The old railway bridge loomed ever closer as the ship’s captain advised me: “Please mind your head sir.” I sensed it was only a precaution, but the underside of the bridge was a mere six inches above the top of my head as I stood on the top deck while we passed underneath.

It was another lesson in how river cruising differs markedly from the maritime variety. Forget those long days at sea with nothing on the horizon – on the river you are assailed by new sights at every turn. These include bridges of every design and age – we must have passed beneath a couple of hundred on our journey from Luxembourg through Germany to Nuremberg on the rivers Moselle, Rhine and Main.

And then there are the locks – a total of 53 to be negotiated at regular intervals, each posing a test for our Hungarian skipper as he nursed the 360ft long Amalegro into and out of the chambers with just a few inches to spare on each side, watched every time by fascinated passengers.

But the most stunning views were of the steep-sided river banks of the Moselle and Rhine where countless vineyards snake upwards at seemingly impossible angles, and Gothic castles peer down from their defensive positions at the top of the valleys.

This was the essence of our voyage, and it is easy to understand why European river cruising is such a fast-growing sector of the holiday market, attracting passengers from all over the globe to the wide open river road that stretches all the way from Amsterdam to the Black Sea, connecting 15 countries over its distance of 2,220 miles. Add in the numerous stops at historic villages, towns and cities along the way and you have an experience that will increasingly give sea cruising a run for its money.

But if you seek a vessel packed with facilities and amusements, then perhaps it’s not for you. The four-year-old Amalegro, one of 11 ships operated by AMA Waterways, carries just 150 passengers and the emphasis is very much on eating, sleeping, relaxing and frequent disembarkations.

A real sense of camaraderie builds up as guests meet at regular intervals in the main lounge and bar, or in the very comfortable restaurant where you can select your own table with as many or as few fellow diners as you please, and enjoy complimentary (and excellent) local wines.

At the end of the eight-day cruise we were on first-name terms with at least 30 fellow passengers and on nodding acquaintance with perhaps 50 more.

There’s no need for climbing walls and the like when there’s good conversation to be had. And there’s no possibility of even attempting a climbing wall after you’ve enjoyed the generous amounts of very good food on offer, with the three main meals supplemented by mid-morning snacks, afternoon tea and late-night titbits.

Joining the Amalegro in the small Luxembourg town of Remich on the Moselle, we were immediately made welcome by our Bulgarian cabin stewardess Teddy (short for Teodora), a hugely likeable mother hen who installed us in our ample “stateroom” and even arranged for my jackets, creased from the suitcase, to be pressed free of charge.

She’s married to Arthur, the charming hotel manager with a permanent grin and that knack of making everyone feel special. That night we were invited to dine on the captain’s table – I’m not sure why but I’m glad we were because it was the start of several good friendships.

Our first port of call the following day was Trier, the oldest city in Germany with an impressive array of Roman remains including an amphitheatre, baths and the famous Porta Nigra, the best preserved Roman city gate in the world. It was the first outing for what the cruise staff called our “devices” – mobile phone-sized units with headphones which pick up the tour guide’s words of wisdom within a range of about 30 metres – so you don’t need to stay close by her side.

Back on board we positioned ourselves in comfy chairs on the top deck for an afternoon cruise along the idyllic Moselle valley, its lush vine-clad slopes ascending from the meandering waterway. The Romans first planted vines in the fourth century, and these days some top-quality Rieslings originate here.

By teatime we had tied up at Bernkastel, surely the most picture postcard village in the whole of Germany with an abundance of 16th century half-timbered houses clustered higgledy-piggledy on narrow streets. Wine shops abound here, many selling the famous Bernkastel Doktor, which an ancient archbishop believed could cure all ills.

Next day we completed the Moselle leg of our cruise in Koblenz, where the river flows into the mighty Rhine. After a visit to the annual flower show next to a fortress situated on a bluff high above the city, we took a cable car across the Rhine to explore the beautiful old town before rejoining the Amalegro for one of the highlights of the week – a cruise through the Rhine Gorge past more than 30 castles and the famed Lorelei rock which soars 120 metres above the waterline.

The most unexpected sight was the large number of commercial barges plying their trade along this wide waterway, some almost 100 metres long and skippered from wheelhouses at the very stern. Not for the faint-hearted!

The following day we joined the Main river, which has undergone extensive canalisation work to make it navigable for shipping all the way from the Rhine in the west to the Danube in the east. It’s narrower than the Moselle and the Rhine, and its low bridges forced the closure of the Amalegro’s top deck from time to time.

Our last full day included a tour of historic Bamberg, designated a Unesco world heritage site, which is home to nine old-fashioned breweries. Their most famous product is “rauchbier”, a strong dark ale with a smoky flavour and an aftertaste of bacon. I downed a half-litre without much trouble but others in our party (Australians included) were struggling to appreciate its charm.

At the crack of dawn the ship berthed just outside Nuremberg and the adventure was over.

n BEST FOR: Beautiful scenery and plentiful stops at historic venues.

n TIME TO GO: Spring, summer or autumn.

n DON’T MISS: The sights of the Rhine Gorge.

n NEED TO KNOW: Be prepared for plenty of walking (and cycling).

n DON’T FORGET: A good map to get your bearings.

Graham Bright was a guest of AMA Waterways, whose eight-day cruise between Remich and Nuremberg costs from £1,624 per person in a stateroom for two.

]]> 1.3548782 Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:57:23 +0000 http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/rammstein_return_for_midlands_gig_1_3548763

LEGENDARY German metallers Rammstein will be bring their acclaimed live act to the region this weekend.

The band released a greatest hits compilation, entitled Made In Germany 1995-2011, at the end of last year and their new show will feature tracks from across the Grammy-nominated band’s career, as well as debuting new tracks.

Rammstein have sold more than 15 million albums worldwide and their shows have become renowned for combining pyrotechnics and theatrics.

Their tour of North America and Mexico won them the Best Live Band accolade at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards last year.

Rammstein play the LG Arena in Birmingham on Saturday, February 25.

Tickets cost £42.50 (plus booking and transaction fees)

They are available from www.theticketfactory.com or by calling 0844 338 8000.

Whether you have a head for heights or not, there’s nothing quite like rising high above London’s grim to get a bird’s-eye view of the capital.

The London Eye, which towers at around 443ft, over a city full of history and culture, is a “must-do” for tourists and inhabitants alike.

My mum and I wrapped up warm on one of the coldest days of the year so far to explore the sights and sounds of the city and our first stop was the iconic London Eye.

The experience starts with an optional 4D film screening and I would recommend visitors make time to watch it before going up in the sky; it captures a little bit of the magic you will be about to experience.

We had fast track tickets and were in our capsule within around five minutes, and I would strongly recommend booking this type of pass as the queues looked quite large.

We shared our capsule with around 15 other people but the space is big and it didn’t feel cramped.

The Eye climbs its height slowly, leaving lots of time to look around the London landscape and on a clear day you can see as far as Wimbledon and beyond.

Touch screen computers provide a guide to the monuments you can see outside of the capsule and the views are breathtaking.

The London Eye really shows off the city, with sights like Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the Gherkin and St Paul’s Cathedral in clear view.

It’s a great way to see London in a day and get a real feel for what the city holds.

The experience lasts around 45 minutes and it felt like just the right amount of time.

I can imagine an evening ride on the eye would be romantic and I think I will have to go back again to see the city lit up at night.

We stayed in the Tune Hotel just off Liverpool Street when we visited and the budget hotel chain did exactly what it said on the tin.

The room was basic but nicely decorated and clean, with facilities including TV viewing, towels and toiletries, a hairdryer and wi-fi service available for hire at a small cost.

The hotel staff were friendly and willing to help and the reception was nicely decorated with a TV, comfortable seats, tables and chairs and laptops with wifi access available for use for a small charge.

The hotel, which includes 24-hour security, would be perfect for business people working in the capital on a short term basis and also for visitors on a budget.

The hotel was in a great location within five minutes walking distance of a number of independent and chain restaurants, supermarkets, off licences and clothes stores.

It is also next to Old Spitalfields market which sells lots of quirky clothes and accessories at very reasonable prices.

There are also bars and pubs around the hotel and the areas has a good atmosphere and excellent selection of things to do.

It is 10 minutes walking distance from Liverpool Street station where tubes and trains can be caught to explore other destinations or for business travel.

There are also good bus links nearby and taxi services can be booked by the hotel.

Adult tickets for the EDF Energy London Eye start at £17.01 online at www.londoneye.com

Bedrooms at the Tune Hotel in Liverpool Street start from £35 a night and are available to book at www.tunehotels.com/uk

For more information visit www.londoneye.com.

]]> 1.3542538 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:42:57 +0000 http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/parenting_tips_by_smartphone_1_3542503

WHEN the world watched in horror last year as Britain’s major cities were torn up and looted by rioters – many of them youths – questions started to be asked about the moral grounding of today’s society.

Religion and faith are not the be all and end all of everyone’s lives and many people do live happily without these spiritual aspects, but there was a strong sense that the teaching of right and wrong in today’s society had gone horribly awry.

The finger of blame was pointed at teachers, parents and the Government itself as people sought to find answers for the horrifyingly selfish behaviour they were witnessing.

Of the people who witnessed the criminal activities on their news screens, many decided to take action and start personal projects to try in a small way to address some of the issues. One of them was 37-year-old mother-of-one Victoria Leith, from Queen’s Park, Northampton.

A teacher by profession, she wrote an iPhone and iPod Touch app – now available from the iTunes store – which aims at giving 97 common sense parenting tips.

Simply entitled 97 Parenting Tips, Victoria wrote the app in association with her friend’s company Detox Your World.

She said: “After the riots of last year, everyone was talking about what was going on. We can’t put the finger of blame on someone if they have been raised in a certain way. There were people who had problems and difficulties. I think in general there were young people who felt they did not really belong.”

Speaking about her new app, Victoria is keen not to be seen as a preacher of the right thing to do as she confessed parenting is a “minefield”. But she wants to help, all the same.

She said: “I started writing the app and a lot of the aspects overlooked were spiritual aspects. It can often be that having spirituality in the home, to have something to focus on which is more than the daily grind, can be important as a lot of children don’t feel satisfied with what they have got.”

Using the app, parents can spin a wheel and select cards which hold individual tips. Click on them and more information is revealed.

The tips deal with a huge range of subjects from simple advice about diet to a discussion of the impact of smacking, and tips on how to speak to and discipline children appropriately.

Tips include ‘Hold their hands, don’t smack them’, ‘Teach them to honour women and men’ and ‘Let them stay in the real world as much as possible’.

Victoria said: “I can’t go into a parent’s home and say this is what you should do, but I want more parents to talk about parenting, to be open and honest and say ‘look, I can’t cope’.

“Parents do a fantastic job but something is going wrong and you can’t blame it all on the schools.

“For me it is about conscious parenting, if you don’t think you just ‘do’ and that is when you can start doing things that parents did to you, like hitting your child because you were hit.”

For Victoria, a lot of children’s bad behaviour can come down to too much sugar and additives in their diet.

She said: “ I think food plays a huge part in a child’s development. Omega 3 is very important in brain development.

“We could be having sugar in cereal, in a mid-morning snack and then there is the sugar crash and for a child it is the same, but magnified and we wonder why a child is stroppy and don’t know where the behaviour is coming from. Sugar can be very addictive as well.”

Victoria, who has also recently penned a book called There’s More To Life Than Biscuits, said: “It is about empowering parents to go to the supermarket and buy the right foods. Over Christmas we had too much sugar and I could see the effect.”

One real challenge for modern parents, according to Victoria, is the amount of time children are allowed to spend staring at TVs, computers or other gadgetry.

She said: “A lot of children are logged on to something. My daughter looks at my iPhone some of the time but when you need to start timing a child because they are spending too much time on something, that wouldn’t have happened years ago.

“We did not have mobiles and Facebook which children stare at today. Their whole focus and vision is focused on one element. One parent said to me that it is so good for certain aspects of their development, but they can’t socialise. How can you socialise properly when you are only looking at a screen?”

For more information about Victoria, her books and other apps, log onto www.littleguru.co.uk

]]> 1.3542503 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:34:58 +0000 http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/adam_gray_makes_crisp_bacon_hash_with_fried_duck_egg_1_3542477

This week’s recipe of the week is from Adam Gray, co-owner of the award-winning Red Lion in East Haddon

THIS is a great brunch dish, with the fried duck egg giving the hash extra richness.

The smoked bacon hash can be made well in advance and if you do not want to use bacon then it can be substituted with slow cooked duck or guinea fowl leg meat.

Ingredients:

l 75g shallots

l 100ml Farrington’s Mellow Yellow rapeseed oil

l 2 tsp fresh sage, finely chopped

l Ground white pepper

l 350g smoked streaky bacon

l 500g baking potatoes

To serve:

l 4 duck eggs

l 50g unsalted butter

l 1 dollop of tomato ketchup

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6.

Prick the potatoes all over with a fork, put them directly on the oven shelf and bake for about an hour or until the potatoes seem three-quarters cooked.

Meanwhile, grill or fry the bacon rashers until they are cooked, then chop them roughly.

Finely chop the shallots and sage. Heat a little rapeseed oil in a frying pan and fry them gently, without browning, until the shallots are soft.

Protecting your hands with kitchen mitts, peel and grate the potatoes into a mixing bowl while they are still hot.

Add the shallot and sage mixture, then the cooked bacon and mix thoroughly. Season with ground white pepper only – no salt.

Divide the mixture into four portions and shape as desired. Place on a small tray or plate and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Put a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add a little rapeseed oil and fry the hash cakes until golden brown on each side. Remove from the pan and keep warm.

Add a little rapeseed oil to the pan along with the butter and fry the duck eggs to your liking.

To serve, sit a smoked bacon hash cake in the middle of each serving plate and place a fried duck egg on top. Accompany with tomato and apple chutney or a spoonful of tomato ketchup.