This morning we have been warned that we MIGHT need to change boats as a barge up ahead has gone aground in one of the locks. We have been told it will not disrupt us too much as the boat we would get on is exactly the same as this one and all we would need to do is packup as the crew would sort out the move while we are on our daily excursion. Unfortunately we would have a change of crew which would be a shame as this one is really good and enjoyable and it would take some time to build up the same rapport with a new crew. Fingers crossed they manage to float the grounded boat - our captain and crew are optimistic as we are sure this would be very disruptive to their lives more than ours. Many of them live in Hungary and Romania and might manage some time off when we got to Budapest.

We mentioned yesterday that there had not been any rain over the summer and consequently the water level of the rivers and canal systems is extremely low. Very high temperatures in the 40s, unheard of in Germany, have also not helped. Today there were some very short showers and the locals would be pleased to start seeing some moisture.

The days organised events started at 1030 with a "Fruhschoppen" in the lounge. This is a Franconian pre lunch snack of beer, sausages and more beer. It only lasted for half an hour but it did not take that long for the keg of beer to be emptied! The 2 optional events were a Medieval Walking Tour of Bamberg and Beer Tour. You guessed it; the girls went for a walk and the boys went for the Beer. Hmmm didn't that also happen in Amsterdam one day - seems to be a trend occurring here. How could you not go to a brewery in the Brewery Capital of the World which has 9 active breweries in it.

The girls enjoyed their tour as did the boys who also got a shortened version of the walking tour on their way to the brewery. While there was no tour of brewery (a bit disappointing as it was established in the 16th century) three beers were tasted. There was a pilsener, a brown beer and a dark beer with the dark beer have the highest alcohol content of 5.8%. The history of beer is quite interesting. It was actually first drunk over 2,500 years ago in Egypt. In those days, and later in the 12th century, when it was being made in some volume it was not made with yeast and only had an alcoholic content of 1-2%. Beer in the 12th century was brewed by the Monks along with making wine, and it was drunk in large quantities (up to 2L per day per person) as the water quality was not good at that time. It also had a lot of nutrition in it so the poor people drank it in some quantity. Eventually yeast was added and things changed a bit.

A new beer being produced in Bamberg, but not in the brewery we visited, is smoked beer. Unfortunately we did not have enough time after our tour to find the brewery and taste it. We also learned that the 6 pointed star (star of David) is a very ancient guild emblem of brewers. We saw it for the first time in Bamburg. They were taken down during the time of the Nazis but were restored some years later after the war.

This evening we had entertainment on board by Valerie May. She was a fantasic Mezzo Soprano and after singing opera and non opera songs from around Europe she finished with "I Still Call Australia Home" for the Aussies and "Pokarekare Ana" for the Kiwis. She really was excellent and the best entertainment we have had to date.

We also found out tonight that the person who had the heart attack had a number of stents put in to resolve his problem and should he be able to come back on the boat it will not be for at least 3 days after doctors have determined if he can travel so soon. Good news.

This evening we entered the Main-Danube Canal system. In this system there are 16 locks with the lowest change in height being 5m and the highest being 25m. There are also 4 aquaducts that we go over however the longest (200m) will be in the early hours of the morning and we will only get to see 2 of them tomorrow..