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| day 5 Daily Cruiser page 1 |
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| day 5 Daily Cruiser page 2 |
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| day 5 Daily Cruiser page 3 |
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| day 5 Daily Cruiser page 4 |
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I didn't get very good sleep the previous nights; with
AmaPrima chugging upstream on the
Main River and the aft location of our cabin (231), the door to the safe would rattle in unison to the engine vibrations. At some point in the night, I couldn't take it anymore and came up with the idea of stuffing a pillow into the safe and pressing down on the door while locking it. This provided pressure against the door to stop the rattling. I had to do this every night the itinerary progressed upstream; downstream wasn't as bad. Some days I forgot to take the pillow out of the safe - wonder if Ida the housekeeper thought that we brought it with us on excursions? After dinner the other night, I investigated which part of the ship was more susceptible to engine noise. It sounded like the last six pairs of cabins on the second floor (
Cello Deck) would experience it. I didn't go up to check, but I would believe that third floor cabins would have lesser noise, aside from early morning joggers on the walking track above.
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| smashing a pillow into the safe to stop the rattling |
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| engine noise heard around cabin 223 and further aft |
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Today, we were heading to
Miltenburg, with plenty of locks along the way. The lock walls were so close that you could reach out and touch it from the French balcony.
After breakfast, there was a glass blowing demonstration in the lounge. By the time we got there, it was standing room only, so head in early for seats if you are really interested.
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| inside a lock |
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| day 5 breakfast special |
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| daily vitamin shot |
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| healthy breakfast today |
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| glass blowing demo in the lounge |
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| selling his wares |
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We opted to do the
Miltenburg Castle hike, one of two active offerings; the other choice was a walking tour of the town. We were expecting a more strenuous excursion given that Nordic walking sticks were handed out to those who wanted them. To get to the castle, there were some steep inclines on cobblestone paths. It was definitely more active than yesterday's Rudesheim tour. A few guests were a bit slow on the inclines, so it was good that walking sticks were available. The extra time spent waiting for all to catch up wasn't bad since the rest could take pictures at leisure and explore a bit more.
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| pairing the Quietvoxes with the guide |
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| such a cute town |
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| steep cobblestone paths |
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| approaching the castle |
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| beautiful view from Miltenburg Castle |
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| refreshing forest path down |
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We had free time to explore Miltenburg after the tour was over. I bought assorted gummies by the pound from a candy shop. The shop owner had been giving out free samples when our tour walked by earlier.
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| tasty gummies |
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| pee pee |
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| blessing written on the door |
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| like in a storybook |
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Back aboard the ship, we enjoyed light lunch in the lounge as the ship set sail for Freudenberg, where buses picked us up to go to Wertheim.
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| day 5 lunch menu |
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| light lunch in the lounge |
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| nasi goreng, tuna melt |
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A hiking excursion to
Wertheim Castle was offered, but since we had just done Miltenburg Castle, we decided to try the regular walking tour around town. It turned out that we had a lot of free time afterwards, so we took ourselves up to the castle and enjoyed the views from the top. Wertheim Castle and exploring the grounds was certainly more strenuous than the Miltenburg Castle excursion.
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| on the bus to Wertheim |
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| more half-timber houses |
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| historical flood levels marked on the wall |
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| one of the narrowest houses in the region |
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| view of Wertheim Castle |
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| stairs up |
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| steep driveway |
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| opening hours |
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| one euro entrance fee (change machines available) |
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| map of the grounds |
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We walked to the riverboat dock after our castle visit and enjoyed a cup of gelato while waiting for AmaPrima to arrive.
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| 1 euro for a small scoop |
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| boarding AmaPrima |
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We went with the Chef's Recommendation for dinner, though I also had the "ice cup" for second dessert, recommended by Steve, one of our tablemates tonight.
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| day 5 dinner menu |
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| smoked salmon tartar |
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| veal broth with pancake roulade |
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| slow roasted pork tenderloin |
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| pear tart tatin |
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| walnut ice cream with kirsch liqueur |
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The next morning, we arrived in
Wurzburg. Today was the first time AmaPrima docked parallel to another river boat,
AmaVerde, also an AmaWaterways ship. Our balcony was facing the lounge; we could see the kitchen galley too.
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| day 6 Daily Cruiser page 1 |
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| day 6 Daily Cruiser page 2 |
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| day 6 Daily Cruiser page 3 |
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| day 6 Daily Cruiser page 4 |
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| our cabin facing AmaVerde's lounge |
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| food being prepared in AmaVerde galley |
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| day 6 breakfast special |
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| substantial breakfast |
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To prepare for the bike ride, we signed a waiver and then we were given bright yellow snap bracelets to wear on this and subsequent rides to show the staff that we filled out the proper paperwork.
AmaPrima passengers needed to walk across AmaVerde's deck to get to shore. All of the chairs, railings, and covers on the top deck were taken apart and laid flat in anticipation of very low bridges further up the river.
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| snap bracelet |
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| walking across to AmaVerde |
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| AmaPrima (left) top deck already flattened |
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| bikes ready to go |
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I found from all our bike excursions that some bikes were better than others in terms of gear shifters and seat adjustment. Some seats required an Allen wrench to adjust where others were easily changed with a quick-release lever. Since all the bikes are numbered, if you find a good one, remember its number and come early to the excursion to ensure you get it.
We were off! There were always two local guides during bike excursions; one was stationed at the front to lead the pack and one at the rear to accompany stragglers. We stopped in the town of
Sommerhausen for a refreshment; across the river was fittingly the town of
Winterhausen.
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| Wurzberg countryside |
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| biking selfie |
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| in Sommerhausen |
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| walking our bikes over cobblestones |
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| had a coffee from the bakery |
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| and a gelato |
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Then we turned around and rode back to the ship, stopping for a photo at a larger-than-life bench located next to the trail.
There was an afternoon excursion to
Kitzingen plus wine tasting that was leaving less than an hour after our bike tour, but we decided to skip it in favor of taking a nice hot shower, enjoying a leisurely lunch in the main dining room, and relaxing in our cabin until dinner.
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| day 6 lunch menu |
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| broccoli soup |
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| roasted duck with orange sauce |
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| amarena ice cream, of course |
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| day 6 dinner menu |
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| beet carpaccio with goat cheese |
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| parsnip soup |
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| slow roasted rib eye |
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| semolina mousse with berry ragout |
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Tomorrow, AmaPrima sails into Bamberg, Germany...stay tuned!
Missed any of the previous entries? Refer to the Trip Index at the top of this post to navigate.
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