I woke with a very sore throat. Actually I didn’t sleep because of it so didn’t really wake. I’ve had water in my ears since Amsterdam (the shower was really high) and that may have something to do with it.

Our morning visit was to Rothenburg which is a very quaint walled town with perimeters making a Pinocchio shape. We are currently technically in Bavaria but the locals think of themselves as wine drinking Franconians rather than beer swilling Bavarians. They were an independent nation until Napoleon gave them to Bavaria and maintain that independence still, except that Bavaria is one of the richest states in Germany with the lowest unemployment rate so they put up with it and spend their time making fun of southern Bavarians. This is a theme that comes through from all the guides.

There is a lot of wine grown in the area. It’s mainly white wine and is pretty good. Mostly it comes in these curved bottles that are trademarked for Franconian wine and Mateus wines from Portugal, the latter being given the right to use the bottles a couple of centuries ago.

There is also a lot of other industry quite close by. Our guide was excellent. We had a 45 minute bus ride to Rothenburg, a short tour around the walled town then free time.

It was cold out of the sun but we had a good walk around the town wall, which gives you great views into the backyards, then Mike and I had a coffee in the sunshine.

We also couldn’t resist buying hats.

I got some throat lozenges that turned out to be useless and we had a quiet morning.

I wasn’t up for climbing the tower.

We had a longer bus ride back to Volkach, where the boat was moored. It was good looking out at the farmland. They have no fences as the animals live indoors so all you see is fields of mainly forage crops and windmills (modern turbines).

After lunch on the boat we walked over the bridge to Volkach which is a normal little German rural town.

No ‘out of the ordinary’ history or architecture but interesting as a typical rural town. They are obviously in a wealthy area as the cars are almost all latest models and the streets are immaculately clean and the gardens well tended. Although Germans don’t really cut their lawns. They have intensive gardens but the grass just grows.

Bram (our cruise director who is Bram not Barron) managed to get me an appointment with the doctor at 4.50 which was great. He showed us where to go after the town tour. Our guide was not good this time. Very slow and disorganised, with only moderate English. The tour included a wine tasting at the local town hall with a talk from a town councilman, dressed in traditional clothes. It was a bit funny as, despite being on the council, he was from England and struggled with some of the German words.

They told Bram that they were running late at the medical centre so I should go at 5.15. He explained that the boat would leave at 6.30 which the receptionist understood. Mike and I had a coffee then went back to the doctors just after 5pm. By 5.55 we were thoroughly panicking as still hadn’t been seen and it was a 20 minute walk back to the boat. When I did get in they took my blood pressure (it was not surprisingly elevated) then the doctor checked my ears and very sore throat. She couldn’t really see anything so prescribed ibuprofen for the swelling and some homeopathic drops to ward off the viral infection. Fortunately the pharmacy below operates like a factory. The prescription was scanned and the drugs slide down the chute behind the computer a matter of seconds later. 23€ for the doctor and 14.30€ for the pharmaceuticals, which we thought was good.

Bram had phoned while I was in the surgery and said he’d send a taxi, which was waiting outside when we finished. It was a Tesla!

We got back to the boat by 6.20 and the boat was still able to leave at 6.30 as planned.

We had a special chef’s menu for dinner so I was glad the ibuprofen kicked in quickly. I’d only had soup for lunch so was happy to enjoy the succession of small taster courses and rack of NZ lamb – Egyptian style, for the main course (our chef being Egyptian). All thoroughly delicious.