RAFINO CRUISE - Log # 3

15 August 2007

After breakfast we went on a guided tour of Mainz.  We visited the Gutenberg Museum to see the printing process that Gutenberg invented to print about 180 copies of the Bible.  We were privileged to see a copy of his bible that was on display.  The guide demonstrated the preparation of the type letters and the paper.  Gutenberg actually used a press that was used in the preparation of wine.  It mashed the juice out of the grapes.  His process was a slow one.  Each page of the bible was loose-leaf and contained two columns of 40 lines each.  The purchaser of a bible then took it to a specialist who decorated the capital letters and then to an artist who illustrated in the blank spots that Gutenberg had left for that purpose.  The purchaser chose what they wanted in each illustration, therefore no two bibles were the exact same.  After that a binder was employed to finish the job.  It stands to reason that only the wealthy could afford a Gutenberg bible.  We were told that all 47 copies known to exist today are owned by Museums.

When the tour group went to visit the Cathedral of Mainz I left to find the Internet Café so I could send the Travel Log # 2.  The good part was that I could get one hour on the computer for only 3 times the cost of one minute on the boat.  The catch was that all the instructions on the screen were in German.  This turned out to be no big problem since a nice young man who worked there translated for me.  Fortunately my e-mail messages were still in English.  I now have a hand made dictionary with the 5 German words that I will need to know next time I use a café computer.  It was not difficult for me to find the boat because the streets with red signs went to the river and the ones with blue signs paralleled the river.

Mainz was one of the German industrial cities that the Allies bombed and it was 80% destroyed.  We were told that the Wiesbaden Military Hospital where most casualties of our conflicts were first processed, has been closed.  Wiesbaden is across the Rhine River from Mainz.  By the way, so far in the trip we have not seen anyone in a military uniform of any Country.

We arrived in Rudesheim about 2:00 PM and took a little train with rubber tires up the mountain to Siegfried’s Museum.  Siegfried had a whole house full of self-playing musical instruments.  The smaller variety of these instruments we call “music boxes”, but he had several that were mush larger and more complicated.  The one I am sending a picture of is one of the first to play on actual violins.  Others played horns, drums, symbols, whistles and other simple tone makers.  This was a very interesting and entertaining ¾ hour. 

The Kathe Wohlfahrt Christmas store was only a couple blocks down a street that was jammed full of tourists.  Of course it was necessary for us to see what bargains were available today – It was mostly a waste of time, but window shopping was some pleasure. I made one small purchase and Virginia passed.  Next we went to the Castle where we were served the famous Rudesheimer coffee.  In addition to some coffee the mug has an ample supply of Ansbach Uralt brandy.  We caught the little train and went back to the boat.

I regret to say that the prediction I made at the end of Log # 2 did not come true.  We agreed that it would be wonderful to participate in the local environment, but all the mountain climbing and walking of the past few days made our bed look like a much wiser choice.  The boat stayed docked in Rudesheim overnight so we could enjoy a trip on Thursday through the Romantic Rhine Valley full of vineyards and castles.  J. Claud