21 July: Gutentag Nuremberg
Because of the European heat wave and drought the Danube is evaporating so we boarded our coach at 8.00 am and drove in 35 C heat to Nuremberg and then arrived at Passau at 6.00 pm to board our boat-of-our-dreams (see the Avalon ad on tv).
We are greatly affected by the heat wave so exciting walking trips are just beyond most of us. However we did do the Fortress trip and listen to the history dating from 1050. Nuremberg was 90% destroyed in WWII but the impenetrable fortress remained in tact. The city rebuild started in 1962 and I have put some of the glorious results on FB.
We were held up for about an hour with Auckland type traffic problems which, of course affected the coach air conditioning.
You can just picture our excitement when we finally boarded the magnificent river cruiser, were allocated our sumptuous cabins and invited to sit down for a delightful meal at 8.00. Halfway through we actually started to move, the landscape sliding doors were opened, the wine flowed and we began to relax.
The flickering lights added to the magic and at times they went off altogether.  Such fun!
Then came the captain's announcement that we were to return to our cabins and bring all bags to the main deck. Still they kept filling the champagne glasses and the band played on. By midnight we were all ashore with our luggage. (I so wish I had packed as Margriet and Josephine had told me). The ship was about to catch fire because of an electrical fault so we were put back on coaches and distributed randomly at any hotels with spare beds. Remember there's 160 of us. I got to my hotel at 3am.
22 July: The end of the golden trip.
Amid absolute hysteria it was announced today once we were gathered together on the deck of another cruise boat that our trip had been cancelled and our money would be refunded. Believe me, it was the end of the world for many of the guests. I had settled in with 6 rational unemotional people who tried to remove themselves from the raging insanity.
To cut a very long story very short, Peter and I are in a beautiful Passau hotel right on the bank of what's left of the Danube and I've given Peter a sleeping pill and am about to take one myself.
What will tomorrow bring?