Rhine Cruise 2015: Day #5 Speyer

This morning I woke up to this beautiful view through my cabin window

I left Carole and Tim to have their midnight tryst on deck with Tim's tripod, and they witnessed the drama! A carrier barge rammed the river bank making a loud ripping noise and nearly crashing into the Charles Dickens! Most likely the driver fell asleep. The barge drifted sideways toward us but our first officer managed to squeeze past without colliding - he said he was shaking as he'd never had such a close shave. I bet he was, bearing in mind it was the 2nd voyage. Titanic II. However, we have survived.

From this picturesque spot where we have anchored up, we can walk into the small town of Speyer. We have given Tim the choice of today's entertainment and he has picked the 'Technik Museum'. This wouldn't have been my first choice, but it turns out to be amazing. I don't know exactly what I'm looking at most of the time, and the information tags are in German, so I'll let the snaps speak for themselves. (I think Ian would have loved this visit) .

Brilliant sunshine all afternoon, so I found a good spot on the bow, in the shade, watching the Rhine-world go by. Very pretty. We opted for fine dining this evening and it was tasty.