On returning to my suite I started packing and everything that could be packed was. 
It was sad that the water was too low to stop at Koblenz so we missed out on the boat trip to the next stretch of the Rhine which would have included Lorelei and the gorge. We were now to leave from Dusseldorf, a three hour drive to Frankfurt, twice as long as the original drive.
The Rhine was closed for three hours yesterday!
Because of the low water they are finding all sorts of things cars, bicycles and even a WW2 bomb. Fortunately, it was at the side of the river and it was cleared safely!
I caught the 1.30 pm shuttle into Düsseldorf where we were dropped in the old part of town, Altstadt.
I went for a wander but not too far as we had to meet up with the coach at 3 pm. I passed a protest along the way and it even involved singing, this is common around certain areas!
There are many cafes and restaurants as well as cute local shops, these included a Choclate shop and a Bakery. It is old and very touristy!
After my wander I had time to buy a coffee from one of the cafes near the meeting point and then I walked back a wee way to find the Bakery. As I had not eaten lunch I was a bit peckish. The lady did not speak English but we managed, lol!
I purchased a bun with raisins and almonds and begin to eat it while it was in the bag. After a couple of bites I felt something hard so did not bite on it, phew, but looked into it. I saw somethig and pulled it out, it was a clay.pipe baked into the bun, lol! I could not find anything out about it but a friend, MJ, did and it makes interesting reading. Blog re Pipe!
We returned to the boat a wee bit late but no worries so we set off for Dusseldorf. After a while we turned round and returned to Zons, lol. Apparently there was some sort of mis-communication and it would seem sme passengers had been left behind!
At 5 pm there was a knock at my door and octavian had made sure his butler colleague would look after me, strict instructions were given, lol!
I relaxed for a while as the last shuttle would not get back to the boat until 7.00 or 7.30 pm. Relaxed, I then showered before going to the restaurant for my final dinner with Jana and Dale, Sussanne and Ben plus Lauren and her husband. After a lovely meal, we all made our farewells, we swapped email addresses during the meal. Most of them were leaving on the 6 am bus in the morning!
i returned to my suite, did my almost final packing and then it was tme for bed. one good thing, our bags did not have to be outside our suites until 45 minutes before our leaving time!
Well, all good things must come to an end! It has been a great trip with lots of surprises, lol! I have also made some new friends, mostly American!
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