November 22

Cruising / Castelo Rodrigo

We began the day by sailing along and I again was taken by how very, very narrow the river was.  Kim had not felt well last evening - skipped dinner and the music competition afterwards, for those of you who know her KNOW she didn't feel well.  But this morning she seemed "normal" and had coffee and breakfast.  But right after she was exhausted and just wanted to go back to bed.  Feel so badly for her.  All of our friends keep asking about her - they are so sweet.  I went up on the top deck and watched as we approached what we were told was the "most dangerous" lock on the river.  And this became obvious when you saw not only how narrow the river was here, but how shallow.  In the photo below note not only how close to the shore we are, but now you can see the rocks in the river out several feet into the river, indicating how shallow the water is!

I swear the lock was every bit as deep as the one yesterday and everyone I chatted with remarked how remarkable the entire lock system is and how massive.  When we were raised A-L-L the way up to the river level going forward everyone had to be off the top deck because the bridge barely cleared the top of the ship!

After clearing the lock we enjoyed more scenic sailing along the river.......

The last photo above is THE lowest bridge I've ever seen a river ship go under.  It doesn't begin to accurately portray the lowness of the bridge to the water and I took a video as we slipped underneath it.  Just remarkable.

Excursion to Castelo Rodrigo

The afternoon excursion, and just Dennis and I went, was to Castelo Rodrigo a very small town atop a mountain.  The temperature dropped from about 60 at the ship to mid-40s with a 20-30 mph wind high up in the village.  It was an interesting medieval village and Dennis and I explored the castle during our "free time" where we got some great photos.  A good day.  But the best news of the day was when we returned to the ship Kim was up and playing cards....and planning on going to dinner (but eating little).....good to have my wife back :)

One of the highlights of the day for me came when I ran into our program director Sofia.  We chatted for about twenty minutes about travel, and she spoke about her desire to travel to the United States.  I was sincere when I told her she was one of the very best program directors I'd ever had on a river cruise and though she couldn't have been as sincere as I was, I appreciated it when she said, "And you Mr. Love are my very favorite guest, from the time you boarded the ship."  Everyone is just fascinated by our name :)