River Cruising Water Cooler

[jsn55]

I'm still trying to recreate sitting on a beach in Cancun when Santa parachuted down wearing in full Santa suit.  Must have been 30 years ago ... the epitome of being in the right place at the right time.    

Edited December 4, 2023 by jsn55

[ddaley822]

On 12/3/2023 at 5:25 PM, jsn55 said:

I'll be in San Diego walking the beach, looking for Santa.

I always hope for rain on Christmas, it’s the closest to snow we can get! Perhaps I will settle for overcast so you can still get your beach walking in. 😆 The worst are the blissfully sunny 79º Christmasses, I dislike having to change out of my flannel pajamas! 

[notamermaid]

Britain has got weather warnings for heavy rain and it looks as if we will follow soon after - we usually do. A wet weekend and potentially flooding on the Rhine. Not fun.

 

It is now too warm again for snow around here. A pity.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The flood warning map has just come up with this:

red stripes is early warning, orange is warning. Does not look nice. Details as always I will put in the respective threads.

 

This certainly does not help to get me in a festive mood. I am struggling with that anyway.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

On 12/2/2023 at 10:24 PM, Canal archive said:

The Lyon’s Father Christmas with sleigh and music is due on the 17th, have stocked up with Stollen and Lebkuchen it’s been freezing and misty here very very cold. Wensleydale with cranberries is one of my favourites as well as Stilton pity you cannot find it in Germany. 

That sounds nice. Have not bought any stollen yet, but found some local baker with a variety pack of Christmas biscuits, real traditional stuff. Not cheap and very good quality. I really enjoy what they have put together in the gold paper cardboard tray.

 

The other day a very dear person went on an errand and I suggested: "while you are there could have a look in the big supermarket if..." So he did and got me a small pack of Wensleydale cheese. I was so happy.

 

For the real English sausages I would have to travel to the Netherlands I think, to an expat shop.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Advent, Advent, ein Lichtlein brennt. Erst eins, dann zwei. 🕯️🕯️

 

It has been a week where the news and the madness of this world have got to me a bit. But today it is time to light the second candle, so that is what I did after a busy day. It was time to do something different so the Christmas market visit of today was - to a museum instead. Watching the model railway in my local toy shop all those years ago is one of my really fond childhood memories. So I combined Christmas cheer with a railway museum. It is in Koblenz-Lützel. What fun it was. Today was Nikolaustag event, so a Nikolaus, not a Father Christmas, was there to talk to children and give them each a gift bag. There was food and drink in an old dining carriage and of course the huge engines and model railway to look at. I took no photos that I can post, but lo and behold my regional television channel was there as well and made a short video, you can get impressions here from 4:16 (just ignore the German commentary, the gist of it is the children and grown-ups have learnt something, have had fun and are happy): https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/swr-aktuell-rheinland-pfalz/sendung-19-45-uhr-vom-10-12-2023/swr-rp/Y3JpZDovL3N3ci5kZS9hZXgvbzE5Njg0Nzg

 

Later we managed to have a brief visit to a Christmas market, but having kind of got lost trying to find a place to park, we needed to ask the way. What a happy answer we got, and there were more jovial people all around. Merry chatter and joyful music.

 

Then, near home, already in darkness, it was my turn to show someone the way. At a street corner I noticed two ladies discussing the distance their smartphone was showing. I asked them if they needed help. They had been unable to find a space to park nearby and did not know the way to a church. The smartphone had helped but they were still unsure. So I told them that this was were I happened to be going as well and they could walk with me. We chatted the short distance and parted ways exchanging friendly wishes.

 

Today has been a day of warmth and goodwill all around me and I am at ease with myself and the world is a peaceful place.

 

I hope you have a peaceful week.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Edited December 10, 2023 by notamermaid

[RDVIK2016]

On 12/10/2023 at 6:07 PM, notamermaid said:

Advent, Advent, ein Lichtlein brennt. Erst eins, dann zwei. 🕯️🕯️

 

It has been a week where the news and the madness of this world have got to me a bit. But today it is time to light the second candle, so that is what I did after a busy day. It was time to do something different so the Christmas market visit of today was - to a museum instead. Watching the model railway in my local toy shop all those years ago is one of my really fond childhood memories. So I combined Christmas cheer with a railway museum. It is in Koblenz-Lützel. What fun it was. Today was Nikolaustag event, so a Nikolaus, not a Father Christmas, was there to talk to children and give them each a gift bag. There was food and drink in an old dining carriage and of course the huge engines and model railway to look at. I took no photos that I can post, but lo and behold my regional television channel was there as well and made a short video, you can get impressions here from 4:16 (just ignore the German commentary, the gist of it is the children and grown-ups have learnt something, have had fun and are happy): https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/swr-aktuell-rheinland-pfalz/sendung-19-45-uhr-vom-10-12-2023/swr-rp/Y3JpZDovL3N3ci5kZS9hZXgvbzE5Njg0Nzg

 

notamermaid

 

 

notamermaid

In the Rheinland does Nikolaus commonly have a companion who accompanies him to children's homes, like a Knecht Ruprecht or Krampus?

I wish you einen besinnlichen Advent

RDVIK

[notamermaid]

8 hours ago, RDVIK2016 said:

notamermaid

In the Rheinland does Nikolaus commonly have a companion who accompanies him to children's homes, like a Knecht Ruprecht or Krampus?

I wish you einen besinnlichen Advent

RDVIK

Thank you for your wishes, I hope this is a joyful time for you. Knecht Ruprecht it is, but when I was young, the Nikolaus incarnations I encountered were often without one.  The bad guy is mostly absent instead the Nikolaus mysteriously knows all your misdemeanours and that stern voice is enough. 😉

 

notamermaid

 

[CPT Trips]

The Nile is not like the European rivers we cruised. No commercial traffic at all. 
Dinner al fresco at the site of a small cantina, meal cooked on ship and served by ship’s crew. 
 

[CPT Trips]

Oops, forgot the ship. 
 

o

[jsn55]

6 hours ago, CPT Trips said:

Oops, forgot the ship. 
 

o

Ah, the sails!  One of the joys of our cruise was just floating so quietly down the Nile in a regular river ship; this must have been awesome indeed.

[CPT Trips]

Indeed, it was awesome. Full disclosure, sails were up only for a short time. Although the ship is not motorized, it has a diesel generator on board and is pulled by a tug. 13 crew, four for the “hotel” and nine for the mechanical. 

[Canal archive]

I love the number of - for Mechanical - but if that’s what it takes to ensure it works, why not.

 

Question, I know this year has been a real pig getting around the vagaries of the weather with regards to the European rivers but has it been made worse with the increasing numbers of vessels cruising for longer and longer into the winter months?

[notamermaid]

39 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

I love the number of - for Mechanical - but if that’s what it takes to ensure it works, why not.

 

Question, I know this year has been a real pig getting around the vagaries of the weather with regards to the European rivers but has it been made worse with the increasing numbers of vessels cruising for longer and longer into the winter months?

Good question. I think the ships have been sailing in the winter months regularly, it is just that there are more of them - and they are bigger. I do believe though that the increase in February and March is not that brilliant of an idea, unless you cruise the canals that are not prone to flooding - which incidentally also do not "run dry" in summer/autumn.

 

There are too many river cruise ships when things get out of hand, yes I am looking at one company in particular and mostly on the Rhine (Passau on the Danube being perhaps the second-worst spot). I just think they are victims of their own success now, by that I mean Viking is not capable any more it appears to put ships in the prime locations, see for example old posts about moving to Niehl winter harbour when there is low water and on the webcam you can see the constant rafting at Koblenz (and the shifting of a ship to Ehrenbreitstein which one cannot see on a webcam). Right now in the Rhine thread we see that Viking is struggling with spaces and uses Bingen for Rüdesheim and Strasbourg with several ships in car park style. Unfortunately, I have read no details of a similar river cruise ship from another company. Would be nice if someone reported about sailing up the Rhine on the same itinerary, i.e. the standard Amsterdam to Basel. When things go right it is all well thought through and works, when there is low or high water the - let us say - cracks appear.

 

There are so many other rivers and canals to explore, I believe there is enough space on the waterways still, and changes can be made to adapt, it is just that you need to go smaller with a ship, a 135m vessel cannot be shifted around Europe like a smaller ship can. And when you adapt you need to do it properly of course...

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

A time of year water cooler question - on your festive river cruise or at home what would you like most to top your beautifully decked Christmas tree (thank you Germany for the tradition) a star - an Angel - a Fairy. Or do you have something different? My topper is a fairy complete with wand and wings and dress made from my wedding dress material. 

[Canal archive]

Sorry should have said if you have a Christmas tree! I must admit to mixing it up because I love the Hanaka candles and have those as well.

[notamermaid]

We have a tradition of the Rauschgoldengel (which came from Nuremberg), but I think most people put the bauble style top on the tree.

 

I have not decided on my tree topper yet, I will choose one of the two bauble ones I have got (I may be persuaded to change my mind by the family). Anyway, this year is different as for the first time in many years it will be a real fir tree!

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Father Christmas and his sleigh playing seasonal music visited earlier this evening, pretending to be our local Lions but we know he was real!

[notamermaid]

Advent, Advent, ein Lichtlein brennt. Erst eins, dann zwei, dann drei. 🕯️ 🕯️ 🕯️

 

It has been a busy week and I am back at the water cooler pre-Christmas-stressed but also refreshed. In mind and soul that is. A Christmas present problem solved, good conversations at work and Christmas market cheer have put me in a better mood overall. And the family Christmas tree arrived this afternoon! As you know  from the river threads, I have also been busy reporting on the flooding. It is not good but it could be much worse. The photo I posted in the Rhine thread of the fire brigade closing a flood protection gate in Neuwied made me think. One of those plaques marking the levels of the Rhine there has the date 1 January 1926. High above one’s head. Wikipedia says the level of the water in town was 3 metres. That means it must already have been high at Christmas. With virtually no flood protection the town was very vulnerable. I cannot imagine what it must have been like, knowing that Christmas and New Year would be so interrupted by the river. I have found a nice photo showing the many small boats used to get around town during that time:

 

 

Fast forward to 1993. In that year we had really bad flooding along the Rhine, it was even a bit higher in that year than in 1926, according to the plaque at Neuwied at least. It was just before Christmas that the level peaked at Koblenz. I remember it well. I was on my way to work. I had left my home during dawn and the train went eerily slowly through a few villages. At one low point in the topography, the train crawled along and there was only water to been seen all around me. That morning I could not be sure I would be able to get home. The line may have had to be closed. But I made it home safely.

And at Neuwied? The people were safe, the town was dry as after the terrible flood of 1925/1926 Neuwied got a flood protection dyke.

 

Fast forward to 2023. The other day a lady told me a tennant had complained to her in strong words about the radiators not being of the best modern standard and this and that… Petty details, from a woman who has just moved in and you get the feeling that she will just keep on complaining. While others are struggling to keep the house dry from floods…

 

I am not suggesting anyone make do with a manger, as Mary and Joseph had to over 2,000 years ago. Or live in a draughty castle. We should enjoy our modern amenities and live comfortably. But it is good to remind oneself that we have it good.

 

I hope you all do and that you are safe and sound in a warm, happy home. And if you are travelling right now can look forward to returning to such a place.

 

Have a good week.

 

notamermaid

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

On 12/16/2023 at 3:56 AM, Canal archive said:

A time of year water cooler question - on your festive river cruise or at home what would you like most to top your beautifully decked Christmas tree (thank you Germany for the tradition) a star - an Angel - a Fairy. Or do you have something different? My topper is a fairy complete with wand and wings and dress made from my wedding dress material. 

Definitely an Angel:

 

 

[the ornament below her is from my youth; not very pretty, but at 70+ years few of us are...]

[sharkster77]

19 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Definitely an Angel:

 

 

[the ornament below her is from my youth; not very pretty, but at 70+ years few of us are...]

I am closer to 70 than 60, and my parents had a box of that exact same glass ornaments.

[Canal archive]

 

She is like me an elderly lady now of over 50 years and I do occasionally think I should redo or tidy her but she is what I produced then at the beginning of my marriage and she has looked after our tree for all those years so she can carry on.

 

 

Skinny but fits, at least four Micky’s courtesy of different Disney visits several home made from friends and quite a few Spode (bit of a collector of their Christmas stuff).

Today is ham and sausage roll making time. Enjoy all.

 

Edited December 18, 2023 by Canal archive

[SnowshoeCat]

13 hours ago, notamermaid said:

 

I hope you all do and that you are safe and sound in a warm, happy home. And if you are travelling right now can look forward to returning to such a place.

 

 

 

Have a good week.

 

 

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

I'm anticipating a stressful trip next week and find this sentiment absolutely beautiful. Thank you.

Edited December 18, 2023 by SnowshoeCat

[CPT Trips]

Most recent Christmas decorations we saw . . . at our hotel in Aswan. 
 

 

[Daisi]

The Santa is from my parent's tree, we've had to add on the "attachment pole" as it's over 67 years, and the plastic cracked. We've had lots of fun with him, one year DH & I were decorating for them and we stuck the wrong sized bulb inside and kinda burnt him!

 

My tree has an angel, she's been there for 42 years. I have stopped adding to my Santa collection, as we will someday be downsizing and after watching others do this, we've decided we don't need any more "stuff" to get rid of.