Rhine water levels 2016 and similar topics

[notamermaid]

M&Rsquared,

 

that is a pity about the castle. I wonder if it might be better if Viking altered the trip to leave out the wine tasting and add the castle instead. After all, you can just go into a shop in Beilstein and buy some wine... It sounds a bit much and not having the opportunity to go into a castle right where you are could be a potential disappointment.

 

If you are going on this optional I would be happy to hear your comments about it.

 

notamermaid

[foyboy]

I am traveling with a group leaving Amsterdam this Sunday on Viking and ending in Basel the following Sunday. Does it look like we will have any problems with the river level?

[notamermaid]

Hello foyboy,

 

I have not mentioned the river levels in my last post as there is actually hardly anything to report. The levels are falling everywhere in France and Germany, the tributaries are not feeding the Rhine much. Lake Constance is still high-ish, so is Maxau but it looks promising for lower levels there as well. There is no shipping ban and there is likely to be none in the foreseeable future. By the time you reach the Upper Rhine you are likely to encounter hardly any problems, unless there is a low bridge or a localized incident.

 

Today is a warm, slightly cloudy, pleasant day in the Middle Rhine Valley.

 

notamermaid

[dabear]

Hello foyboy,

 

I have not mentioned the river levels in my last post as there is actually hardly anything to report. The levels are falling everywhere in France and Germany, the tributaries are not feeding the Rhine much. Lake Constance is still high-ish, so is Maxau but it looks promising for lower levels there as well. There is no shipping ban and there is likely to be none in the foreseeable future. By the time you reach the Upper Rhine you are likely to encounter hardly any problems, unless there is a low bridge or a localized incident.

 

Today is a warm, slightly cloudy, pleasant day in the Middle Rhine Valley.

 

notamermaid

 

Can you give us a report on the water levels on the Danube from Nurenberg to Budapest?

[M&Rsquared]

M&Rsquared,

 

that is a pity about the castle. I wonder if it might be better if Viking altered the trip to leave out the wine tasting and add the castle instead. After all, you can just go into a shop in Beilstein and buy some wine... It sounds a bit much and not having the opportunity to go into a castle right where you are could be a potential disappointment.

 

If you are going on this optional I would be happy to hear your comments about it.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Hi!

I'm not to crazy about the wine tasting so the castle tour would be nice. Rick Steves' who stars in PBS "Rick Steves' Europe" suggests trying Roter-Weinbergs-Pfirsich Likör — a cordial made from the small, tart "red peaches" unique to the Mosel Valley. Link:

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/slowing-down-in-mosel-valley

 

I will let you know "my opinion" if I take this trip.

[tsavorite]

Although Cochem castle looks splendid from the town, it is a 19th century pastiche/rebuild. There are only a few layers of stonework that are genuinely medieval. Views from the castle are wonderful however.

[CPT Trips]

And it is also interesting inside. Our guide provided interesting commentary on what it was and how it became what it is. And our PD told us how to get the photo of the witch flying over the castle.

[notamermaid]

Can you give us a report on the water levels on the Danube from Nurenberg to Budapest?

 

Hello,

 

I am afraid not. I am too far away to give you details but the official website looks promisingly low. There has been no report of any flooding in the main news so I would say things are looking o.k.. But I cannot say for sure.

 

notamermaid

[notamermaid]

Quote from M&Rsquared about the Viking optional tour along the Moselle: "Hi!

I'm not to crazy about the wine tasting so the castle tour would be nice. Rick Steves' who stars in PBS "Rick Steves' Europe" suggests trying Roter-Weinbergs-Pfirsich Likör — a cordial made from the small, tart "red peaches" unique to the Mosel Valley. Link:

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-rea...n-mosel-valley

 

I will let you know "my opinion" if I take this trip."

 

The link does not work with me. But I have found a youtube video that I will post in the Moselle thread, along with some info on the "Roter Weinbergspfirsichlikör". Nice long-ish German word. :rolleyes:

 

notamermaid

[Orlandocruiser]

I am traveling with a group leaving Amsterdam this Sunday on Viking and ending in Basel the following Sunday. Does it look like we will have any problems with the river level?

 

We have just finished today our Amsterdam to Basel on the Viking Eir. The river levels were quite high but we had no problems with bridges. We did have problems after Kehl/Strasbourg with access to the locks due to the commercial traffic. ( The river had been closed earlier in the week so there were a lot commercial vessels needing to get through the locks and they have priority ). In fact we sailed from Kehl as scheduled but sometime during the night the captain was required to return to Kehl because there were too many ships waiting to go through the locks. It disrupted our schedule for Breisach but the captain was allowed to "pull over" at another spot where the buses could pick us up to continue some of our scheduled excursions.

[notamermaid]

Hello Orlandocruiser,

 

thank your for your report. I hope you had a great time on the Viking Eir. The backlog from such a river closure, when many barges want to get through the locks, can really take days to be cleared.

 

notamermaid

[Spartantartan]

We are at the end of our journey down the Rhine on the Avalon Felicity and are docked in Amsterdam. The river is still very high with lots of flooding along the banks, but we had no problems with bridges once we started in Strasbourg. Hopefully, those of you going later this summer will have no problems. Happy sailing!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[bogeyshooter]

Just got back from Basel to Amsterdam on Viking Eistla. We had to be bussed to Mannheim from Basel because of river levels and traffic. We had no problems heading north from there. The Rhine was clearly high with many trees on the river banks under water.

[Viking Cruises]

Dear bogeyshooter,

 

Welcome home! We hope that you and your wife enjoyed your overall experience with us.

 

While it is wonderful to hear that the high river conditions only impacted a small portion of your itinerary, we do apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

 

Should you wish to share your feedback about the cruise, complimentary or constructive, we would be happy to hear from you at TellUs@vikingcruises.com.

 

bogeyshooter, we appreciate the opportunity to respond and look forward to welcoming you aboard again on another river!

 

Best regards,

Viking Cruises

 

Just got back from Basel to Amsterdam on Viking Eistla. We had to be bussed to Mannheim from Basel because of river levels and traffic. We had no problems heading north from there. The Rhine was clearly high with many trees on the river banks under water.

[notamermaid]

Hello Spartantartan and bogeyshooter,

 

Thank you for your messages. The river level is still falling. Maxau is still high-ish but the amount of rain that is currently falling in the region is not of great significance for the Rhine river.

 

notamermaid

[notamermaid]

Ever wondered why you have brushed up on your German thinking you are ready to face every situation you might come across on your river cruise only to find out that you hardly understand a word when you are actually in Cologne or Koblenz or Rüdesheim, etc?

 

While this is a somewhat unlikely scenario - if it does happen to you you might have come across a native (or near native) German who has not been willing to adapt his language and speaks in dialect - or regiolect - to you. Well, you might have guessed that. :D

 

Do not worry, most people are happy to speak more slowly for you, speak High German to their best ability and very often even be happy to speak English - even when you prefer to practise your German ;).

 

This dialect business is a tricky one - on a typical Rhine cruise from Basel to Amsterdam you will encounter several languages and hear dialect words or even whole conversations you might not understand a single word of. If I was suddenly planted into the Upper Rhine valley close to Alsace I would be confused enough to understand hardly any of it. :D From Swiss German in Switzerland and Alsatian in Alsace to Kölsch in Cologne and Dutch in the Netherlands you will encounter different varieties of the Germanic language family (Alsatian local varieties have French dialect words as well).

 

Many, many people do not speak pure high German in everyday life. I found this out when I talked to someone in a small town past Speyer. The lady immediately put me in the Rhine region near Koblenz. With a bit of an ear for this and travel experience you can simple tell... But I was a bit shocked to find out that my way of speaking clearly pointed me to the area I was born in. It is was is called a regiolect - a way an area speaks on a daily basis. It can be understood by outsiders to a great degree.

 

Dialect is a more localized thing and is more distinct from high German.

 

Kölsch is such a dialect. Not just something you can drink. :D

 

Real Kölsch is not so easy to understand. I can only understand words and short sentences. Perhaps half of a conversation, on a good day.

 

The line in the title is Kölsch and reads in High German: Amerikaner und Engländer auf dem Rhein. Americans and Englishmen on the Rhine (literally on the river - in a boat). I admit I do not know what the question mark stands for - it could be a schwa (the upturned "e" that you will see later) or an omitting sign for the "e".

 

The annoying thing about dialects is - you are not allowed to write them and use such words in school text writing. The more you grew up with your dialect as a child the harder it is to not use it. Your dialect is closer to your heart - especially where emotions are involved they can be more expressive that High German. Annoyance triggers a greater use of it with me. ;) . A "nein" ("no") becomes a "nee" which when moving into the homorous-sarcastic becomes a "ₔ ₔ".

 

But vice versa I do have problems when I travel to that island in the North Sea. While I have no problems in Kent, I went to the North of England a couple of years ago and after a strenuous car drive asked for further directions. I nodded politely to the young lady but later admitted to my fellow passengers that I had barely understood a word. :o

 

For anyone with a greater interest in "Kölsch" have a look at the wikipedia site: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colognian_dialect

 

notamermaid

Edited July 4, 2016 by notamermaid

[notamermaid]

Hello,

 

true to the saying "no news is good news" I have not fed this thread for almost a week. There is not anything of great significance for river cruisers to report. The weather is lovely, today it is going to be around 30 degrees where I live and up to 33 degrees in the warmest areas in the Upper Rhine valley. Thunderstorms are likely to follow during the night, that is the only drawback. Temperatures will fall to a moderate 24 to 26 degrees tomorrow (varying a bit whether you live in the valleys or in the hills).

 

The water level is excellent for sailing for most of the Rhine, meaning my rough estimate is for plain sailing throughout July. Hope I am right. The water is neither high nor low so that will give some room for rain and assure there is enough water to last the river and ships into August and - hopefully - September. Fingers crossed.

 

Here are some statistics.

 

The Rhine is 1238 kms long, making it the seventh longest river in Europe. The Volga is the longest. The Rhine flows through the four countries Switzerland, France, Germany and the Netherlands. It carries water not only from those countries but also from Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Belgium coming from its tributaries and watershed system. The largest tributary is the Maas (Meuse). The river kilometre signs I have mentioned before line the banks of the Rhine, but you will not see a number beyond 1000, as the counting only starts in Konstanz with zero and ends in Rotterdam with 1000. The Rhine's source is at 2340m height in the mountains and flows into the North Sea at Rotterdam in a large delta at, well, zero, or sea level.

 

The highest water level at Düsseldorf, recorded since 1880, was at 11.10m on 2 January 1926. Currently the water level is at 3.28m. It has been as low as 40cms.

 

Happy sailing everyone.

 

notamermaid

[Mrs Clooney]

thank you for your info on river levels , I've been nervous about how our UNIWORLD trip starting 27th July will go. I have confidence that it will be smooth sailing after reading your post. ( now just worried about landing in Istanbul in August).

Anyway. Thanks again. 😀

[Bon Temps Roulez]

Great to hear regarding Rhine levels. Had cancelled Istanbul to Athens and rebooked for Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel so happy that this is working out.:)

[notamermaid]

While there has been heavy rain in the last 36 hours (on and off) and the level of the Danube is rising at Passau to "low problem level" the Rhine is mostly fine. There is a bit of flooding upstream of Basel, so not sure if everything might be working out in the harbour there. Maxau in the Upper Rhine valley has risen to slow traffic status, but there is no shipping ban on any river stretch.

 

There will be some rain in the next 48 hours, but it should not add much to the river level.

 

It is cooler now after all that rain but the sun is shining. It is currently between 18 und 20 degrees in the valley.

 

Forecast is for temperatures rising again tomorrow and the day after.

 

notamermaid

Edited July 14, 2016 by notamermaid

[notamermaid]

While the white asparagus season is over one can still get some nice strawberries from local growers in the Rhine valley. A place around Koblenz that most people who are into locally sourced food know is the island Niederwerth. Niederwerth is about 3kms downstream from Koblenz and is the only independent, i.e. it is its own, municipality on a river island in Germany. To Niederwerth belongs Graswerth, that is the island next to it. That one is uninhabited and a nature reserve. Part of the Rhine also belongs to Niederwerth! A lot of the ground on Niederwerth is dedicated to agriculture, especially white asparagus and strawberries. In fact, you will find market display signs saying not the ubiquitous "local asparagus" but asparagus from Niederwerth.

 

Niederwerth has its claim to fame in history, too. In 1338, amids the Hundred Years' War, King Edward III was on his way to Koblenz to a political meeting and stayed at the hunting lodge of the Archduke of Trier on Niederwerth as his guest.

 

On a river cruise the island is a little awkward to make out among the trees lining its bank facing the main navigation channel. The village is situated on the embankment side of the island. When you are sailing under the motorway bridge downstream from Koblenz you unfortunately have missed the island.

 

Another inhabited island in the Rhine is Nonnenwerth, so named for the nunnery that is still on the island. But the island is part of another village in administrative terms. The nunnery has a private secondary school (from age ten that is). The children can only get by ferry to the school. I would have liked to say "I sail to school every morning" :cool: instead of mundanely walking through town to mine.

 

Nonnenwerth, strangely, is mentioned due to the British tourists becoming a good opportunity for mockery - for their habits and numbers on the Rhine in the 19th century - in the satirical novel Vanity Fair by W.M. Thackeray.

 

Nonnenwerth is close to Rolandseck, seven and a half kilometres downstream from Remagen bridge.

 

Notice that all three islands end in the word -werth. It is the specific word we use in German for river islands. There are many more with the same ending or similar, also on other rivers. Sometimes you hear the variety -wörth.

 

That is enough Rhine odd trivia for today. :D

 

More importantly, after quite a bit of rain in the last two days the sun is shining, it is a little cloudy, though, and the temperatures are mild not too hot, ideal for exploring.

 

notamermaid

Edited July 15, 2016 by notamermaid
Correction

[notamermaid]

If you are on your Rhine cruise you will already now or have been advised about the hot weather we are currently having in Europe. It is now already 26 degrees in my living room (12 noon) and rising. I have no air conditioning. But who am I to complain, it is going to be around 40 in parts of Southern Europe and London will be sizzling in an unsual 33 degrees today.

 

Temperatures in the South of the Rhine valley will rise to 36 degrees in parts. Tomorrow is going to be hot again. Thunderstorms and rain will follow the hot spell and bring the temperatures down to more moderate levels.

 

The river level is fine for sailing.

 

If you happen to be docking in Mainz in the next few weeks and this is your field of interest you could head to a "big dig". In these old towns when you start digging "you either find a Roman or a WWII bomb" ;) This time it happened to - funnily - the archeological centre itself. In the building excavation for the new centre the archeologists found among other stuff walls belonging to 16th century fortifications that had never been recorded or seen on any old plan of the city. Completely unknown. The building site is next to the Museum für Antike Schiffahrt (old shipping) at Neutorstrasse 2b. In a few weeks time the ground will be further prepared for the new building, meaning the documentation phase will be over and the site "destroyed" in archeological terms.

 

notamermaid

[CPT Trips]

We enjoyed the Antike Schifffarht museum. It was also a nice stroll back to our ship along the river, although not if the temperature is in the 30s.

[notamermaid]

Hello CPT Trips,

 

that thing with the "f"'s is one of those spelling rules in German that have been "controversial". It used to be that you cannot write the three fff in Schiffahrt. The spelling reform of some years ago changed it. Now you write Schifffahrt with three. There are similar words that were changed due to the same rule.

 

Latest news is that temperatures in the Upper Rhine valley will go up to 37 degrees and it looks to be the hottest day of the year so far.

 

It can get hotter. One such event was on 13 August 2003 in Freiburg in the Breisgau (the Upper Rhine valley) at 40.2 degrees (of temperatures recorded in that town since 1949).

 

notamermaid

[M&Rsquared]

We met our relatives - thanks to you and they are great people.

BIG disappointment on our Mosselle excursion by Viking as they had described the tour (phone call) as going to Cochem and Beilstein. Wrong, it only went as far as Winningen. As you know, Cochem is 30 miles from Koblenz and we went about six miles to Winningen.

The tour was nice, but shot. The guide was informative but the tour was not as expected. The wine was excellent, we bought two bottles which we managed to get home.

 

The weather was hot in Lucerne and Basel. But needed light jacket, sweater, and earmuffs for the Rhine Gorge. My husband did state I have a VERY narrow comfort zone!