10/9/14 Nuremberg

We awoke in Nuremberg this morning and after breakfast, we put our suitcases in the hall for the move, said goodbye to our favorite people on the ship, Edina, our housekeeper, Olivia, the dining room manager, Mary and "Mr. Coffee in the dining room.  We will miss them and only hope that we find their counterparts in kindness on the next ship.  We took a short bus ride into the city and we had very good commentary from John, our tour guide.  He is originally from Wales and came to Nuremberg 22 years ago.  He has been a tour guide for 20 of them.  We saw from the bus, many of the important sites from World War II including the place where the huge Nazi rallies were held, the courthouse where the Tribunal was held, the documentation center, and Hitler's hotel.  Most of the modern city was destroyed by 44 air strikes, but much of the main buildings underwent a massive reconstruction after the war using the original stone.  We began our walking part of the tour in the castle.  It was well constructed and was heavily fortified.  The guide said that the Allies were very fortunate that the city surrendered as it would have been difficult to "storm" this castle!  We walked down the hill to the center of the old city, which is surrounded by the original old city wall.  In the Hauptmarkt (city center), there is a beautiful and ornate gold fountain.  As the registry office is nearby, this is a favorite photo op for new brides and grooms.  In fact, we saw two weddings while we were there.  One of the traditions here is for the new bride to turn a ring on the ornate fence surrounding the fountain.  If it is turned three times clock-wise, you will become pregnant.  The other fascinating site in the center is the Church of Our Lady.  At the top of the church, is a mechanical clock where you can see the Holy Roman Emperor and his prince electors moving around him.  This comes to life every day at noon and we were lucky enough to be there at that time.  The glockenspiel music that accompanied the movement of the princes was lovely.  We came back to our new ship and had lunch before quickly unpacking.  A few minutes later, the ladies of the group went back to town to go shopping.  The weather today is glorious - blue skies, bright sun - a great day to walk outside and enjoy the weather after the spate of gloomy days that we have had.  Tomorrow we will be in Regensburg.