October 15 - Moselle River Valley

This morning we docked in Bernkastle.  Bernkastle is on the Moselle river in Germany and is the world capital of Riesling wines.  Along the hills that line the river are vineyards going straight up very steep slopes.  We took a tour of the town and heard some of the local folk lore about the wines from this region.  This included the story of an 93 year old man who drinks a bottle of wine a day and says that is what keeps him in good health. After the walk a few of us went to a local bakery and had some of their tasty treats.  Tonight we had a wine lecture and tasting on board after supper.

In the afternoon we took a bus trip to Luxembourg.  Luxembourg is one of three administrative centres of the EU.  It is also headquarters for 150 European banks,  I suspect that given the current economic crisis in Europe there may be many stories come on the news from here.  Luxembourg is one of the smallest countries in Europe and has about 500,000 residents.  It is ruled by a democratically elected government but the head of state is the Grand Duke of Luxembourg .

The nightlife on boas is as Rocky would say spectacular.  Most nights Rocky, Joan,  Susan and Dave from London Ontario, John and Elle from Australia and ourselves close the bar down.  Last night a British magistrate and her friend joined us for the dancing.  Dave and another gentlemen picked her up by her legs and she did a pole dance to the amusement of us all.   Nobody drinks to excess and everyone lets their hair down and has a good time.

Pictures of Moselle River 

Pictures of Bernkastle
Pictures of Luxembourg