Riverboat Tour

My wife and I cruised from Amsterdam to Vienna on a very long, very narrow riverboat the last two weeks in March. Our route took us up the Rhein, through a canal to the Main, through a very long canal to the Donau (Danube). The Rhein-Main-Donau Canal climbs the European continental divide using 66 locks. The Rhein flows from Switzerland to the North Sea and the Danube flows by many countries and ends at the Black Sea.
We saw many beautiful organs ranging from very large organs to small continuo organs.

Unfortunately, the only organ we heard was a large, beautiful organ in the Cologne Cathedral. The organist played Bach and, in our hearing, very, very poorly. There was continuous sound from the first note to the last and absolutely no phrasing at all--a big disappointment.

It is claimed that the Regensburg, Bavaria, cathedral organ is the largest church organ in the world but I have my doubts!

We took guided tours through many, many towns going back to medieval times as well as trips to monasteries. We had generally good weather from a bit nippy to 70 degrees F. We found the other 135 passengers generally pleasant and the food and accommodations superb.

When I was first in Germany in 1954 I couldn't find any Germans who admitted to the slightest knowledge of German WW II atrocities but now most Germans have come to grips with their history. In fact, in '54 Germans were all Austrian or Swiss!

Dave Haykin

Editors Note: I asked Dave if he could identify the various instruments, and unfortunately he couldn't remember.