River Cruisers: How Are Things Where YOU Are?

[notamermaid]

We are under 10, we are under 10!!!

 

Both Germany and my state Rhineland-Palatinate as of this morning have a seven day incidence rate of 9. That is so exciting. Official page of my state says it is the lowest since 26 September last year.

 

May not stay that good - I do not trust it - but it is good to read that it is possible. Remember we are far from official herd immunity. Can we also make it to zero without? That will be interesting to see.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Oh wow superb we got there then regressed so fingers crossed you won’t. CA

[sharkster77]

5 hours ago, Canal archive said:

The mid half break was introduced a few years ago would you believe by the premier league, apart from anything else it was when Fabrice Muamba had his heart attack on the field. Although we don’t or haven’t had excessive heat as in the rest of Europe the enclosed stadia allows the build up of heat.

Our Scots lads are great the kilt is fine as long as it’s made from traditional cloth, weight, but if it’s made from modern lighter weight fabric and it’s worn traditionally, oh my days, cover your eyes girls. CA

CA, thanks for the info.  I guess I never took notice of the cooling break watching EPL games--don't think attention is called to it via on-screen graphic like it was during the GER--POR game.  I'm fairly new to the game, but am enjoying it tremendously.  American baseball was my sport, but the game is now SO SLOW it is unwatchable on TV.  When I was a kid in the 60's game times under two hours sometimes happened.  Nowadays, under THREE hours is considered a fast game, and some games hit FOUR hours.  Ugh.

[Canal archive]

Sharkster77 try and catch your national ladies team they are brilliant I think still best in the world. CA

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 hours ago, sharkster77 said:

CA, thanks for the info.  I guess I never took notice of the cooling break watching EPL games--don't think attention is called to it via on-screen graphic like it was during the GER--POR game.  I'm fairly new to the game, but am enjoying it tremendously.  American baseball was my sport, but the game is now SO SLOW it is unwatchable on TV.  When I was a kid in the 60's game times under two hours sometimes happened.  Nowadays, under THREE hours is considered a fast game, and some games hit FOUR hours.  Ugh.

I stopped watching basketball because the final 3 minutes take 3 hours with all the fouling.

[Lois R]

You 2😃 make me smile...........I figured a Mass person would love the Sox no matter what......you just took over 1st place in the East over the Rays..........

And as for hoops.......last nights playoff game actually went to overtime......it was a good game!

[Coral]

8 hours ago, notamermaid said:

We are under 10, we are under 10!!!

 

Both Germany and my state Rhineland-Palatinate as of this morning have a seven day incidence rate of 9. That is so exciting. Official page of my state says it is the lowest since 26 September last year.

 

May not stay that good - I do not trust it - but it is good to read that it is possible. Remember we are far from official herd immunity. Can we also make it to zero without? That will be interesting to see.

 

notamermaid

 

That is impressive. My county has between 5-10 cases per day. We currently have 11 people hospitalized in our county but I don't know if they are locals or not. Probably a combination.

[Canal archive]

Impressive considering your populations. We do seem to be conquering having to hospitalise and we are now vaccinating 18 to 20 year olds. Roll on herd immunity. CA

[Coral]

1 hour ago, Canal archive said:

Impressive considering your populations. We do seem to be conquering having to hospitalise and we are now vaccinating 18 to 20 year olds. Roll on herd immunity. CA

I should have said my city/county has 300,000.

[SuiteTraveler]

Our area has already declined in number of cases again.  We were down to 12 as of Friday and 0 new deaths.  62% have had at least one vaccine + 27% who had Covid-19 = 89% with at least some immunity if not fully immune.  It will be interesting to see how this week goes.  Last time when we got down near 10, the next day was 5 then 3 then 1 then 0 and the 0 stuck.  But we are coming up to the 4th of July when lots of people will be getting together, so it will be interesting to see what happens then.

[sharkster77]

4 hours ago, Lois R said:

You 2😃 make me smile...........I figured a Mass person would love the Sox no matter what......you just took over 1st place in the East over the Rays..........

And as for hoops.......last nights playoff game actually went to overtime......it was a good game!

I never thought the Red Sox would lose their place as #1 sports team in New England---then the Patriots happened.  Today, the Pats are #1 and everyone else is a distant second.

[dogs4fun]

8 minutes ago, sharkster77 said:

I never thought the Red Sox would lose their place as #1 sports team in New England---then the Patriots happened.  Today, the Pats are #1 and everyone else is a distant second.

The NFL is the most popular sport in the states - baseball is second. 

[Lois R]

1 hour ago, sharkster77 said:

I never thought the Red Sox would lose their place as #1 sports team in New England---then the Patriots happened.  Today, the Pats are #1 and everyone else is a distant second.

Oh I know......I follow both sports.........I was just teasing with you about it😃...you mentioned not enjoying baseball because of how long and slow it has become.......I guess I was thinking you may be part of Red Sox Nation and love them, no matter how long the game takes to play.

 

I know the Pats are the "be all/end all"...........to many people.  I live in a losing city and hopefully Trevor Lawrence will help turn us around.

[sharkster77]

4 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

The NFL is the most popular sport in the states - baseball is second. 

True, but here in MA, the Patriots were SO bad for SO long, it was baseball, baseball, baseball.  As a kid in the 60s and 70s, getting Patriots hats, t-shirts, etc was very difficult, even in Massachusetts!

 

I taught in a town near the Patriots stadium before retiring.  I would tell my students how spoiled they were.  The Patriots dynasty coincided with their lives---they never knew the Pats as perennial losers, as I had.  The NFL was never #1 in New England, until Brady/Belichek happened.

[notamermaid]

Life is much better here now, the towns are busier, many school children are back fully in class, working from home is much reduced and tourism is increasing. My state Rhineland-Palatinate is getting ready to promote it more to foreign travellers again. But do not expect a normal country or state when you come now - or in the next two weeks. We have few large gatherings, indoor dining is still not in full swing (but possible with testing). Contact tracing in many settings and mask wearing indoors are still very much a requirement. When I mentioned the figure 9 it obviously was to say per 100,000 population so we still get many cases per day. But the mood is more relaxed now and river cruises are running in Germany and some across borders. But not all lines are back with their full fleets yet. This may not happen before August or even Autumn.

 

Big news for river cruisers is that France has been taken off the risk list by Germany. Up to now it would have meant that coming from Paris to join your cruise at Remich or Trier on the Moselle you would have had to stick to restrictions. These have now gone. But if you come by plane from Paris to Cologne for example you still have to adhere. Same variation goes for Switzerland land trip or plane. The Netherlands have also been taken off the risk list.

 

And just a bit more good news from me (drum roll): I have got a vaccination appointment!

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Can I sneak in a I’m really pleased for you. CA

[KathyK13]

Congratulations Notamermaid!  Hope your appointment is soon!  I live in the NY Finger Lakes region where our numbers are finally quite low, vaccination numbers are high, and almost everything is opened up again to full capacity.  I still wear a mask in stores, although a lot of people are not.  May take me awhile to get used to being up close to people without a mask!  All of my friends and family (except a rogue brother who lives in another state and wont get the vaccine) have been vaccinated and it's been absolutely wonderful to be able to see people in person.  I hope that happens for you soon.

 

I am booked on a Christmas Markets cruise in December, crossing my fingers that we will be able to enter Europe with only proof of vaccine and no testing required.  Have you heard anything about whether or not markets will be allowed to open this year?  I know Oktoberfest was canceled awhile back, but hoping the markets are given the green light.

[Canal archive]

Our French barge on the Canal du Nivernais is back on but put back to August, our French hire company came up with that idea to try to cover entry challenges. So only a month to get my wardrobe together - it is France after all. CA

[notamermaid]

@KathyK13 Appointment soon, countdown has started.

 

The Christmas Markets: I have not looked into this much yet. Overall, plans are going ahead, dates are fixed. A few cancellations in small towns. But Dresden is planning to extend the market, i.e. longer dates (check the city's website for details)! Frankfurt on the Main is also starting early, on 15 November.

 

All in all it is looking promising.

 

We are not supposed to talk much about it per new rules of CC, but to give you assurance: it is getting harder to encounter unvaccinated people in Germany on a river cruise, as over 50 percent of the population has now had at least one jab.

 

notamermaid

 

[Coral]

On 6/21/2021 at 2:56 PM, notamermaid said:

 

 

And just a bit more good news from me (drum roll): I have got a vaccination appointment!

 

 

Yea!!!!!!!

[dogs4fun]

A county in my state has the dubious distinction of having very low Covid-19 vaccination rates and very high rates of infection.  Hospitals are filled to 95% capacity. Thankfully, I am fully vaccinated.

Edited June 23, 2021 by dogs4fun

[SuiteTraveler]

Yay notamermaid!  So happy to hear your cases are so low!  Ours are down around 10 a day for the past week.  I am hopeful things will continue to decrease here and we will get back to 0.

[notamermaid]

Well, cases going down here week on week, but zero? With the opening up of more places and people holidaying I think we may be stuck with under 10 for a while. Who knows, the delta variant is increasing in percentage... For now, things are looking good for more river cruising seeing that people are saying to me (I meet quite a few people now  through the events marketing part of my job) "I am fully vaccinated" now. One interview I have read with a German river cruise line spokesperson also stated that an increasing number of passengers on the river cruises that are running (or will run soon) are vaccinated. Which makes sense of course when you look at the demographics of those going on river cruises.

 

Other news: we are through! 🇩🇪🎉 It was a close shave, but the draw against Hungary last night means that Germany has made it into the next round and Hungary is out of the Cup. Objectively, it was not the best performance of our boys.

 

It is cool here compared to last week and raining a lot. Good for nature, but neither me nor my neighbour's cats like it. No fun sleeping in a wet flowerbed - I mean the cats. I think a nap for all of us on various chairs and sofas is in order.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

What is it like where I am? Quite warm again and a very pleasant place to live in (again). But not all is going well, looking beyond my borders that is. The English in their newspapers are saying "oh no, not the Germans", meaning they dread the German team playing against the English team. If you are not so familiar with football you may not know that there is a famous quote (no idea who said it) in international football that reads: "two football teams play and Germany wins".

 

By the way, yesterday's game Italy versus Austria was a cracker.

 

Us Germans and me in particular we are saying "oh no, not Wembley". Neither do Italian authorities like it. It has already been announced that Germans may not even be allowed to enter the UK, not sure how this will develop. Going to a country with thousands of people that has just caused a spike in Portugal through British holidaymakers going there and has caused the German authorities to put Portugal back on the quarantine list?

 

Call the football teams and fans Völkerwanderung whatever you like (it has caused a spike in cases in Finland by football fans returning from Russia), I call it endangering river cruising in Europe if we are not utterly careful.

 

notamermaid

 

PS: You have probably read that a certain person in charge of health in a certain country has broken the rules and gone home...

Edited June 27, 2021 by notamermaid
Added PS

[Coral]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

What is it like where I am? Quite warm again and a very pleasant place to live in (again). But not all is going well, looking beyond my borders that is. The English in their newspapers are saying "oh no, not the Germans", meaning they dread the German team playing against the English team. If you are not so familiar with football you may not know that there is a famous quote (no idea who said it) in international football that reads: "two football teams play and Germany wins".

I was in England in 2018 when the World Cup was going on. It wasn't a fun time to visit the pubs if one wasn't interested in the game. They were packed and it was very smokey outside which was making it smoky inside due to having the doors open.