12 August ’04, Thursday. First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU… Dannie !!!
This morning we were out of bed and heading for the shower by 6am…yes, I know, but this is a true story. We had a boat schedule that we had to conform to and it wasn’t easy for me. Our boat was to take us from Elblag and take us down a man made canal. This is one of the most scenic waterways in Europe and was built between 1848 and 1876. It’s main purpose at that time was to transfer logs from the rich timber forests to the Baltic Sea. It’s total length is 82km but our cruise only took us about 30km which lasted about 5 hours. It wasn’t a fast boat by any means, but it was a once in a life time experience. The water levels of the whole canal rise 99.5 meters in height and must be resolved by a boat being “carried” across dry land by a unique rail and sling system. The direction we traveled took us literally up river, so each of our 4 “crossings” were out of the water and up and over the hill side and then slip into the next portion of the canal. It was really an experience and a marvel that it is still in such great operating condition even today. The longest dry land section we covered was about 550 meters long…..all up hill. The boat was about 45-50’ in length and there were about 40-45 passengers on it. We were one of three boats that left the dock, but there were other cruise companies working this canal as well. It was a good day for a cruise, as the weather was rising into the low 90’s by the time we finished. Arriving back to the campground I wanted to get to the internet café and do some catch-up. Unfortunately, my server was so slow that I couldn’t get anything done. A note about Elblag; it was heavily damaged during WWII. It seems that re-construction has been really slow here. The do have about 6 or 7 houses that date back to 1598 and have not been reconstructed at all. Other than the canal, it isn’t one of the bright spots from our trip. Tomorrow…..Baltic Sea here we come
This morning we were out of bed and heading for the shower by 6am…yes, I know, but this is a true story. We had a boat schedule that we had to conform to and it wasn’t easy for me. Our boat was to take us from Elblag and take us down a man made canal. This is one of the most scenic waterways in Europe and was built between 1848 and 1876. It’s main purpose at that time was to transfer logs from the rich timber forests to the Baltic Sea. It’s total length is 82km but our cruise only took us about 30km which lasted about 5 hours. It wasn’t a fast boat by any means, but it was a once in a life time experience. The water levels of the whole canal rise 99.5 meters in height and must be resolved by a boat being “carried” across dry land by a unique rail and sling system. The direction we traveled took us literally up river, so each of our 4 “crossings” were out of the water and up and over the hill side and then slip into the next portion of the canal. It was really an experience and a marvel that it is still in such great operating condition even today. The longest dry land section we covered was about 550 meters long…..all up hill. The boat was about 45-50’ in length and there were about 40-45 passengers on it. We were one of three boats that left the dock, but there were other cruise companies working this canal as well. It was a good day for a cruise, as the weather was rising into the low 90’s by the time we finished. Arriving back to the campground I wanted to get to the internet café and do some catch-up. Unfortunately, my server was so slow that I couldn’t get anything done. A note about Elblag; it was heavily damaged during WWII. It seems that re-construction has been really slow here. The do have about 6 or 7 houses that date back to 1598 and have not been reconstructed at all. Other than the canal, it isn’t one of the bright spots from our trip. Tomorrow…..Baltic Sea here we come