We had a morning on board with a concert from one of the few professional zither players in the world. It is a cross between a harp and a guitar and clearly very difficult to play. The music is gypsy type folk songs and was very pleasant but I won’t be buying the CD!

In the afternoon we headed out on buses to the town of Miltenberg, which was a short journey away. Berg means hill and ‘burg’ means castle. We go to a lot of ‘bergs’ and ‘ burgs’. We had a guide who was very nice but very, very, slow. We were almost exhausted by the time she walked us the 300m through the small village, it was so slow.

She told us about the local priest (now promoted to bishop) who stopped the neo nazis from having a rally in the town square by continuously ringing the 7 church bells until they gave up and went away. (I was confused by that as there are lots of town squares – though I guess most have a church next door.). Anyway he got fined 2000€ for preventing freedom of speech but the fine was waived by the town council and he became a regional and national hero. This was only a few years ago.

Miltenberg is very Hansel and Gretel. It was unbelievably cute and old and surprisingly cheap for a tourist hotspot. I got some new sneakers which I’m pleased with. They are a German brand called Jenny and are blue leather and have laces and a side zip. We have found prices very similar to at home but in Euros (except for drinks that is).

After the tour we had a walk through the town and its park and woodland then had beers (Mike and I) and plum Schnapps (Brenda) at the oldest pub in Germany (probably the world).

Mike was confused when they wouldn’t take our credit card but it turned out the bill was 7.50€ and the minimum charge by card was 10€!

By the time the tour was over the boat had travelled further upstream so we met it at Wertheim. Lovely riverside scenery on the Main river.