Watching The Ships Come In

Kind of a lazy day.

This afternoon I took a walk along the Danube (not to be confused with the Danube Canal, which I walked along yesterday.)

There was the usual pedestrian and bicycle activity, and people fishing and sunbathing and sitting on benches overlooking the river. I've walked here before when very little was going on---on the river itself. (There are always bicyclists and joggers and walkers on the path alongside the river, even in winter.) But today there was a fair amount of cruise ship and barge traffic, as well as a few private boats zooming down river.

There were also a couple of large river cruise ships moored along the path. I sat there drinking a beer and writing in my notebook...and to the sound of my fellow beer drinkers jabbering suddenly another ship, the Diana, pulled in.

For a guy who lives in a place where there's no boat traffic to speak of, except for rednecks who tow their boats and jet-skis "to the lake," it's interesting to watch river life. I guess the Diana cruises up and down the river, stopping at certain places so people can get off and ride bikes (provided by the ship) along the river. Indeed, when it pulled in a lot of people started rolling their bikes up the gangplank, and there were probably 150 blue bikes already stacked on the deck.

Click on any pic to enlarge.

I see this old ship every time I'm in Vienna. I'm pretty sure it hasn't moved in years.

Its name means "Devil's Bridge."

Watching the Diana come in.

Mooring in progress. The helmsman was a real pro, getting this big ship docked.

The ghost of Henry Miller (all praise be unto him!) supervises the lowering of the gangplank.

Gangplank lowerfication, Part Two.

Gangplank fully lowerfied.

The Diana and two of her crew at rest along the Danube.

About to cast off again, going upriver.