Trouble in the Locks

Day 17 - We were scheduled to arrive about 8 a.m. in Basel but due to a broken lock, we were delayed about three hours. As part of the Discovery Series we were expecting a lecturer on board in the morning. Around 11:30, in the rain, standing at a lock we were entering, stood a young lady waiting to board. We wondered what happened if someone missed the boat and we were told to call the number on our boarding pass and they would have a taxi take you to the next lock we were going to go through and you could board there. We finally saw this scenario in action. We went through 33 locks this trip. The schedule for the day was wrecked and adjustments had to be made.

So after lunch Peter walked us to the streetcar and gave each of us an all day ticket. We then proceeded to the Marktplatz with its colorful town hall and we took a walking tour. When that was finished we rode a streetcar on a complete route around the city ending up again at the Marktplatz.




The optional tour to Rhine Waterfalls, located on the upper Rhine River below Schaffhausen, Switzerland had been cancelled. So we took time to visit the Co-Op store in town to buy some Swiss chocolate. We continued to run into fellow passengers both in the store and on the streetcar.

We made it an early evening because we and Terry & Carol had a 3:00 am wake-up call. Our bags were to be out at 3:45, breakfast at 4:00 and departure at 4:30. If you go to the Almost 22 Hours ... entry on the left hand side of the blog, it finishes this magnificent trip we were so delighted to take.