Sunday May 6, 2012 Boppard Germany

We sailed a good part of the day along the Mosel returning to the Rhine and docking at the city of Boppard.  It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage area and thus there are not bridges. Designated as a world heritage area, they can not change anything including adding bridges, so ferries take people and their cars, trucks and busses across the river.

It is a small town but very pretty.  We took a "train" into town - it is like what you see at amusement parks either a gas or electric engine pulling little cars that tourists can sit in.  I've seen them in almost every German city we've been in - along with the hop-on-hop-off busses.  So we went to this Mechanical Music museum.  It was quite amazing, all types of machines that played music.  Most were from the late 19th/early 20th century and most were pre-WWII.  We finished the tour then were free to wander the city.  It was a kids day in the city and I worked my way down to the square in town where the main festivities were being held.  They had a little carousel and games and face painting and of course beer for the parents.  And of course it rained!

I sat in the square for a little while, then worked my way towards the promenade along the river and walked back to the ship.

I forgot to mention that while we sailed, we traveled along a stretch of the Rhine with the most castles.  I've included some of them below.  Sadly it was raining and cold (imagine that!) so we'd wait until Peter announced the next castle, we'd all run out on deck and try to get a picture through the fog and rain, then go back inside and warm up until he announced the next castle.  There was a special dinner in town but I did not sign up to go, and glad I didn't, we had an awesome steak dinner tonight  and the dining room was only half full, so it was a lot of fun.

Picture 1 is of the boats tied up at Boppard - again I am amazed by the number of boats and barges, the river is more like a highway than a river.

Picture 2 through 5 are from the mechanical museum.  The first is of a big machine that plays music and all the little dolls move their heads and appear to be playing their instruments.  3 and 4 are of this machine with violins inside.  There is a roll of punched paper that drives the machine and the mechanics lift and lower arms on the violins to press agains the strings to select the notes while a piece with a bow goes round and round to actually play the violins.  It was amazing to listen to and see.  They said I think 600 were built and only 50 remain today.  The last picture is of a big machine that plays the sounds of I think seven or nine different instruments.  It only has one volumn "as loud as possible" our guide said, but it was quite fascinating and not bad to listen to.

Pictures 6 through 10 are of different castles and buildings along the Rhine as we sailed.  I don't know how many total, more than a dozen, and they were beautiful, but so hard to photograpgh because of the weather.

We sail next to Manheim Germany, which I think is our last stop in Germany before we go into France.