Being the smart people we are, we made sure to get up front spots in the boarding line so we could get prime seats on the ship. When the gates opened we made a beeline for the upper deck, grabbed 8 chairs, and set them up underneath the covered portion because it was about 90 degrees. We would only be able to see out our side of the ship but we figured we would see the other side on the way back and it would be well worth it to avoid sitting in the hot sun. After priding ourselves on our seat selection and laughing at the folks sitting in the sun at the ends of the boat we cast off. So what is the first thing the boat does? It makes a big U turn in the river which puts our side of the boat directly in the hot sun! Arghhh!!!
The cruise proceeded downstream and we went by numerous castles perched on the sharp hills forming the Rhine valley. Intermixed with the castles were small villages lining the banks. Since we were broiling in the sun, Gina decided to get a bottle of water. After paying $2.75 for a large bottle we started to drink it only to find it was carbonated, non-flavored water. It was warm and tasted exactly like a big bottle of Alka-Seltzer... Ick!
