Budapest

Back here again for our last stop. We wander the streets to the Christmas market - its very different to Austria and Germany as Christmas isn't really celebrated here, but still full of beautiful things. Our bus tour takes us all around then we stop at the opera house for a tour, glass of bubbles and a few arias.
After dinner we cruise up and down the river looking at the illuminated buildings.
It's a wonderful end to a fabulous trip.
Are we looking forward to getting home? Not really, we could jump on our bikes and do it all again....

Vienna

We have 2 wonderful days in Vienna. Ian has succumbed to the last of the gastro bug so he spends them mainly in bed....
There's a bus and walking tour, morning tea at a coffee house (unlike Amsterdam it's ok to take your grandmother!), a mini-concert of Mozart and Strauss, exercise session at the Spanish Riding School, wander through the Christmas market and ample shopping opportunities.
The captain introduces all the staff, the manager explains just how much extra work they all put in trying to stop the gastro, then we all troop downstairs for a magnificent farewell dinner. The wine is flowing, the company is good, dessert is a spectacular and delicious Bombe Alaska and singing and dancing around the piano continues till late.

Melk/Durstein, Danube

It's a busy day today. First a tour of the Benedictine Melk Abbey, another amazingly beautiful building which is still in use as a school and a place where the old manuscripts can be studied. How do they get the money to restore all these old places? Only 2kg of gold was used in the church but it's spread very thinly.
Back on board we're greeted with a magnificent buffet of seafood, salads, pasta and lots more. Mmm.
Kay jumps into the pool again with a tot of Jaegermeister for warmth, but it's beautiful in, especially watching the misty scenery pass by.
We dock at Dürnstein about 3pm, and it's a short walk into this lovely old village, who's speciality is wine and apricot liqueur. Another mmmm. The old city wall forms part of many buildings and looks amazing as night falls, lit up and leading to the huge ruined castle high on the hill, looming out of the misty dark.
After dinner on the boat about 20 of us are led back into town for a wine tasting, with a character of a guide, full of local stories. She insists on everyone looking into her eyes as she says pröst, and explains that the penalty for not doing so is 7 years of bad sex...... So now you know.

Cesky Krumlov/Linz, Danube

Ooh, buffet for breakfast, big grins on all faces. I bet there's a much bigger quantity of food eaten today. I stick to my usual fruit and yoghurt, then have toast & egg/cream cheese/smoked salmon. It was all still available from the kitchen but much more tempting when it's right in front of you! Ian's gooey eggs benedict look revolting to me but to him are delicious!
Today we travel 2 hours up steep windy roads to Cesky Krumlov, a unesco world heritage town dating from the 13th century, in the Czech Republic. It's foggy, frosty, the puddles are frozen and its very atmospheric. After 1/2 drive the sun comes out and it's spectacular but still 1*. CK is beautiful with its mainly restored old buildings and cobbled streets, the river forms a horseshoe bend around the centre, and a huge castle overlooks the lot. It's only a tourist centre now, with shops (main product bohemian crystal), cafes and museums, but well worth the visit.
Back down more windy roads in the dark (the sun sets at 4.30) and we arrive in Linz at 6pm. The Christmas market has just opened and is a feast for eyes and nose - twinkling lights, intricate decorations and gifts for sale, mulled wine and cider, roasting chestnuts ..... why aren't we staying another 6 weeks for Christmas???!
We are delighted to welcome Kriztina and Gerfried on board, a wonderful couple we couchsurfed with. Big hugs, we sing the yodelling song Kriztina taught me, and make plans to meet in Marrakech one day, inshallah.

Regensburg, Danube River

This blogger app is frustrating - I put the photos in order, sometimes they stay there, but sometimes they publish differently...
Ian joins 19 other predominantly men and drives to Ingolstadt to visit the Audi museum. New car? Only $179,000, why not.
Kay has a one hour walking tour then hits the shops. It's amazing just seeing how they fit into the ancient buildings - former coach entrances now house an entire store. The boat is moored only 15 minutes away, so for lots of people it's back to unload, eat lunch then head out again. The boat bikes are available so when Ian returns we jump on and cross the river to another shopping centre. It's wonderful to be back on a bike, riding in the crisp air, well rugged up.
The cabins are all fumigated, the kitchen and restaurant have been scoured three times a day, and at dinner it's announced that we are officially plague-free. Don't know who cheers the loudest, passengers or staff, they must have been doing it tough for the last week with huge amounts of extra work.

Nürnberg, Main-Danube Canal

It's another chilly morning walk around another beautiful old city. I wrote notes somewhere but can't find them so too bad!
Afterwards we sail along the canal, through amazingly engineered 25m locks. Its incredible to look ahead and realise just how high up we go. There's one stretch of the canal that the road goes under, so you could be driving along and see a ship sail past! We start going 'uphill' then eventually celebrate the crossing of the continental divide with a glass of blue bubbles - Danube water?
We're at the fine restaurant again tonight and though last night was good, tonight is great!! A much more animated group of people leads to singing and dancing and generally having fun....

Bamberg, Main River

Cruising this morning and a walk around Bamberg this afternoon. According to legend the bishop of Bamberg did not grant the citizens any land for the construction of a town hall. This prompted the townsfolk to ram stakes into the river to create an artificial island, on which they built their town hall. It looks great with water rushing either side. We're in beer country now, so it's beer and sausages at 11am, and smokey beer after our walk. Supposedly an acquired taste but Ian says its ok. Kay enjoys her gluhwein.
We have dinner tonight in the small, special restaurant. Copious amounts of wine and food, and some lively conversation, make for a good night.

Würzburg/Kitzingen - Main River

We choose a bus tour to the famous, medieval walled town of Rothberg. Another beautiful place with an overwhelming amount of Christmas decorations especially in one huge store. $$$ but intricate and exquisite. Back to the boat for lunch and more cruising. 95% of the passengers are Australian, and we're amongst the youngsters in the older group. The real young ones are travel agents on familiarisation or cheap fares and happy to mix in with the rest. There are a few oldies who are incapacitated and happy to stay on board, soaking up the atmosphere, but there are many more who are into everything! Unfortunately gastro continues, but the only effect for us is no self serve food, and we certainly get plenty enough without it.
After our medieval-themed dinner a big walks into town for a wine tasting in a candle-lit cellar, it's all good fun and not too far to stagger back in time for overnight cruising.

Wertheim, Main River

It's -2 when we wake up, brr, too cold to sit outside and anyway the sun deck is unavailable for a few days as there are many low bridges ahead. We have a glass blowing demo on board. Kay volunteers to help and is handed a shot glass of jägermeister to lubricate the lungs. Karl (yes Denise same man!) does his magic with the torch and I blow through the pipe as instructed to produce a beautiful glass bauble.
We jump on buses to beat the boat to Wertheim, a small town famous for all sorts of glassware, particularly ampoules and thermometers. The sun emerges briefly then the mist comes back down as we are guided round this lovely village. Its bitterly cold, so hot choc at a warm cafe is very welcome. It's 60's party night tonight.

Rudesheim

More spectacular scenery along the Rhine Gorge this morning, we brave the cold for a couple of hours for an uninterrupted view from the non-sun deck. I go for a warming coffee and find the machine 'out of order'. Several people have gastro and we're in lockdown: no buffet, no self serve so less weight gain till its resolved....
The lack of cappuccino is compensated for with Rudesheim coffee - a local specialty including flamed fruit brandy and whipped cream.
After lunch we choose a wine tour through the incredibly steep terraced vineyards. We're served a variety of delicious rieslings, pinot noir and fruit brandies. Of course after that a cleansing ale in the local pub is in order.

Cologne, Koblenz

It's Karneval! We forgo this morning's guided walking tour around Cologne to wander through the crowds by ourselves, after buying a few colours to better blend in. There's no parade at 11.11 on the 11/11, but everyone dresses up and gathers in squares, in groups, to party and admire each others costumes. Lots of beer and schnapps, lots of noise, and lots of happy people! The tradition seems to be to drop your empties on the ground so also, unfortunately, lots of broken glass....
At 1pm we rejoin our group, board a bus and drive to our boat further upstream. The sun is out and the scenery spectacular so we rug up and and relax on the sun deck while watching the villages and castles float by. Kay discovers that it's warmer in the pool than out.
We moor at Koblenz for the night and after a goumet dinner have a guided stroll round this quirky town, with statues and tales of cheeky characters.

Cruise - Amsterdam 2 nights

Wow, the Amaverde is a beautiful boat. Our bikes are hidden somewhere in the bowels and our cabin is spacious - with balcony - and comfy. Dinner and a quick walk into town completes our first day.
Saturday we wake to neighbours: 3 other boats have pulled in overnight. We select a canal boat and bus tour for the morning and it's great to have lots of information. Who would know that behind the canal houses are gardens (with dope growing?!). And that some houses lean sideways from subsidence but others lean forward to avoid the windows being broken when hoisting furniture up (the stairs are very steep and narrow). That 200,000 bikes get stolen each year and 10,000 of them end up in the canals.
We join the ship in time for lunch, we pass through the first of 68 locks, eat a delicious and gf 5 course dinner, then listen to an excellent violin/cello/guitar combo. They're from Brussels so jumped on board somewhere and will be dropped off somewhere else to get a taxi home by 2 am.
We fall asleep the the gentle hum and vibration of the engines.

Last days at Hoorn

We take a drive across the 27km Houtribdijk which connects western and eastern Netherlands, and separates the 2 huge freshwater lakes which are the county's flood and drought insurance, and the former Zeiderzee. The eastern province is all reclaimed land, amazing stuff.
We wander the streets of Hoorn, drink coffee, clean and pack the bikes and read more books. This has been a great place to explore and relax and get some insight into Dutch lifestyle.
We visit the secondhand shop for another suitcase, everything fits but it's nice to know there's room for further purchases if necessary.
We've ridden about 1500 km and sat on the bike for over 100 hours, piece of cake....
Tomorrow Ian will drive Kay and the luggage to the boat in Amsterdam, about 40mins, then take the car back and return by train - the easiest of the many ways we considered to get us there. Then 2 weeks of luxury on the AmaVerde, woohoo!!

Hoorn countryside west

There's sunshine when we wake up so off we go again, this time on a 40km loop to see some windmills. There are still over 1000 traditional ones, and also many wind turbines. The sun doesn't last long but it's atmospheric riding in the almost-mist, along the canals. Ian gets the first flat of the trip, not bad after about 1400km. We find a snug cafe/pub for coffee and a market in a beautiful old church.
It rains, as forecast, about an hour after we return, so we drink coffee and read the afternoon away.

Amsterdam

Sunshine again on Wednesday so we rug up and head back to town on the train. First stop is a newly renovated maritime museum, with a replica ship and some amazing exhibits. The building dates from 1656 and was built on 1800 piles sunk into the harbour floor.
We return to the pancake place for lunch - they are as big as family pizzas with topping choices from ham and cheese to apple and nutella. GF available and yum. There's lots of quirky shops and beautiful buildings to explore, then Kay goes on a 2 hour cannabis tour. Its another fascinating part of Dutch culture - you can be arrested for smoking tobacco indoors but it's ok to smoke illegal but tolerated marijuana. You can't sell alcohol and marijuana in the same building. A recent federal law to restrict sale to locals and neighbouring visitors has been repealed in Amsterdam, they don't want to stop the millions of cannabis tourists. You don't go to a coffee shop to drink coffee. And you don't order a brownie to take home to your grandma. Like everything there's lots of facts, figures and opinions.
We both wander around the red-light district and ogle the ladies. I wonder if there are men in windows somewhere??

Hoorn countryside

Blue skies again so we jump in our mercedes coupé and go for a drive, with our lovely gps lady to help.
Marken was once an island but is now connected to the mainland by a causeway. It's quiet this morning but we wander round it's cobbled streets and admire the old wooden buildings. In many spots they're squashed together on man-made mounds to escape the rising water, and were originally built on stilts, but the underfloor area is now built in. Like everywhere, the houses back up to canals; kids are taught to swim early.
Zaanse Schans is a village of relocated historic buildings and windmills. It's close to Amsterdam, full of tour buses, and starting to rain so we dash in and out.
There's green grass and water everywhere and lots of beautiful old villages.
Footage of America is on TV and I can't help thinking about the magnitude of the dyke system here. They are constantly being built up against the threat of rising water.

Hoorn - Volendam.

The sun is shining when we wake on this first day post daylight saving so we rug up like the Michelin Man and head off into a blustery southerly (much better than an arctic northerly). It's a 60km round trip, and feels good to be back on the bike. We follow the dyke path and it's a very weird feeling to see the sea 1m below us on the left and the land 2m below on the right. Volendam is an old fishing village now geared towards tourism, we join hundreds of people wandering the picturesque harbour and it's many shops. We play dressups, sample cheese from nearby Edam and admire the views. We get lost on the way home (so what's new?) but follow a few of the many well marked paths north along canals and roads. It rains a bit but the water hasn't a hope of penetrating our many layers.

Hoorn - Zuiderzee museum

Friday's weather looks good so we shake off our lethargy and head north a little way in the car. Our destination is the open air museum at Enkhuisen, which shows life as it was around the Zuiderzee. It's fascinating to walk around the recreated villages and see just how tough life was before the dams were built and the floods tamed. It's school hols so there are lots of extra activities for the kids.
PS for those that are wondering, like me, North (where we are) and South Holland are 2 of the 11 states of the Netherlands.