a few foods that are connected to Christmas. For a simple afternoon treat I get Lebkuchen that are from the organic range. A bit cheaper than the big brands, but the quality is nice enough: We have organic food shops but supermarkets have been selling organic food for many years. Standard word by which you can recognize the products and produce is "Bio" or the longer word "ökologisch". notamermaid

The river level has gone down as forecast. Kaub is currently at 135cm. It has been raining but most of the precipitation in the last 24 hours actually has come down as snow even in the valley! Kaub is forecast to fall to below 130cm tomorrow and continue to go down. It could get as low as 110cm. But long term modelling suggests we will most likely see a rise next week. A dusting of snow on my dustbins: Okay, a bit more than that perhaps but I wanted to get the pun in. (sorry!) notamermaid

Schneeeee!!!!! (excited notamermaid running through the flat smiling) It has been snowing. When I went to bed last night, the rain sounded different, kind of icy drops on leaves. When I got up the landscape was covered with a dusting of snow. Which means the snow had reached right into the valley where it was apparently cold enough. I mean 60 to 70 metres above sea level. Much of it is gone again around here in town already but I managed to take a couple of photos. Busy Friday and Saturday - still stepping in for a colleague. Unfortunate illnesses and even an accident have hit my department this winter. Catching up with stuff and Christmas preparations. My outside fairy lights chain has "disappeared", something I can only blame on myself or kobolds reorganizing my cellar (it is of course the former...). My neighbour, a young man, is still recovering from his terrible fall, he just fell over in the street, collapsed. I dare not ask what happened in detail, he looks miserable. It happened at the end of September. Shortly after that, another neighbour was found dead in her flat, she was not young but no very old either. A shock. The family thinks it was asthma. And my other neighbour who fell down the stairs (I had mentioned it in September) has recovered but cannot return to the flat. She has now officially moved into an old people's home. I miss my neighbour's cats who died in Spring. So before I make everyone else morose, I will say that the mince pies have arrived by post and yesterday I got my first "Gewürzkuchen" of the season, a chocolatey spice cake, at a village bakery. Now join in with Bing Crosby: "Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!" - Oh hang on it has snowed! notamermaid

At Dresden it is 104cm. High enough. On a downward trend. Summary for November coming up. notamermaid

In March/early April you get the effects of snow melt (it will start earlier than that) and potentially some heavy rain. It depends on the weather conditions in each individual year. It can lead to flooding but does not have to. Historical data from the "Undine" website points to high water issues rather that low water issues in that time frame. This is as much as I can say. Unfortunately, Viking does not appear to give away data easily as to how many sailings of theirs are affected each year. I have seen sporadic comments from Croisi Europe in articles. notamermaid

Let us have a quick look at Pfelling gauge. The water levels of the rivers are on the way down. Whereas the Rhine has got plenty of water to get through many days without rain, the Danube is a little more prone to problems - even this late in the year. It need not be the case always but this year in December we see it potentially going towards a brief low water situation. Now at 321cm, the trend is for 315cm to be reached by Tuesday. That is still 25cm above the critical level, so the level may well stay okay. Logically, much precipitation does not mean the level will rise accordingly. It is quite cold now and much rain can come down as snow in the South of Germany. Both rain and snow are forecast in varying, overall not huge, quantities in the German Danube basin for next week. I think Tuesday will give a clearer picture. Time to have a look back at how November went. notamermaid

A bit of insight into how CroisiEurope has been doing lately and what they expect and plan in 2023: https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/people-opinions/2022-promising-year-recovery-croisieurope-gm-christian-schmitter-says notamermaid

2024 sailings have gone on sale: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tourism/riviera-travel-releases-2024-european-river-cruises notamermaid

An article expanding a bit on the takeover and plans: https://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/New-river-line-plays-a-familiar-tune-with-former-Crystal-Mozart?ct=river and new from the UK with info on booking through travel agents: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/travel-agents/riverside-luxury-cruises-unveils-raft-of-booking-offers Certainly looks promising for the re-launch of the Mozart. notamermaid

I seem to remember the Interrail ticket contains a couple of ferry connections. But we are talking about two different things if I understand you correctly. Thank you for thinking of us. As I do not watch German television I had not heard before you mentioned it. It is a cold day today and there is a feeling of frost in the air and in the bones. Conditions will be icy overnight. The rain has stopped in the valleys so probably no snow in the West. The East of Germany has seen snow today. Next weekend is forecast to bring quite a bit of snow even to the valleys. notamermaid

The water levels along the Rhine are still pleasant, not too low or too high for river cruising. It has been raining but the trend at Kaub is for the level to go down. Currently at 154cm, the forecast suggests 140cm to 120cm as a high probability. But a figure of under 100cm is highly unlikely in the near future. notamermaid

Thank you very much for the kind words. Steamboats appears to be the local running around the markets the most , but I am happy to read AnhalterER1960's comments from the East as well, hoping he is enjoying the local markets. Our "man on the Elbe" is the source of info on that river. Additionally this year we know of a couple doing a Christmas market cruise on the Elbe, so if they have time I am sure they will be happy to post about their experience. Go here to that thread and perhaps ask them later in the year: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2827573-the-elbe-river-2022-not-just-water-levels/page/3/#comment-64333335 All in all, I would tend to go for the Rhine or Danube over the Elbe for a winter cruise. Ending in Budapest sounds great. I cannot say much about the Rhine or the Danube from my own experience of markets - I tend to go to ones that are off the beaten track of river cruising, but enjoy Koblenz every year for an hour or two - so will leave suggestions to others. If I had the choice, I personally would try and get something on the Main but I reckon the choice for you is limited. I tend to steer towards a five night cruise rather than longer and add a couple of days before and/or after the cruise to have a more intensive experience of a port/area. If there is a river cruise with Viking for the Moselle and Rhine during Advent in 2024 I would consider that as well if I were you. If you have a bit of time with booking, have a read in the roll calls for this running season, perhaps people will comment on which markets are visited late in the day. No point being there at 11am when the market opens and yes, as my fellow Germans have pointed out, the opening times are important to check with Sunday of the Dead being the day of closure and a kind of "hinging day", i.e. orientation for first day of opening. As regards age and tradition of markets and the ambience, yes that varies a lot. For big tradition Nuremberg is a must-see, for atmosphere perhaps Strasbourg is even better - feel free to disagree anyone. Alsace is certainly an area with long Christmas traditions, the first Christmas market was held there in 1570, and Sélestat is "home of the Christmas tree". Have fun planning. notamermaid

I guess that was Interrail. Still available: https://www.interrail.eu/en notamermaid

@worldtraveller99 River cruise nearly here, finally, a long wait for you. Have a great time. For those interested in a more religious context of Christmas lights, this is the Moravian star: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravian_star There used to be a stall on Koblenz Christmas market at Jesuitenplatz. The website says there is a stall again this year but it does not give the precise location: https://www.herrnhuter-sterne.de/de/Messen-Weihnachtsmaerkte.html It is a copyright protected product. notamermaid

A catch-22 situation if ever there was one. Or as we say "Da beißt sich die Katze in den Schwanz". There the cat bites itself in the tail. Okay, you lot got me, I have looked up the score, 1 all now. Onto Bill Nighy - "I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes". And then - my favourite swearing in a film. notamermaid

Thank you for sharing all the photos of the markets. I have managed to visit two so far. Info on Andernach market coming tomorrow or Tuesday. So you went to the open day in Basel. Will there be any info on cruisetricks.de or are you sharing info via your own internet presence? Perhaps you could put info in here? https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2890402-open-days-companies-show-you-their-river-cruise-ships-and-their-offers/#comment-64304474 Would like to read more on the ships now that they are on the German market. A pity that they are not international (bilingual with English). notamermaid

Thank you for saying hello, happy to read you enjoy the thread. Not wanting to sound overly nerdy but it is up the Moselle. A pity you could not sail the Rhine all the way to Basel. Will you be doing this stretch this year or is it just a short bit on the Rhine? The water levels look to be really pleasant well into December, a bit on the low side for barges put no problem for river cruise ships. The Main will be okay then as well, with all the locks. Have you had a look at the thread on the Main? Some good info but not about the markets in there. I had the idea to put all the Christmas markets enthusiasm into one special thread and I am happy to see that it has proved popular. Fun to see all the photos. If you would like to send us a message from the Main especially do say hello in that thread. I have read myself that some markets will turn off the lights earlier than usual but it should not be too noticeable, like you say. I am wondering really if castles and other sights will have the spotlights turned off. A tourist sight near me (not a castle) has them off. That would be a pity as that is something you would notice seeing that it is dark by quarter to five in the afternoon. Enjoy your cruise. notamermaid

Well I shall put a hand over my mouth or bite my tongue - you know I did not want to say anything. With our boys I secretly hope it was the bad sushi - or the lamb in spices was old mutton... Busy day at work yesterday, we are still one person short in the team and had one person ill, too. Christmas market visit did not go quite as planned but I had really nice apple cake this afternoon. Dinner and then I shall grab the "Love Actually" DVD. Early night tonight as I have a busy day tomorrow and give three cheers not to football but to the plumber after he has repaired my leaking boiler hopefully by tomorrow evening. notamermaid

So Germany is playing Spain today. Oh well, this year - how can I say this without saying anything - I am not interested. I have almost completely stopped watching German news, German television and hardly read the papers. My favourite Google searches include local history, Rhine, ship, cruise and - that's about it. Yesterday I talked to young people standing out in the cold, okay, protected by the wooden walls of a hut, from a Christian parish offering books and giving me an invitation to a free concert of Christmas music. Really refreshing and uplifting. Have a great first Sunday of Advent. 🕯️ notamermaid

Happy Thanksgiving to you over there. I have of course no connection to that holiday but guess what I got into the Christmas holiday spirit! After glum days, last night my mood changed because I saw the announcement on the internet that the "Love Actually" people are doing an interview special as a twenty years celebratory thing. I was a bit slow to catch the Christmas market and Advent spirit but last night a big smile was put onto my face. Wish I could watch it on ABC. Streaming on another channel is probably not available to me either. But I have the trailer that I can watch again and again. notamermaid

@ural guy where did you take the photo of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, in the convent? The Opera House looks grand, a pity I did not have time to go in when I was there. notamermaid

Never heard of one, but like in the UK we have "forbidden zones" in Germany for army training. Perhaps the area is hiding in plain sight, in a building with number 51 on the door... Question is where. I would go for Lüneburg Heath. Talking of weird places. Switzerland has roadside villas that can kill an army. Behind the facade there are bunkers with weaponry in them. Read up on the "Toblerone LIne". Defenses built during WWII. Mauthausen. A brutal thing. I have no intention of ever going there. A pity is the fact that I can never see the town as a tourism place. I never knew a town actually existed until some years ago, for me since school it had always been "Lager Mauthausen". notamermaid

I imagine us all meeting up one day on a river cruise. You at the bar, us with drinks getting all engrossed in a current affairs conversation. Suddenly there is this quiet voice in the background from the man with towel in hand and mixing the cocktails saying "guys..." I had a teacher at school being very insistent on us learning all the European countries and their capitals. Unfortunately, a few countries got "rearranged and created" so by the time I went on my river cruise I had no idea about Slovakia and Bratislava being on the Danube. Kind of weird how much has changed in Europe in thirty years. Alsace as a region probably being even more complicated. Fun fact: there is a hotel in France and Switzerland. In the Jura mountains, right on the official border, it runs through the hotel itself. It is in La Cure. notamermaid