10/8/14 Bamberg photos

I am putting up three pix of a lock that we went through this morning.  The blue building is just one that caught my eye in Bamberg.  There is also the highly decorated old city hall, the old slaughterhouse, a loaf of bread in a bakery window, the tomb of Heinrich II and Kunithunde, a rose in the cathedral garden, a door knocker, and Neptune or the pitchfork man as the locals call him, in the Green Market square.

10/8/14 Bamberg

We sailed through more locks today.  It is interesting to watch the lock fill will water up to the level of the next section of the river.  I took some photos and hope to put some of them on later.  It is a gloomy day again today - off and on rain or sprinkles.  We sailed through the morning and stopped in a small town short of Bamberg as the locks were busy today and the captain did not want us to be late for our walking tour.  After lunch, we boarded buses and arrived in Bamberg 20 minutes later.  Our guide was a young student at the university.  She is studying French and Latin with hopes to teach school when she is finished.  She was very good and spoke English well.  We toured the town passing by the very ornate old city hall, the old slaughter house which was built over the river (no wonder everyone drank wine in those days), and ended at the catherdral (built in 1012).  The cathedral was built by Heinrich II as he and his wife (Kunithunde) had no children and he wanted the people of the diocese to pray for them after death in order to shorten their time in purgatory.  He also wanted the city to become a second Rome and there are churches on each of the seven hills of the city.  He eventually became Emporor of the Holy Roman Empire and both he and his wife are buried in the cathedral as was Pope Clement II.  Bamberg was one of the few cities in Germany not destroyed by World War II bombing.  Our guide suggested that as Bamberg is known for its smoky beer, the allied bombers spared the city so that they could celebrate here after the war.

This evening we will be leaving the Main River and begin sailing down the Main-Danube Canal that was built between 1960 and 1992.  Without this man-made canal, we would not be able to make this trip.  It is 106 miles long with 16 locks that raise the water to 1332 feet.  We are hoping for better weather tomorrow.  Tomorrow is the day that we change ships in Nuremberg.  We will be on the Eistla for the rest of the journey

10/7/14 Wurzburg

Today we arrived in Wurzburg.  We had to take a bus into town as one of the gates on the locks was not operating properly, but it was a short 20 minute ride so no problem.  We had a lovely American born guide, Mary, who met her husband, a German, and moved here 15 years ago.  She was very enthusiastic and knowledgable about the sites, history and art that we encountered on the tour.  We started at the Prince Bishop's Palace - a mini-Versailles - an ornate baroque palace.  We toured through the royal guest rooms - quite fancy - the opulence is breathtaking, especially when you think that the common people paid for most of it through their taxes and tithes and the ruler was both the head of government and the church. The palace was commissioned by the Prince/Bishop von Schonborn and he chose the architect Neumann to design the palace.  His grand staircase with its magnificent vaulted ceiling is a work of art and a treat for the eye as he was a master of spatial illusion.  The four continents (the only ones known in 1752) are illustrated on the ceiling.  We wanted to spend some time in the gardens, but it was raining a bit at that point so we skipped it.  We had a short walk to the city center and then took a shuttle bus back to the ship for lunch.  After lunch, the ship finally arrived in Wurzburg and we went back to the center to poke into some of the shops.  I was a bit disappointed as most of the stores were big ones and I prefer the small specialty shops - I find them much more interesting.  Although we did not get to his museum, Wurzburg is known as the birthplace of Wilhelm Rontgen who is credited with discovering the x-ray.  He won a Nobel Prize for this in 1901.  The other outstanding item of note in this city is that the vineyards are all around and come right down to the edged of the city.  The castle which is situated on the top of the hill across the river from the main part of town has vineyards up the slope to the castle walls - quite striking.  It is still a bit gloomy out, but the rain has stopped for the moment.  We have free time now until dinner so will try to get a few pix on the blog.

photos from Wurzburg 10/7/14

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside the palace so I have include a few outside shots along with a pic of the clock tower in the main square and one of the castle on the hill on the other bank of the river.

10/7/14 Photos of Miltenberg

The photos today are of Karl, the glass blower, the half-timbered houses of Miltenberg, a funky bird and some a hedgehog family for sale at the shops, a bar sign over the Inn of the Giant, and a swan who greeted us as we waited for our ship in Wertheim.

10/6/14 From Miltenberg to Wertheim

We had a walking tour after lunch of lovely, medieval Miltenberg.  There were many half-timbered houses, many with gabled roofs.  The oldest house I noticed had a date of 1330.  Our guide was quite good.  She was originally from South Africa but married a German and came here to live nine years ago.  She has two daughters and was telling us a little bit of information that we may not have gotten elsewhere.  For example, you have to pay 2800 euros for your driver's license.  Now, granted, that is for your lifetime, but can you imagine how long you would have to save to afford a license and then you would have to save again for the car!  That would certainly discourage most of the teen driving in this country unless your folks footed the bill.  She also told us that her younger daughter has just left home to start nursing school.  It is a three year school and she is paid to study: 800 euros per month the first year, 1000 the second, and 1200 the third.  She has to pay for a place to live, but it was only 140 euros per month.  Sounds like they encourage young people to go into certain professions - I'm sure nursing isn't the only field in which this practice is common.

We did thoroughly enjoy the town and took lots of pictures of the quaint houses.  We all came together after some free time to poke into the shops in the outdoor beer garden (The Inn of the Giant) at the Hotel Zum Riesen, a guesthouse where princes have stayed since the 12th century.  We walked back through the town and boarded our bus.  We rode for a half hour to Wertheim, where we met up with our ship, which had sailed here while we were having our walking tour in Miltenberg.  We spent a few minutes in the market square here and took a picture of the castle on the hill before boarding the ship again just before dinner.  Everyone is quite tired tonight as walking on cobblestones is hard on the feet and knees.  I will try to get some pictures up tomorrow morning before our next stop.

10/6/14 Sailing along the Main River

We turned into the Main River last night during dinner and then shortly thereafter we went through the first of 67 locks.  Susanne had never been through a lock before so was quite excited to see the process.  We had a great night's sleep and woke up inside another lock.  Most of them have lovely parks on the side and we saw people walking their dogs and jogging.  Unfortunately, we couldn't go up to the sun room to walk as is our usual custom as they have taken the rails down so that we can go under the low bridges on the river.  After breakfast, I washed a few things in the sink, which is quite a challenge as the sink is very small.  I think if you had to wash something large like dungarees or men's slacks, you would have to do it on your body in the shower!  We then went to the lounge to watch a glass blower who came on board at one on the locks.  He had a great sense of humor and gave a very good talk on the various methods and materials available to glassblowers today.  He had a small torch hooked up to propane and he gave several demonstrations.  He is the sixth generation of glassblowers in his family and his son works with him in their studio.  He frequently comes to the States to work with Dale Chihuly, a well known glass artist on the West Coast.  We will sail today until after lunch and then will have a tour of Miltenberg.