Departure 6:15am from Koblenz bound for Rudesheim.

We sailed through the narrowest and therefore the fastest flowing and most dangerous part of the Rhine - the Rhine Gorge. On the way, we passed the legendary Loreley Rock. Leaving the Gorge behind we passed by beautiful mountains covered with vineyards. This area has been the most beautiful part of the cruise in terms scenery with many medieval castles along the river.

At Rudesheim we chose to visit the Siegfried's Mechanical Musical Instrument Museum. It has a remarkable and varied collection of approximately 350 exhibits of mechanical instruments produced between the 18th and 20th centuries - from delicate musical boxes to a gigantic piano-orchestrion. The museum also includes tools and machines for manufacturing barrel organs, cardboard music, piano rolls and musical box plates. Approximately 80% of the instruments are still in working condition and we were lucky to have a number of them played for us.

We had some free time so browsed the shops, which was thirsty work. We stumbled into a genuine German weinhaus to sample the local produce.

More shops until it was time to return to the ship. A lazy afternoon. We now leave the Rhine River and change to the Main River for the next section of the journey.

Tomorrow we are in Wertheim.

Today's insights:
Legend tells us that a siren called "Loreley" bewitched the hearts of the sailors and when they looked up to the rock, their boats crashed and sank.

The Main Riner divides Germany mentally into North and South - being named the "White Sausage Equator".