Tuesday, Oct 30th.  Miltenberg in the rain.  Cold rain.  But first came the Emergency drill, complete with life preservers.  Ridiculous.  I could wade ashore.

Then a thorough glass shaping demonstration on board.  Flames.  The salesman explained that he personally knew the person who provided the flame detection devices on board.  “They don’t work.”  Ha ha.  The demo was long and he strayed often from the point.  But it sure worked.  Lots of sales.

Tour of Miltenberg.  The guide enjoyed his own laughter a little too much though some of his jokes were indeed funny.  Beautiful little town, even in the rain.  The guide provided lots of little details that you’d miss without him.  We saw the oldest hotel in Germany, perhaps the world.  It’s main claim to fame?  Elvis slept there while he was in the Army.  We had beers at the pub in the hotel.  Big mugs, very German.  Then I bought a hat (a fairly required action for me.)  And Apple Strudel to go which I plan to have tomorrow for breakfast.  Others bought cuckoo clocks.  Even in the rain it was a great day in a small genuine German town.

We bused to where the ship would be, only to learn that the ship was delayed in a lock.  So we waited 45 minutes in the bus.  I’m tired of buses.