In order to pass through the locks , there is a charge for the ship as well as everyone on board including crew and passenger.

We started on Rhine, then Main and Danube. From Bamberg onward we enter Main-Danube Canal….. built from 1960-1992

Every 20 minutes we enter another so they are not opening the sun decks

Cost was 2.3 B for this canal to be built-16 locks on this section

Hoping to build storage reservoirs to save for times of low levels, like last year.

There are 68 locks in total from Amsterdam to Budapest.

The highest level is 1332 ft high at Scheitelalhatung or 406 metres above sea level. All are remotely controlled …in 4 locations only.

The canal is 171 kilometre long.. longest length, 190 meters …3 m. longer than this boat and about 6 inches wider.

123 bridges on this section…..1000+ overall.

They’ve only had 1 dam break …in 1979. Before that there weren’t any inspection but now they have regular inspections

Each lock has 3 reservoir….don’t use the river water……pour the water into the lock then suck it back out.

There is little as 20 cms clearance between ship and bridges. Captain can still control the height of if still too high by adding water to tanks.

One ship replaces 82 freight trucks or 42 cargo wagons

Use is 49% cargo freight, 43% cruise ship, balance private vessels.

It is so beautiful sailing up this river. It is clean everywhere (NO GARBAGE)…. and green (their season is a bit ahead of us in Victoria). In some places it seams that like you paddling a canoe on a Creek, it’s so narrow, we’re at water level and there is lots of birds especially swans, mallards and Egyptian Geese (some Canada Geese too). We are amazing at how really lovely it is…. seeing all the castles and quaint villages. (The locals seem to think the castles are boring). The locks may well become monotonous! And the number of bridge….. incredible!

Wurzburg, where the boat stopped has a population of 130,000 (but I went to Rothenburg).

Xray machine was invented here.

90 % destroyed in 17 minutes by 238 planes just before the end of war.

Marinburg Palace on hill in Wurzburg. The fortress in current shape was built in 15th century and finished 16th, however area has been fortified already in 1000 BC by celtics.

In 1156 Barbarossa “red beard” married in this church

There are 45,000 churches of just Catholic and Protestant, in Germany

1/4 of population burnt for witchcraft by .

18 years ago it was discovered that people were using salad oil… (canola) for diesel. There is a lot of canola grown here.

Price is 1.42/ litre/ € reg gas ($2.15 CAD/ litre)

38 percent of energy in Germany is renewable. …solar farms, wind turbines even though they only get 65 days of sun/year. 2024 is the year they hope to be free of fossil and nuclear fuels.

It costs 4,000€/ yr hunting lesson… high seats

19% tax on everything except 7% on food

In Rothenburg only 3000 live inside city walls although it is a very large city. That is partly because the accommodations upstairs have to be accessed through the main floor of a business that is not necessarily run by the owner of the building.

They had a sort of “go fund me” after the war to help pay for repair walls. In the wall there are the names of people from around the world that contributed and how much of it….. as in 1 metre or 10 m.

Slots on tower are toilets

Tower inside… 1200’s was hospital … ran by catholic monks

Heritage designation on all buildings here so if there are any update, it has to be restored to same.

Only wrought iron sign holders allowed… no Las Vegas here.

What is so unique about this city is the wall that surrounds it . It provides a wonderful view of the city as myself and 2 other ladies from Victoria found out.

Miltenberg

May 1/19

As we travel south, we noticed that the rows of grapevines on the hillsides have changed direction. Now they are what we would expect….horizontal. Previously they were running up and down….. not so good for erosion, one would think.

Glassblower….takes 4.5 years to get degree, has degree for scientific glassblower…as in for labs.

Miltenberg is called the Pearl. Only 10,000 population. No bombing during war so it is intact.

Engelplatz (angels plaza) at 4pm meeting … at the maypole. A big building called “Rathaus”….. the city hall. Pretty funny!!!

Bridge built in 1900 sponsored by twin sisters but destroyed by Hitler in ‘45 but rebuilt exactly the same.

More damage in the “30 years war” 1618-1648 when a lot was destroyed… fighting between Protestants and Catholics.

“Staircase” building belonged to bishop. It’s from 14th century.

“Rest easy and sleep like a bear” is a sign outside of a hotel.

Across from Rathaus was a Franciscan monastery built because the bishop thought the citizens were being just too noisy and rambunctious in the Engelplatz.

The Protestant church up the hill was built in 19th century but city did not change from Catholic. .

1581 timber building was built using beams and only wooden pegs..the mortar between the beams was a mix of dung, clay, straw and water. Amazing….. they have lasted for over 500 years.

In the 16 & 17th century Miltenberg had witch trials and executions.

The oldest hotel in Germany called the Reisen or giant. … ugly faces on exterior facade to keep nasty people out. FYI …Elvis stayed here too.

On the carmel coloured building, above the door shows the “guild” …..of butcher.

Apothecary was here for 500 years but closed 2 years ago.

Oldest house in Miltenberg built in 1333. Everything about it is not straight including floors.

Joseph Martin Krause born in 1700 same as Mozart..musician statue in market square.

This day is the a holiday….the “1st of May”… “labour”day, so nothing except coffee shops and a couple of tourist places.

Wertheim

Castles in Europe were all built in 12th or 13th century.

We drove through a little town that has existed since 1611.

Bike trails along highway like the “Galloping Goose”. Lots of “caravans” or RV parks. Reminds us of the island.

As we drove in we can see the magnificent, huge castle built in 1117.

Protestant town run by a Count not a bishop. To keep religious peace one had to become Protestant or leave. Problem came later when there the only heirs were sons-in-law. One was catholic and one was Protestant. They then had to share the same church. That didn’t work out well.

There used to be a large Jewish population at time of war. Germany changed the names of street (which later the signs were reposted with both names. They also took down the synogogue.

Apparently in Germany, all grade 8 students as part of their curriculum, must take the history of what happen during Hitler and Nazis…WW2. They must also go to a concentration camp to see what was done so that it is never repeated.

April 29/19

Cruising the river toward Rudesheim.

Katz castle near Loreley Rock at St Goar.

Then Maus Castle on left at Loreleystadt-St Goarshausen……so we have the cat and the mouse almost across the river from either, spying on each other …. hahaha!

82 ft deep at Loreley and 300+/-wide with lots of traffic on a sharp turn. Means “murmuring rock”.

Each kilometre is identified along the river. We are going from highest to lowest. Apparently when we meet the next river it reverses and starts to increase.

It is just one castle after the other. Incredible!

Rüdesheim

10,000 pop. but 3 million visitors per year.

There is a cable car up. to monument honouring the reunification of Germany. In 1853.

Siegfried Mechanical musical museum in a house from 15th & 16th century.

First built one was made in 1911

Next a crank music maker… “Harmonipan”

One with sheet metal discs built in 1900. …. “Symphonion”

Big ugly … made in Budapest in 1908.

1877 Thomas Edison grammaphone

Hupfelo maker…. 6 violins … amazing——1911. 12 left out of 500.

Next….Oldest room like Sistine chapel…… not quite but….. Frescos from 1559. Piano 1928.

Family’s chapel…. all original. Flooring tile from 1200s… older than the walls.

Onto the Mein River … 50 locks in next 4-5 days. They had to lower the sundeck because of the height of the bridges that we have to go under.

April 28/19..Woke up in Germany passing by a lot of industry. Later on passed by Dusseldorf……looked lovely with lots of the old style buildings.

Yesterday we were passing boats to the right (as we in Canada, drive on the road). Today we were travelling on the left. We wondered why. According to Mr. Google …..”The vessel which has the wind on its starboard (right) side has the right of way. The vessel which has the wind on its port (left) side must give way.” I would assume that sometime we will switch to the other side.

Cologne…. could not get off but in Zons because the lock was not working. Had to take a 40 minute bus ride.

3 million population with a 0% population growth. Lots of gardens for family use.

Canola is grown for vehicle fuel.

Biggest ethnic group is Turkish, then Italian and Spanish. They settled here after being brought in to work for a number of years but they all decided to stay.

It was founded 2000 years ago…. by the Romans. It was part of Roman Empire. The city was named after Colonia Aggripa. … a Roman girl.

Huge, huge manufacturing plant Bayer.

Used to be 400,000 working in coal mines producing 400,000 tons annually …. now only 10,000 tons are produced.

Cologne…..90% destroyed during war. 70% of city centre

“Bikes are over taking cities.” (Not just Victoria). Example ……one lane for cars with one lane each side for bicycles.

It costs 1,000,000€ just to maintain cathedral without actually cleaning the limestone.

Fast trains go 300 kms/ hour. 1.5 hr to Amsterdam from here.

During concerts at the concert hall, they put guards around courtyard …. to keep people off of what is the roof of the music hall…at a cost of 10,000€/mo….. because of the noise people, etc. created by walking or riding on it causes….. oops!!!!

There is a statue of Emperor Willheim… last Prussian emperor on horse… (by the train station and cathedral).

St. Martin church…. near by is area that was rebuilt after the war

City hall clock, in old city market

1248 Cologne Cathedral was started to be built. OMG what a spectacular cathedral! Impressed me more than probably any I have ever seen before. It is absolutely gorgeous!

Amsterdam

Vivien and I arrived in Amsterdam on Friday noon April 26/19, not too worse for wear. After picking up our luggage, we took a taxi into the city. OMG….. did not expect the 64€ bill. That’s like $96 CAD. Ouch!!! After arriving at our hotel and a short nap, we took a walk to where we were to catch the river boat the next day. We wanted to see how far we would have to walk with our luggage since the streets were all closed to motor vehicles cuz it was Kings Day. Piece of cake…… we could walk there in under a half hour. Nice that the weather was nice and sunny.

I have never seen soooooo, sooooo many bicycles in my life. Parking lots everywhere of strictly bikes…. some that have seen better days I might add. The picture I took is a 2500 bike park. There is another that is being built will be for 7000.

Jeanette arrived early the next day. We checked out and walked over…..early, to meet her. Good thing! The skies opened up and just poured…..exactly when the weather said it would. We decided we would just hang around the boat. Oh my, aren’t we boring???

8:15 am on Sunday morning we are off to a tour of the canals. There are 165 canals and 1248 bridges in Amsterdam. There are 68 locks on the river between Amsterdam and Budapest.

16 locks in the city…. flushed at least 3 times a week as needed.

700 vehicles drive into water/yr with 30 deaths. Part of getting a drivers licence is getting a lesson in crashing a vehicle into water and getting out safely. That is because of accidents that usually happen on Friday and Saturdays… when there is too much partying. They clean the canals of garbage regularly and sometime they bring up body parts. It is “always” men because when the men are out drinking they urinate into the canals, they fall into canals hitting their heads…..dying.

Some of the buildings are tilting. They are built on pilings on what was marsh.

They definitely need to clean them ASAP. It was filthy, absolutely filthy. Too much partying with the Kings Day holiday.

Oldest brick house …1590. Saw the oldest wooden house in Begijnhof built in 1528….. amazing! (Begijnhof in the past, was “hidden” housing for unmarried religious women from well healed families but who were not nuns. Now it’s for single women over 55).

It’s very lovely, safe and peaceful!

About 1 pm the boat left Amsterdam to start our cruise. We passed by miles of pastureland. We saw windmills, none of which were of the kind the Netherlands is famous for but modern ones.

Well now, we survived Puno and Cuzco and some other very high places (Machu Picchu was easy in a sense because it had a lower altitude). It was a wonderful trip seeing Peru. All I can say is thank God we are back down to sea level. None of us had expected that altitude could affect us all so much…..some more than others. At last for me, I could breathe without having this giant weight on my chests (especially at night. I could not sleep on my back, the pressure on my chest was so great) or that the weight I had suddenly gained (to walk the stairs between the 1st and second floor, I had to stop & rest 4-6 times), was gone. I felt I could almost bounce as I walked. For others, they had varying degree of headaches. One thought it must be like a migraine (she had never had one in her life before). The lack of energy was incredible. This altitude sickness is serious stuff!

Our guide Rogger (like Roiyer) was absolutely wonderful, taking care of our every need. Gate one…. incredible. All our hotels were really very, very good especially Jose Antonio in Lima and the 5-star Palacio in Cuzco, bags were always picked up and delivered (like at the airport)…. no need to tip, free dinners, little gifts, calling doctors when needed, oxygen on the buses, yadda, yadda. We were spoiled!

We saw spectacular scenery, went to amazing archaeological sites, the Peruvians we met couldn’t do enough for you…. nice, nice people but I’m ready to go home. Gee, on reading this it sounds like Peru was the only country that counted but that’s not true. It just happened to be the last of a series.

I am so grateful that I am able to experience all these different and wonderful places in the world.

I’m going to repeat a quote from Mark Twain. “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow mindedness and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

We are all now home safe and sound.

We are going to Uros floating islands of which there are 96 …..with 1300 people living on them. We are going to only one.

Lake Titicaca is at 12,500 feet above sea level…. the highest navigable lake in world is 110 miles in length by 33-34 miles, 962’ deep. 60% of which is in Peru, 40% in Bolivia. Means “Great Puma”.

Jacques Cousteau discovered that this lake has giant massive frogs…. 40-60 metres down… no oxygen needed to breathe.

Elevation of Puno is 12,500.

5000BC developed potatoes

Imara is language on Uros Islands.

90% of children that leave the islands for education do not return.

Totortos reeds filter out pollution from old factories Making the water drinkable. Only 1-2 metres deep where reeds are. The lake has dropped 2 metres in last 3 yrs.

10 C water temp. Brrrrr!

It’s mandatory to send children to kindergarten at 3 years.

1957 7th day Adventist’s arrived and started school a few year later.

Living on this island are 5 families with 15 people in total.

They lived by fishing and hunting in 1600’s, 1700’s, 1800’s. Taken by Spaniards to work in mines. Many died.

Reeds 6-7 feet. They eat the bottom part after pealing it. It’s the only vegetables in diet.

3 layers make for dry roofs.

Islands are 3 metres thick

Once a month have to add more reeds cuz the underground become wet and it rots.

Lots of arthritis in adults and death by pneumonia in children cuz of dampness and humidity.

Dry all meats fish and birds to preserve cuz no refrigeration.

It is amazing the size of this place. We had no idea.

I noticed that the women are all quite large so asked why….. because the are very sedentary doing knitting, making wall hangs and the like all the while sitting on the damp reeds do they absorb water (some now are using something to get them off the “ground” and their diet is salty from all the dried fish and birds (the men eat it too).

The president of this particular island

What a weird sensation it was walking on the islands. As you can imagine, you’d have to develop sea legs….. and you sort of sink on it.

It’s going to be a long 9 hour drive with a couple of stops along the way. Wow what a nice bus we have today! It even has a toilet on board!

One thing I didn’t mention before is the number of speed bumps…. everywhere! India has strong competition from Peru in this case.

Another thing….. the number of dogs on the streets. But….. they are well fed. If you venture out at night (at least in Cuzco), there are huge piles of garbage on the street corners and the dogs are all over it. I’m assuming that the city picks it all up sometime during the night cuz you don’t see it in the morning.

It costs 19-31% (wow), to borrow money from the bank to build a house. Consequently they finish their homes as they have the money they have managed to save.

70-80% people stay with family after marriage to save money.

Chuta bread… traditional from 1400’s and only in Cuzco state.

Principal gate of Cuzco territory … “Rumicolca”

At another small town we were shown another school that Gate 1, thru our ticket purchases, supports.

Raqchi 1st stop…. archaeological site.

Then we stopped at 4338 metres or 14,280’ above sea level. We had reached the highest point for us. We are looking directly at a 9,870 metre glacier. I had a picture taken of me with an indigenous woman and 2 month old baby alpaca nuzzling my neck. So cute, cute, cute! We can see lots of alpacas grazing in the fields and a little while later wild llama in white, brown and black.

I would imagine that because of the altitude, farming as in grains or vegetables had disappeared. Now they’re into cattle and further…. the mining of gold and silver.

Juliaca … mining and black market of contraband including fake electronics, brand names clothes and sugar coming from Bolivia . There are 1000 tuk tuks for population of 400,000. This is Sunday so big market including used clothing. Rogger says that traffic lights and rules are only a suggestion here. Not a pretty city at all.

Cuzco March 23/19

When we got back into the city the whole hillside is covered in lights…. really quite beautiful, at about 8:30.

On my we have a magnificent 5 star hotel called Palacio del Inka.

Right off the bat, the altitude is affecting me as well as others. I chose not to go on any optional tours the day we are there cuz of my altitude intolerance. And ….while eating a soft sandwich on the train (which was provided…. we had service much like flight attendants provide), one of the crowns in my mouth snapped. So…. I went to the dentist. The lady dentist could do nothing except provide glue to hold the tooth in place til I get home. Meanwhile Kathryn, we were told, would not be going on with us to Puna but would be returning to Lima because of her altitude sickness…extreme headache, vomiting, her cognitive function was malfunctioning, etc. She was on lots of oxygen, other meds, 2 shots in the butt, etc. The doctor said that because it was affecting her brain that she shouldn’t go to Puno or she could die. And what would you do???? No question! And then Rogger had to call a doctor for our Linda because she was struggling for breath and was coughing soooo bad…. had been for 2 weeks. She felt her iron was possibly way down cuz of exhaustion. Anyway the short if it, she went to hospital, was put on oxygen, blood tests and having x-rays this morning so will not be coming with us to Puno either but will be returning to Lima too but not sure when. (She has pneumonia and will remain in hospital 2 days later… we all hope. Meanwhile, Kathryn is recovering in Lima… slowly. Altitude sickness is not a joke).

Some pictures of Cuzco