It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (northern hemisphere style). Don't really expect to see much snow until we get to Austria & Switzerland but this is pretty nice anyway (apparently it is frost, not snow.). Temps down to about -3 degrees. Our daily programme was changed around today as we were supposed to disembark from the ship and go into Regensburg however we ended up cruising past and disembarked further down the canal and caught a bus back to Regensburg where we visited the Thurn und Taxis Castle. Franz von Taxis was the first to establish a well-organized courier service in Italy and at the turn of the 16th century laid the foundation for the development of an international postal system. A letter could be transported between Innsbruck and Brussels in 5½ days. In ... read more

Cruising towards Bamberg through the Main - Danube canal and temperatures have dropped. Looking out the window there is a thick covering of frost and that has stayed around for most of the day. Usually we can get out to the front of the ship but they have kept the doors locked I presume because of the drop in temp. Once we arrived in Bamberg we did a walking tour of the city past their version of Venice, through the towns cathedral, council buildings etc. The guide was telling us that one of the Mayor's wanted to honour those killed by the Nazi's in WWII and pointed out a number of plaques that were embedded into the cobble stone payments. They are about 4 inches square and engraved with name of the person who died. There ... read more

After departing Cologne we went through a number of locks overnight. The process caused me to wake each time, not because it noisy, rather it was so quiet. The ship would drop speed and glide into the locks and the motor didn't seem to start up again until the lock had filled and we were going out the other side. Saw this morning just how they work and it seems to me that it is just like filling a really big bathtub: the ship rises with the level of the water, once at the right level, gates are opened and off we go. We will be going through about 50 locks over the next couple of day, the 3 deepest from 19 - 25 metres. For lunch today we were met by guides dressed in traditional ... read more

Cruised overnight through the industrial area on the Rhine River reaching Cologne at about lunch time. Made our way off the ship and went looking for the Hard Rock Cafe. Again after a few wrong turns, we found it - and without having to ask anyone. After the usual purchases by Bruce we headed back to the Cologne Cathedral and had a look through the Christmas Markets. Just as I expected with the decorated marquees, glass baubles, food (everywhere) and Christmas carols. The baubles are absolutely beautiful and I want to buy some but I know that it is very unlikely they will survive the trip home. After the Markets we headed inside the Cathedral and sat in awe at the beautiful building, arches and stained glass windows. We lit candles for those we have lost ... read more

8:15 am - conditions worse than day 1 (until about 1.00 pm). Out early to catch canal cruise around to Hard Rock Cafe. Arrived there about 11.00 am - Bruce did his usual shopping for pins, T-Shirts, etc. Thankfully this time no 1kg tankards! Lunch was the usual Hard Rock fare (burgers etc). A trip to a Hard Rock Cafe for me would not be the same without a Pina Colada - and it was a good one ?. After lunch went across to the Museum area - Bruce soaked in some culture in the Vincent Van Gogh Museum and I went to a diamond museum and factory (surprise, surprise). Was very restrained and didn't buy anything but did see a 181 carat rough diamond. How they can be so beautiful when cut is amazing considering ... read more