This was never going to the best time of year weather wise to cruise down the Rhine & Danube, having had to jump ship in Vienna due to COVID a couple of years back, when heading upstream from the Black Sea. Sure enough it’s pretty dismal out there and the sun deck is not getting much attention!!

The drive up to Heathrow from Devon was relatively problem free and the sun shone most of the way. British Airways came through for a change and I stayed overnight in Amsterdam before transferring to Scenic Crystal which will be “home” for the next couple of weeks.

I have decided to leave my clunky & trusty old Canon & lenses behind in attempt to “travel light”. After a spot of retail therapy last week I now have the latest iPhone and will be relying on that for photographic evidence of my adventures. Let’s see how we get on …. At least they now have a camera button on the side which should reduce the number of photos of my thumbs !

Set off from Amsterdam after a short & soggy canal cruise around the city centre. Back on board for lunch before setting off down the serious canals that will get us across country and through to the Rhine and onto the Danube and eventually to Budapest. We arrived in Cologne and disembarked for a walking tour of the city centre, the highlight of which was the Cathedral that I had admired from a distance for decades but never actually made it into.

One of largest gothic cathedrals in the world which managed to survive the virtually total destruction of Cologne during WW2. The allied bombing raids apparently used it as a landmark and managed to leave it standing, or it was a case of divine intervention depending on which version you believe !! Surprised to find that it is Catholic and I had always thought the Germans were protestants – so much for my knowledge of German history !!

A basement full of religious bling which was pretty awesome and totally priceless but then that’s Catholicism for you !!

Back to the ship. Most of the passengers were out for a fancy dinner in a palace somewhere – dressed up to the nines. I opted to stay on board for dinner with a handful of others. One excursion per day is my limit at the moment ! The Rhine gorge next ……..

Some of you will be aware as to what 2024 sprung on me. If not – here goes….

I got back from my horrendous Pandawful Indian experience in January which convinced me that a return to India had plummeted down my Bucket list. Managed to get over Indian covid – a particularly nasty strain that managed to hack through my many European vaccinations and boosters.

Went to see my ENT specialist in Plymouth for a routine update check re my ongoing throat issues that have been plaguing me for a while. He saw something that he didn’t like the look of and many scans, scopes, prods & pokes and a biopsy later, I was diagnosed with throat cancer. The beast in question had taken up residence under the base of my tongue where it was inaccessible to conventional surgery and intense radiotherapy seemed the only option. I was not over enthusiastic at the prospect and requested that they investigate other options.

As fate would have it the NHS hospital in Exeter had a new robotic surgery team and gizmo that might be able to do the trick. So in May I underwent what the surgeon described as an “exquisitely painful” operation to remove the offending object and surrounding tissue. Fentanyl patches and Sister Morphine saw me though. Lab tests confirmed that the lump was gone but unfortunately some of the glands in my neck (through which they had to burrow) were still showing up as cancerous and we were back to the prospect of radiotherapy!

After much prevarication on my part I decided against this option and asked the NHS (and yes it is broken !!) for Plan B which involves regular monitoring and scanning and sitting back to see what happens. I won’t bore you with many more details but I have now divorced myself from the NHS and played the BUPA card and seem to have got a good team of specialists – hard to find in my remote corner of the universe (South Devon and Flete House).

Several months later I almost have most aspects of my “swallow” back though unfortunately eating is now something that is endured rather than enjoyed!!

I couldn’t have done it all without my old mate Char who helped me get through the worst of it and let me cough, splutter, recover and convalesce at her wonderful home near Dartington. She had already come to my rescue by taking in Daisy when I relocated from Spain.

Max my other Mastin has been with me throughout this ordeal and the best therapist and companion.

Life at Flete is as surreal as ever and still plagued with mismanagement at every turn. However Max & I have our nest with direct access to the world’s biggest allotment. Walking Max and some over enthusiastic gardening projects keep me going.

A lingering related gum & jawbone infection persists but will hopefully eventually submit to a barrage of antibiotics and endless salt water rinses!

It’s certainly knocked me back a bit and probably not increased my longevity. Strong enough to resume travelling while I still can, I have embarked on a two week cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest which was the segment of my Danube adventure that had to be aborted due to COVID a couple of years back. Hoping to get more adventurous and see some sunshine in the new year.

Otherwise the world seems to be charging headlong to god knows what…….

So back to cruising and hopefully a few more distracting adventures with accompanying blogs.

R xx

Oh yes and for those who haven’t noticed – This ageing lark sucks !!!!

This post made from a hotel in Amsterdam from where I embark onto Scenic Crystal this afternoon and head downstream.