Europe doesn’t have a reputation for great weather, particularly not this far north. The locals go south to the Mediterranean coast when reliable sunshine is the goal.
So I’m not surprised that today we have rain, gray skies, and watercolor scenery. We’ve been lucky to avoid dreary weather until today. As they say, it comes with the territory, which here is Bavaria.
As I write this just before 10 a.m. local time, our longship has slithered into a lock. As I can see water pouring in up ahead, we are still climbing. Translation, we haven’t crossed the continental divide beyond which water no longer flows into the Atlantic’s North Sea but flows instead into the Black Sea and thence into the Mediterranean.
Roughly 1/3 of our spring European adventure has entered the history books, and we have another 2/3 still to experience. I particularly enjoy river cruising. Ocean cruising isn’t the same, one patch of empty ocean looks almost exactly like any other. We’ve sailed across the Pacific several times and it is rare to see more than a couple of other ships during the entire crossing.
River cruising features continuously changing scenery on shore, dozens of other boats and ships to see every day, as well as the simple pleasures it shares with ocean cruising. Those shared pleasures are essentially those of a nice hotel and spa - good food prepared by, and cleaned up after by others, maid service, amiable companions, plus a sense of going somewhere new. And freedom from the daily demands of life at home, don’t forget the joys of a “vacation from reality.”
