European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 12, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Smooth sailing cruising the Rhine continued from page3 level they Cost 735 Marks $432 a person. There Are 184 berths in All and As our cruise was not sold out neither the spacious restaurant nor the lounge where a two Man band played music and there was dancing after dinner Ever seemed crowded. The company recommends that passengers distribute Between 4 and 5 percent of the ticket Price to deserving staff As tips. The Only currency accepted on Board the ship is the Cermal Mark and the Purser s office offered an Exchange rate that unlike those in most German hotels did not leave us feeling gouged. All drinks including Mineral water Are extra and we found the open German and French wines served in Quarter half and full liter carafes perfectly acceptable costing Between $3.50 and $8.50 for a Quarter liter carafe. The Beck s Beer on tap at about $2.50 a Glass tasted indescribably Good and cold when we sampled it that first evening at the end of a hot Day. At 6 30 the next morning the ship had begun to move and at breakfast time we % watched the Gray Brown water of the Rhine Rush by As the current and the ship s 1,920 horsepower diesels pushed us along downstream at 16 Mph. The River Naif a mile across at Many Points is so vast that it reminded Stendhal of the sea when he first saw it even after a relatively dry Winter it. Still flowed so powerfully that the deutschland could move upstream at Only a Little Over 9 Mph. You can measure the Speed exactly by the White signs on either Bank that Mark off Kilometres and tenths of Kilometres. Between Karlsruhe and Speyer our first Stop that morning the sights consisted mainly of Power plants Cement factories and other testimony to German Industry. We tied up for a couple of hours at a Park that was a Short walk from Speyer s huge romanesque Cathedral where emperors of the holy roman Empire lie buried in the crypt. Passengers who wanted to spare themselves More chemical factories and Power plants that morning could take a four hour guided tour of the nearby University town of Heidelberg for about $35 a person rejoining the ship in the afternoon at Mainz. We stayed aboard and arrived at Mainz shortly after 5 p.m., just in time for another torrential thunderstorm. This lasted nearly until it was time to pull out for the Short trip to a Eidesheim a quaint if somewhat Honky Tonk tourist Village of half timbered houses and wine restaurants clustered along a cobblestones pedestrian Street called the Drossel Gasse. The pier at a Eidesheim was also next to a Park and about a 10-minute walk from the town. Everyone stayed aboard for dinner a six course feast entered around a veal roast. Though nobody dressed formally a group of employees of a Paris engineering concern on an Outing set an elegant tone. The line itself has no dress code not even jackets and ties Are required. A German family two parents in their 60s and their sons and their wives with their own children came with a Long haired Young Man in his 20s who wore dark glasses and baggy Green jeans to every meal. We guessed the occasion of the trip was a family birthday. Ill invite you All to a Rock concert for my birthday the Young Man told the rest. After dinner As dusk fell Many passengers strolled off to Rudesheim for a look around. One of them was Sandy Anderson a United snacks As Well As full meats Are available to passengers on the Kiln Dussel Dorfer line top photo. Passengers of the Britannia enjoy the scenery near Kaub Germany above. St. Paul s Cathedral built in the 18th Century can be seen at the Junction of Quai l ill and qua i Aarin Strasbourg France. The alsatian City can be the Start of a River cruise. Is John Bohmer airlines employee from Schaumburg iii., who was suddenly surprised when a Young German Man ran up behind her and took off with her purse containing her passport birth certificate airline tickets Home Cash and traveler s checks. She spent the rest of the evening with the police who took her around to the wine restaurants and discos to see if she could s x t the culprit but they had no Luck. She thought her trip was ruined. The next morning was to be the Scenic Climax of the cruise the passage through Vine Clad Hills and finally the Lorelei Rock situated at a narrow curve where the River Channel deepens to 75 feet. According to legend it Vas Here that an enchantress sat. And lured unwary sailors to shipwrecks with her song. But she brought Good Luck to Anderson. During breakfast As we passed through the Scenic Binger Loch originally a Low Waterfall until engineers blasted a shipping Channel through in the 19th Century we noticed a Green and White German police car keeping Pace with the boat on the Eastern Side flashing its lights and hailing us to a Stop a few Miles downstream. Two smiling policemen came aboard with most of the contents of the lost purse including credit cards and traveler s checks but minus about $500 in Cash the thief was still at Large but the victim was greatly relieved and could spend the rest of the Day enjoying the scenery. The Sun finally broke through the morning Clouds dispersing the Mist rising off the water. A 9-year-old boy was the Only one among us to Brave the Small heated swimming Pool on the top deck though it Vas warm enough to sit costless on the folding Canvas deck chairs. We soon passed the famous vineyards of the rheingau including such names Well known to Eno philes As sch toss Vollrad and the Hollenberg in Assmann Hausen. Sailing past the Lorelei the ship s Public address system played a choral version of Heinrich Heine s poem about it full of melancholy. This stretch of the River is really the Raison d etre for a Rhine cruise. The Forest and Vine covered Hills plunge Down toward the water on either Bank with Little half timbered villages clinging to the Shore. The big barges from Germany the Netherlands France Poland the czech Republic never Stop As they shove their Way against the tireless current signalling to our ship barrelling along with it and finally passing it. Some of them Are packed three layers High with automobiles some bearing cargoes of thousands of tons of Oil or chemicals some bearing Coal from the Ruhr. Stripes Magazine August 12, 1993