Nuremberg

After spending several hours in Nuremberg - austere is a word that comes to mind. Yes, there are some beautiful parts and some amazing architecture......but for me the history of the place seemed to over shadow everything.

This was another city that was mostly rubble at the end of the Second World War and has been rebuilt

and now 500,000 people call it home.

There is an incredible number of buildings built of sandstone.....evidently sandstone was freely available just outside the city.

The Nuremberg castle is worth a visit and as with most castles sits high over the city with great views.

Walking up to the castle

More angles of the castle

Check out this huge lock on the door into the inner court at the castle......just imagine having to put this key in your handbag!

Of course it is infamous as the place where Hitler and the Nazis had their huge rallies, and then at the end of the war where the war crimes tribunal sat while criminals of war were put on trial.

Looking out over the city where the Nazis held their big rallies.

This is where the war tribunal trials were held after the war. The first trial took 12 months!

The verdicts -  12 were sentenced to hang, 7 given life imprisonment and 3 were acquitted.

The old city of Nuremberg is divided into 2 parts by a river. The original city wall built for fortification is still intact.

Walking down from the castle towards the city.

And through ancient underground tunnels

It is a very old city, the first mention of it in historic records is in 1050. There is so much history here, and once again one realises just how young our country is down under!

This old building is now a youth hostel!

It was also good to see some modern structures. Behind the archway in the photo below are 30 pillars 

built to depict human rights.

And I had to take a photo of some flowers to cheer myself up at one point :-)

There were so many points of interest as we wandered around the town, including the bunker where the people of town would go during the war....it now houses art!

These two churches are in the main square

I don't know who this is but he looks over the square and I thought he was quite cute!

This is City Hall

And the gilded fountain in the main market square

Also in the market square is the Church of Our Lady with its famous Glockenspiel that does its thing every 24 hours at midday. We were there at that time so we joined with hundreds of others to watch. Everyone stops what they're doing and stares upwards to watch and listen as the bells chime and the figures move and play their various instruments.

Nuremberg has always been famous for toy manufacture, although not so much these days. However the international toy fair is still held here every year at the beginning of February......just a bit of useful information for you:-)

I was a told something you just have to try in Nuremberg is the gingerbread.....and so of course I did! And it is so delicious! Soft and spicey and yummy.....would be perfect at Christmas!

And check these out.....cherry snails they're called......I didn't try them but they looked amazing!

As we were sitting in the bus ready to leave the city I saw this......hmmm.....Audi drivers huh?

Till next time.......

Plan B.......

Well......today has had highs and lows! The main 'high' is the water.......it is just too high - everywhere! And the 'lows' are the bridges!

After setting off from Coblenz this morning at 9am.....we were all so excited. It has been a glorious summer day here and we all came out of our cabins and up onto the top deck like moles out of holes...ha! Everyone was posing for photos, as well as taking last minute photos of the scenery.....we were like a bunch of excited school kids.

Good bye Coblenz!

So many boats waiting to leave and continue their cruises....

As we turned into the Rhine you could feel the difference as we ventured into a strong current but all was well and we motored down river.

As we came to the first bridge we all held our breaths.....but no worries.....then the second one....all good and we thought all was well. 

Coming to the first bridge.....

We made it......yay!

 But a little further on we got called to a meeting in the Panorama Bar to be told that river authorities had closed the river further south and we must turn back to Coblenz!!

The bridges we had safely gone under were newer and more modern, but further down river the are older and lower. So disappointing :-( 

We have all felt for the crew of our boat who have done their very best to make our time on board memorable.....and it has been. We will never forget the town of Coblenz and our time here.

They put on a fabulous Bavarian lunch for us on the top deck - complete with whole suckling pig, fillet steak, roast chicken, fish, vegetables, salads......and so on.....plus complimentary beer and wine.

The Bavarian music was playing and it was actually a very festive mood. 

Even on this short stretch of the river we passed beautiful scenery, quaint towns and of course......castles!!

We all had a good laugh and lots of fun as we enjoyed our final meal on the Amadeus Princess......and talked about how fortunate we have been to have experienced what we have so far. Who else gets to see water levels that only happen every 500 years?

At 3pm we boarded a bus that was bound for Wurzburg....a 3 - 4 hour journey. So we are still seeing Germany, just not quite the way we expected. Again the countryside was very beautiful...the coach was very comfortable and I settled back to enjoy the journey....with Keith Urban playing in my ears...gotta love modern technology!

One of the landmarks we passed as we went close to Frankfurt airport - one of the busiest in Europe - was the Hilton Hotel, which is right next to the airport, an incredibly impressive, huge building!

One end of the Hilton Hotel

On arrival in Wurzburg we boarded the Amadeus Classic, a sister ship to the to the Amadeus, which is docked close to the city. So once again we have a floating hotel......it's like doing a cruise but not...ha!

Our tour director from the Amadeus Princess has come with us, along with her assistant, one of the chefs and our favourite waiter - Filip! It's so lovely to have some familiar faces amongst a completely new crew.....the cruise line are really doing their best to make our holiday the best it can be.

We have settled into our new cabins and enjoyed a beautiful dinner. Tomorrow is an early start to once again visit points of interest in this neck of the woods.

So even though our well laid plans have gone out the window, we are all making the best of it and enjoying our unknown adventure......what else can you do??

But unfortunately I have come down with something......yes I think I have definitely caught something......it's called the travel bug!!!   OH NO!!

Till next time......

Eltz Castle

This morning we visited another castle......not again you might say!!  I must admit I did wonder about it too.......but oh I am so glad I went.  This was a true fairytale castle....and I loved it! Definitely the best we've seen so far.  It was only about a 45 minute drive from here in Coblenz, through stunningly beautiful countryside, along side a river that was like a mirror.....the whole thing was picture perfect.

The countryside on today's drive was stunning - beautiful farms, trees and landscapes under a blue sky with fluffy white clouds.

Eltz Castle is more than 850 years old and is privately owned by one family, who have done so for 33 generations, which is particularly impressive! It is open to the public for a few months each year. Photography inside was not allowed but it was so beautifully preserved and maintained.....it took my breath away actually. It is full of magnificent art, tapestries and furniture....and fresh flowers! It actually felt like a home - apart from the fact that it was very cold inside, due to 2 metre thick walls and not much sunlight coming in. So definitely my favourite castle so far!

Like a fairytale 

It was a beautiful summer day here today, so good to feel the sun on your face. After our trek through the castle, up and down winding staircases, staring at ancient tapestries and oohing and aahing at the art etc.....it seemed fitting to indulge in a nice cold beer......and it just so happened there was a cafe on site, which of course is the case in most of these places.

Good German beer :-)

Some of our merry group!

As we were leaving the castle I saw my car again.....a different one this time.....maybe it belongs to a prince?

There are many vineyards in this area of Germany and we passed some again today. It is intriguing how they plant vines on steep hillsides. I have learnt that this produces better grapes and therefore better wine as the fruit is able to get more sunlight because of the angle. The grapes grown on flat land produces wine that is considered just 'everyday' wine!

A typical vineyard on steep slopes.

This evening on board we had a Pirates Dinner with all the waiters dressed up and the dining room decorated. The 'boys' played their parts well.....so a bit of hilarity going on!

Filip our waiter in character:-)

Enjoying dinner with Helen and Gay

The hotel manager informed us at dinner that we are set sailing at 9am tomorrow.....woohoo! It is still very unclear how far we can get down the Rhine but at least we are on the move, and we will see what each day brings.  As much as we have enjoyed our time here in Coblenz it will be good to move on and up on deck after dinner there was a quiet air of excitement!

New friends.......Gay and Patty

And Filip.......he's really a charmer :-)

Till next time........

Heidelberg

Another lovely day here in Germany. We are still docked at Coblenz but I am happy to say the water is very slowly starting to recede and there is an optimistic feeling we may be able to continue on our cruise in a day or two.....so we wait and see.

Today we took a coach tour to Heidelberg......2 - 3 hours drive from here. Driving through the German country side is very beautiful - it's very green! But so often today my thoughts turned to the war and I imagined soldiers hiding and running through the fields and forests...being here in this part of the world where so much fighting and killing took place....it is sobering for me. Somehow things take on a different perspective.....

Heidelberg was not bombed during the war - it must be one of the few places that wasn't. There is a strong history of the Protestant church here and in the 1500's the Lutheran church was established.

The city hall in the main town square

The church in the main square.....of interest...it has 7 different points of entry. The men and women used to be required to enter separately from each other.

Heidelberg has the oldest university in Germany - it was established in 1386- and all up around 148,000 people live here.

One of the main tourist attractions is the Heidelberg castle....it is massive! It towers over the town high up on the hill. We took a cable car type thing to get a closer look.

Just one small part of the castle from the inner court

Check out this wine barrel. It holds 225,000 litres of wine and took the oak from 120 trees to make it. 

The local wine makers were required to bring a tenth of their wine harvest (a tithe) and pour it in, from there it would be pumped into the dining room!

That's a lot of wine!

This tree was also fascinating .......so ancient.....it is wound round one of the pillars in the outer court.

Here's Robyn Cooney and I standing on a castle balcony high above the town of Heidelberg 

So after all the history we needed some fortification so I thought it must be time for apple strudel! I had been hanging out for this and it wasn't hard to find a few others who were keen as well.

Yeah.....it was soooo good!

As we wandered around I couldn't resist taking a photo of this old Mercedes bus....

It looked so very cool but I imagine maybe not so good on a long trip....ha! The buses we have been using are very comfortable - even have footrests.....it's the little things huh?

And check out the cobble stones....all the streets are like this....so very old and so very not suited to high heel shoes!

So another interesting day in this beautiful little corner of the world. We are back on board our boat, the Amadeus Princess, having been given a beautiful dinner once again.

The crew on this boat are mainly from Romania. They work for 10 months, then have 2 months off. That's 10 months every day.....no days off! Sometimes they might get a couple of hours off in an afternoon.

Filip our waiter, is a young man from Romania, who is married with a son who is two and a half. He has to go where the work is, and does so to provide a better life for his family.....my heart goes out to him.

I am trying to imagine if my little grandson only saw his daddy 2 months of the year......can't bear to think about it. We are truly blessed to live in a country like NZ.

Till next time.......