The transfer to the boat did afford me the chance to press that mysterious button on the way out of the room...as sure as shooting, the "please wait" lit up on the hall side. Clever, these Swiss!
We seemed to be the first of several busses, a boon to be sure. My room was ready (reinforcing the virtue of bolting in Amsterdam well before the final bell...someone else can be happy, too!) tho luggage was to be delivered soon. Tres amuse...as we left the hotel, all luggage was lined up near the door and we were each to to grab ours. It then went into the belly of the bus and we ascended into the seating. No crabbing about lost luggage!
The room is quite tight...even in a honeymoon mode, it could be challenging. Glad to have it all to myself. But pretty and well-appointed. There's a set of music channels through the TV. Last night I opted for "Swiss jazz" and it was pleasant. Now I'm sampling"Folk" and have gotten Joan Baez and Paul Simon, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Billy Joel,& Jack Johnson, plus a variety of folks new to me. The acoustic guitar is quite nice.
Rain had settled in, so I was disinclined to trot off to the museum. Enjoyed a light lunch and got the room organized ... sought out a comfortable place to stitch for a while. Met up again with a pleasantly left-of-center couple from Portland, OR for dinner. Nice to have political safety!
I seem to be the only "single" on the boat, but our table for 6 held 5 comfortably. We were joined by a couple from Silver Spring, MD so we had the country covered from coast to coast.
Dinner was lovely, I enjoyed a goat cheese with apricot confit appetizer, braised flank steak with various vegetables, and a death-by-chocolate dessert.
We realized at dinner that we'd left the dock a half-hour earlier than planned. We have ELEVEN locks to traverse (and I thought WE had rivers managed!), and with the early departure I was able to watch us descend down the wall of the first one. The boat has a couple of meters leeway for and aft, but only a few CENTIMETERS port and starboard. It was a little tense watching us descend so close to the VERY solid stone wall.
But we're heading downstream smoothly again. Tomorrow we visit the Black Forest!
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