Germany

Viking Embla has its top deck folded down and this is likely to remain the case for several days. This is not connected with the high water but is normal for the low bridges on this section of the river.

In Bamberg, Diva rebelled against another guided tour, especially since it was one where passengers were to be dropped off at one quay and collected from another. The ship’s record on keeping to such a timetable is not great, because of queues for locks. Diva spent a pleasant morning with a past paper for her maths exam. Scored 86%, which is only 1 mark clear of what she needs, so it was not the best attempt ever – normally she has managed to score 90%+.

TSH went on the organised walking tour of Bamberg which revealed the town to be the prettiest visited on the trip so far. The two hours of free time allowed TSH to wander and make extensive use of his camera. Whilst many places claim to be like Venice but have few waterways Bamberg did at least have a gondolier plying his trade on the river. TSH did not get round to testing the local  smoky beer which is said to taste like liquid bacon.

Embla sailed past a very friendly German town where the locals had obviously enjoyed the beery aspects of the Public Holiday of Ascension Thursday/Father’s Day. There was a group of girls who seemed to be practising their cheer leader routine. Many waved and one woman asked ‘Wovon sind sie hier?’, looking delighted when Diva replied ‘England’.

The visit in Wurzburg was to the residence of a prince-bishop. The outside of the building is not particularly attractive – it looks like a much larger(!!) Buckingham Palace. But the inside is full of art and very elaborate décor, especially the ’mirror cabinet’, which is a small(ish) room lined with mirrors and gilt and paintings.

The passengers now all know that the tragic incident on the Danube in Budapest involved a Viking cruise ship, although no Viking crew or passengers were harmed. River traffic downstream was halted for some time whilst emergency services searched in vain for survivors. The Viking captain has been arrested.