Rhine River Cruise! And a Funny "When in Rome" Story

So we went on an AMAZING cruise down the Rhine River with Mom and Dad.  Jesse and I have been saying we want to do this for awhile but it was Dad who said he basically couldn't leave Germany without checking out one of these famous Rhine River cruises.  So that's what we did!  

Come to find out, it's a super easy day trip with kids, so I don't know why we never did it before.  But that's besides the point.  The point is it was a blast.  And I put a whole bunch of pictures up in a Jesse's Girl post that you can check out!

The other point is that we bumped into a funny "Germans are always on time" example.  In which the first boat we were getting on almost left without Jesse!  

So we thought we had built in plenty of extra time just in case.  And I think a half an hour extra for an hour and a half commute is pretty safe.  But not on this fateful morning... when there would be two different instances of sloooooow construction traffic and more than one confusing mix up with our GPS.

Let's just say, by the time we got to the dock, Jesse's adrenaline was through the roof and everyone in the back of the van was feeling a little car sick.  German back roads + running late = blech.  

As we're pulling up, we have about 10 minutes before the boat leaves.  Jesse basically does a drive by drop off so we can purchase the tickets and get on board while he scoots around the corner to the parking garage we had spotted on our way up.  Dad and I rush to the ticket counter and everyone else nervously watches back and forth between the boat and the corner where Jesse should be appearing any moment.

We finally get paid and rush down the dock to the boat.  I'm frantically telling the guy who's trying to rush us inside that my husband is just parking the car and will be RIGHT HERE.  And I can hear him jibbering back and forth in German with his coworkers (and possibly the captain of the ship) telling them the situation.

And they all look at me.  And I can tell.  They aren't going to wait.  The man I was talking to looks incredulously at me and says "But we have a timetable."  

His message was clear:  Get on or be left behind.  We aren't waiting for anyone.

Thankfully, at the last minute, Dad shouts "there he is!" and we all breathe a sigh of relief while simultaneously screaming at Jesse to run faster!  They wouldn't leave him when we can see him, right, RIGHT?  

I bet the guys on the boat were relieved that the crazy American lady and her family were finally going to get on the dang boat so they could push off and stick to the timetable without her throwing a freakin temper tantrum ;o)

So he made it.  And we all get on the boat, out of breath and a little flustered.  As I'm telling Jesse the story of how they almost left without us, he chimes in "I thought I told you to just get on and I'd catch the boat at the next village down the river?"  

Oops.

Then we all had a good laugh.  It had totally slipped my mind in that moment of panic that we could just board and even if the boat left without him, he could meet up with it later down the river without much problem.

So the "when in Rome" lesson of the day is:  The Germans really do stick to their beloved timetables and you better be ready when the boat is ready!  

And the second lesson is:  have a backup plan if you're running late and remember said plan that you and your husband discuss in the car as you rush up to the ticket counter!

Here's the facebook album of all the pics.  Enjoy your virtual Rhine River tour ;o)