Travel Live: Hard work at Gutenberg Museum
This week, Travel Editor and river cruising novice Winston Aldworth is sailing down the Rhine on the maiden voyage of Avalon Imagery II. The brand new ship is 110m long and can carry up to 128 passengers. On this ‘christening cruise’, the passengers are travel-industry types and travel writers – they’re joined by Judy Bailey, who’s doing the christening duties. Winston will file updates throughout the cruise.
Midday (local time), Wednesday – The Rhine
Thanks for all your feedback. Send any comments or queries to winston.aldworth@nzherald.co.nz. My father-in-law has been watching the video updates and emails to say: “Didn’t know you owned a tie.” I’m a man of mystery, Hamish.
11am, Wednesday (local time) – The Rhine
We’ve been seeing a lot more cruise ships on the water, too. Mostly about the same size as our own (around 110m). Some of us have been debating whether not to wave to other craft. It’s a dilemma I also feel when fishing on the Waitemata – does waving mark you out as a newbie?
On a visit to the wheelhouse today, we got to see how busy the job of steering the thing is. With so much traffic using what’s actually a relatively narrow bit of water, running these ships is an intense job. Atilla Ladaymyi, from Hungary, is the Second Captain (apparently, they don’t do “first mate” on a river ship). He tells me the ship’s top speed on still water would be about 24kp/h. We’re mostly rolling along at an easy-going 8kp/h.
10am, Wednesday (local time) – The Rhine
Day three of the cruise starts with us sailing through a stretch of the river famed for it’s stunning run of castles and fortresses. The river banks are covered in trees, centuries-old villages, amazing castles, and vineyards.
It can’t have been much fun living around here in medieval times. The winter’s were harsh and every few years someone would invade – hence the castles and fortresses. Still – a few centuries later, those tough times have given us some stunning scenery! So thanks very much, medieval hordes!
5pm, Tuesday (local time) – Engers
Judy Bailey does the honours at a christening ceremony for the Avalon Imagery II. She smashes a bottle of bubbly on the hull and becomes the first Kiwi to fill the role of “Godmother of the Ship” on a European river cruise vessel. Well played, Judy! My travel buddy Andrew Potter got a cracking video of the bottle-smash moment.
A video posted by Herald Travel (@nzhtravel) on Apr 5, 2016 at 3:27pm PDT
Midday, Tuesday (local time) – Koblenz
Travel buddy Andrew Potter and I have been working hard to find the best coffee around the Rhine and, sadly, on our wanderings in Koblenz we found no prize candidates. But we did find a statue of a massive thumb (see photo).
The coolest thing in the town was a plinth for a statue to celebrate Napoleon’s victory in Russia. They erected the plinth before the war, planning to add the statue later – big mistake. Today, the empty plinth is a stark and beautiful reminder of the dangers of presumption.
10am, Tuesday (local time) – Castle Marksburg
I love a good castle, and Marksburg is a belter. Built in 1117, it’s a classic medieval fixer-up. The main toilet is located directly alongside the dining room – all the better to chat to your dinner guests while passing a motion – and the collection of torture equipment is second only to sitting through a Blues Super Rugby title campaign.
For fans of really uncomfortable garments, there was a chastity belt on display and I tried on a medieval-style helmet.
And, in case you ever wondered, no you can’t hear your mobile phone when you’re wearing a knight’s helmet.
6pm, Monday (local time), Wiesbaden
VideoAfter a safety briefing, we’re underway! Pretty soon, we’re surrounded by stunning twilight vistas – the dim light fading along sloping vineyards steeped high above the river.
A photo posted by Herald Travel (@nzhtravel) on Apr 4, 2016 at 3:07pm PDT
As we pass by the town of Assmanhausen, I nod in silent tribute to the German sense of humour in naming small hamlets.
4pm, Monday (local time), Wiesbaden
The Rhine is a busy, working waterway and, while I haven’t noticed any other cruise ships, there’s been plenty of freight chugging along. It’s about 200m across, but because of that width it’s very shallow, the deepest part being about 3m down at the moment.
Midday, Monday (local time), Wiesbaden
My highlight from yesterday was the visit to the Gutenberg Museum, in Mainz, where I was asked to help with a little demonstration of the printing process developed by Johannes Gutenberg. Basically, I had to pull a giant wooden lever – it was heavy work.
As a (mostly) print journalist and a bit of a nerd, I was pretty buzzed out by all this and I was delighted that at the end f the demonstration, I got to keep the page we had printed. It’s a page from the Gutenberg Bible. The guides told me to keep it wrapped up for a day before I opened it – so the ink could set I guess. It’s going straight to the pool room.
Continued below.
Related Content
Anyway, just for you, dear Travel Live blog followers, here’s exclusive footage of the page being opened for the first time.
A video posted by Herald Travel (@nzhtravel) on Apr 4, 2016 at 3:09pm PDT
10am (local time) Wiesbaden
“It’s the best riesling in the world,” says our guide on the way to the Neroberg vineyard.
A video posted by Herald Travel (@nzhtravel) on Apr 5, 2016 at 12:38am PDT
“Of course you don’t have to believe that. But you should just believe it for the next two hours while we visit the vineyard.”
Riesling, as anyone who knows their wines or has access to Wikipedia will tell you, is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. So, here in the birthplace of riesling, it seems polite to doff our caps and acknowledge that the Neroberg vineyard’s wine is excellent. Even fans of great New Zealand rieslings, like those produced by Black Estate, will be wowed by drinking the variety at the source.
The vineyard is on a high hillside in Wiesbaden. On the hills overlooking the town, we gulp back this crisp and pleasantly apple-ish drop.
Best in the world? I’ll believe that.
9am, Monday (local time) Wiesbaden
Reader Christoph Thurner emails to point out a couple of spelling mistakes “Wiesbaden, not Weisbaden,” he points out. “Then it’s Gutenberg, (loosely translated ‘Good Mountain’, if you read [Terry] Pratchett you will remember a dwarf in The Truth by the name of Gunilla Goodmountain) not Gutenburg (Good Castle).”
Danke schoen for that, Christoph. Happily, thanks to the wonders of the technology that Gutenberg started, we can make those corrections live in the blog.
7am (local time)
With most passengers exhausted after flying in from New Zealand and Australia, the cabins aboard Avalon Imagery II hummed last night with satisfied snoring. As for the beds: I can happily report that, as my brother would say, these are “good scratchers”.
With a couple of wines in my belly and a 24-hour flight still in my head, I was early to bed, which meant I was up early, heading out for a Rhein-side run at 6am. Today, there are two excursion options: a trip to the Neroberg vineyard or a cultural tour of Wiesbaden. As we’re in the home of riesling, it’ll be the vineyard for me – I’ll send photos and drunken blog updates later.
A video posted by Herald Travel (@nzhtravel) on Apr 3, 2016 at 11:16pm PDT
In the afternoon, my travel buddy and I will explore Wiesbaden town. His name is Drew, and he’s better at tech stuff and photos than I am, so expect a radical improvement in Travel Live blog quality once he’s involved. The ship sails this evening, with a scheduled 6am departure.
I’ve got my first reader query. Francis wants to know if you can feel any swell on board a river cruise ship. So far there’s been very little, though we are still tied up at the side of the river. I definitely haven’t had that ‘can’t-walk-in-a-straight-line’ thing that you get when an ocean-going ship is rolling along. But, hey, maybe after the wine tasting, huh? I’ll find a member of the crew for a more definitive answer. Shout-out to you, Francis. Any other queries? Send them to winston.aldworth@nzherald.co.nz.
11pm (local time)
Here’s a video of my room:
A video posted by Herald Travel (@nzhtravel) on Apr 3, 2016 at 3:17pm PDT
Back at the ship, we’ve just wrapped up evening cocktails ahead of a big day tomorrow.
10.30pm (local time)
I’ve done a couple of journeys on ocean-going cruise ships, and you can spend a couple of days exploring yet never knowing the labyrinthine paths of the giant vessels. But a river ship? You can walk every path on board in less than 10 minutes. Which, I guess, makes it even more imperative to get off the ship and take a walk on shore as discussed previously.
8.30pm (local time)
Guten tag from Wiesbaden! Stepping aboard the Avalon Imagery II this morning, I noted what I can only presume river cruise regulars would recognise as ‘that new ship smell’.
Everything looks mint. There’s a bit of excitement as groups arrive, find their rooms and get settled in. We’ll be sailing on Tuesday morning (NZT) after taking a look at the local surroundings.
Two new things for me here: First river cruise, and first blog for a blog novice. Feel free to email me (polite) tips at winston.aldworth@nzherald.co.nz.
First point of difference between a river cruise and the ocean variety: You get off a lot. Straight after stowing my gear I went back to dry land for a trip to the Gutenburg Museum, which celebrates the work of Johannes Gutenburg inventor of the modern printing press . . . oh dear, you’re reading this online aren’t you . . .
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