River Cruise Oct 6/14 - part 1 - cruising

On Oct 6, we had a leisurely cruise on the Moselle River, saw lots of great scenery, went through 3 locks.  It was cloudy, cool, drizzly at times, but still nice.

As we cruised, there was a friend of the Van Dyke family on board - a Dutch silver smith.  As he created beautiful pieces, his wife sold some - a lot, actually, including a couple of things to yours truly.

Pretty tight squeeze going through a lock.  The co-pilot kept it from touching the sides with a "joy-stick" outside.  Actually, even inside, there is no wheel for steering.  It's all done with a joy-stick.

A lovely little church on the banks of the Moselle.

Mostly the towns are built by the river, and vineyards line the hills behind.  Not sure which came first.

 
 So many trains in these countries!  And all of them electric.

Beside the big locks, there are smaller ones for the pleasure boaters.  This sure looks familiar, except with our boat, the man is out front, the woman inside.  :-)

 

Just so beautiful!

  I believe this is a sister-ship to the Rembrandt van Rijn and the Da Vinci.

We saw a LOT of swans on both rivers, but especially on the Moselle.

 
I think this was their happy dance!

Biking on the path by the river.  The sheep are looking pretty relaxed.

Another river-side town.

And another castle!  Almost to Cochem!