Sunday, November 9, 2008

The Amacello, from the outside, looks like a river barge, because it was custom designed to travel through the Main-Danube Canal. It is exactly the right size to fit through the narrowest locks and under the lowest bridges on its route. We passed through over a dozen locks during our week on the river, some of them raising or lowering the ship as much as 80 feet. When going under the lowest bridges, everything on the sun deck has to be folded flat, including deck chairs and the ship's communications mast.... and the wheelhouse itself is lowered until it is flush with the top deck, leaving the captain to navigate by radar, and by popping his head through the top hatch for a quick glance around!

Looking up at the lock gates	Everything on the sun deck laid flat	Our cruise director, Peter, at the microphone in the wheelhouse, telling us about locks
Using a lock is like riding a very large, very slow elevator	Almost at the top, ready to move out	Going under low bridges is a close fit!
Approaching the Continental Divide, Mike just a bit chilly (it was in the low 50s most of the week)	The Divide is marked by a wall, very low on one side of the canal (note masts folded flat to the deck)	Looking back to discover graffiti on the larger half of the wall