We have been passing through many locks as we begin to head up into the hills on the edge, of what is now Bavaria, but as it has only been part of Bavaria for a little over 100 years, the locals have not quite accepted it yet & still consider themselves Frankonians, which is what they used to be. This was made quite clear by the very comical local glass blower, who gave a demonstration on our ship today. ( I may not have mentioned that although we spend several hours a day onshore, there are numerous activities on the ship also.) Today our shore excursion was for about 4 hours to Miltenberg & Wertheim. We walked up 2 hills to 2 castles & explored both medieval towns. This gives a whole new meaning to the word 'old'. The buildings are maintained in perfect conditioned (as you would expect in Germany) & are still lived in & traded out of. For example the butcher shop has traded out of the same premises continuously for over 600 years, the pub has been open since the 1200s with lots of famous people such as presidents & popes having stayed there over the years including Elvis Presley while doing military service in Germany. The main street is granite cobble stone dating back to the Romans, around 2000 years ago and everything is neat & tidy.
Next day....The ship sailed last night (last afternoon) at 8pm & progressed through many locks to arrive in Wurzburg this morning at around 8am.
We had the priviledge of a guided tour through the residence of the Prince Bishop from several hundred years ago.The sandstone building was in addition to his castle on the other side of the river. Sounds a little boring, but it wasn't. The building covered a whole city block & the oppulence was astounding all this squeezed out of a poor rural community by a fat greedy tyrant. The town itself is quite modern as it was mostly destroyed during the war. Forget the Sistine chapel, this has the largest ceiling fresco in the world at 677 square metres.
Afternoon nap was in order as it was very hot outside. We sail in an hour at 6.30pm.
Yvonne tells me we are now officially as fat as pigs, as we have put on all the weight we lost & then some.
Next day....The ship sailed last night (last afternoon) at 8pm & progressed through many locks to arrive in Wurzburg this morning at around 8am.
We had the priviledge of a guided tour through the residence of the Prince Bishop from several hundred years ago.The sandstone building was in addition to his castle on the other side of the river. Sounds a little boring, but it wasn't. The building covered a whole city block & the oppulence was astounding all this squeezed out of a poor rural community by a fat greedy tyrant. The town itself is quite modern as it was mostly destroyed during the war. Forget the Sistine chapel, this has the largest ceiling fresco in the world at 677 square metres.
Afternoon nap was in order as it was very hot outside. We sail in an hour at 6.30pm.
Yvonne tells me we are now officially as fat as pigs, as we have put on all the weight we lost & then some.
Prince Bishops residence. The pictures lose the wow factor.
Prince Bishops residence.
Outside Prince Bishops residence.
Prince Bishops residence
Yvonne checks out a lock wall 3 inches from our boat, prior to flooding.
5 minutes later, the lock is now flooded & the view has improved.
Barges coming & going in the lock as we leave it.
A lock in Wurzburg that our ship has just passed through. There was no spare space beside our boat though as there is only about 4 inches clearance.
A building from 1480 in Miltenberg.
The main street of Miltenberg.
This pub has operated continuosly since the 1200s.
Miltenberg town square.
Yvonne entering the castle at Wertheim.
Wertheim castle.
A passing heavily loaded barge.
Roz & Yvonne under a tree with a statue in Prince Bishops garden.
Prince Bishops residence.
