Our RV Adventures

5/7/2019

Our ship docked in Bamberg, Germany for about an hour or so, long enough to let off those of us who were doing the daily excursion, Then, as they’ve done before, they sailed off down the Main River, where we will meet up with them again at dockside in Zeil Am Main.

They do this to allow the ship to make better time along the river, while we’re taking in the city.

Our tour started about 9:15 with a walk from the bus stop into town. Luckily our guide was on crutches, and although I think she was trying to hide it, I believe she was a few months pregnant. I say ‘luckily’ because it meant she walked a little slower. Nicer for us.

Bamberg is another one of the towns in this area that dates to the early 900’s. And for hundreds of years it was an important city of the Holy Roman Empire, and for a short time, the main center.

Bamberg sits on the river Regnitz , near where it branches off from the Main. And by ‘sits on’, the old town hall actually sits on a island in the middle of the river.

The story goes that the local religious leaders wouldn’t give the town leaders property to build a town hall, so they expanded a small island in the middle of the and built it there.

Here’s what it looks like from in town.

The view from the bridge highlighted the waterfront and its importance to the city.

Coming across the bridge, the first thing we saw was what’s nicknamed the Wedgewood House, and it’s easy to see why. Known as the Hellerhaus because it was last owned by a famous art collector named Heller, it actually dates from the middle ages. Like pretty much every thing around here, I guess.

Our next stop was the Bamberg Witch Trials Memorial.

During the early 1600’s Bamberg was the location of over 1000 witch trials and executions, peaking between 1626 and 1631. Apparently, one of the reasons it stopped because people started to realize that anyone could be accused and executed, even themselves.

The memorial doesn’t have a lot of impact in the daytime, but it’s more more impressive at night.

We also got a look at St. Martin’s Church.

Built in the classic Baroque style, it was completed in only 7 years and finished in 1693.

Taking a break, we decided to try some of Bamberg’s famous Smoked Beer.

We had already seen the location of the 600+ year old brewery so we had to try it. Or at least I had to try it. Jan had to try the Strawberry Shortcake.

And ‘Smoked’ is a very apt description. It tastes like a wood fire. Very unique, and very good.

By this time it was back on the buses so we could meet up with our cruise ship at Zeil Am Main. We got there just in time to watch the Skirnir dock. It pulled right opposite the dock site, only slightly bigger than the ship,

and then using the Auxiliary Control Panels I mentioned the other day,

just slowly moved sideways until it gently touched the dock.

Then without even tying off, with only the thrusters to hold it in place, they lowered a portable gangplank into place,

and we all boarded.

Fifteen minutes and we were back under way again. They don’t mess around.

Dinner was my favorite Angus Ribeye, one of the permanent items on the menu,

while Jan tried one of the daily items,

the Fried Cod.

Then for dessert we both had this delicious fruit pudding.

It’s easy to see why everyone says you’ll gain 10 to 15 pounds on one of these cruises. Yikes!

A number of readers had suggested we bring along magnetic hooks, since the cabin walls are all steel. So the wall underneath our window became our auxiliary closet.

Or rather my closet since just about everything on there is mine. No room left in the real closet for me.

Also I had mentioned the other day about how the wheelhouse on the top deck can retract down to allow passage under the low bridges, and it suddenly dawned on me where it goes.

I had assumed that this area at the back of the bar was just a storeroom, but actually it’s where the wheelhouse ends up. The door that you see just opens to a shallow closet that holds the controls for the room’s audio/visual equipment.

Tomorrow: Würzburg

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Nuremberg    5/6/2019

I mentioned in yesterday’s blog on our visit to Regensburg how when we came out of the town museum that it had turned cold and rainy.

Well, today wasn’t better. In fact it was worse, with 30° at 4:30 this morning, and only up to 32 by 8:30. So everyone was scrambling, including us, for some warm coats/jackets. Everyone had looked at the average temps this time of the year and packed their clothes according, not planning for daytime temps in the 30’s.

In fact the ship sold out of their fleece jackets like the ones we got (on the left)

and had to get the much more expensive ones on the right.

Our Nuremberg walking tour was in the afternoon, so we had lunch up on the Aquavit Terrace which is kind of a light buffet, with both hot and cold dishes. One of which was listed as “Meatloaf”.

Well, it was meat, and it is in a loaf, I guess. But it AIN’T Meatloaf. It’s more like one of those Hormel canned hams. But I guess that some mushrooms and a little gravy makes it all good. Or not.

Today the Skirnir was docked right in town so we were able to step right off the ship and onto our tour buses.

Looking back at the ship we saw that the Sundeck was still configured for the upcoming low bridges.

Not only does the wheelhouse retract into the the deck when necessary, but so does the ‘BBQ Grill’ on the left side. There’s also one on the right side that’s retracted now.

I call them ‘BBQ Grills’ because that’s what they call them, because that’s what they look like. I thought that maybe the cooks use them for BBQ’ing, but actually they’re Auxiliary Control Panels.

The Skirnir has thrusters that can actually move the ship sideways. So they just pull up besides the dock and then move sideways until they’re perfectly positioned. And the Auxiliary Panels let them keep a close eye on the dockside as they’re moving.

Neat!

Our tour started out by passing by a number of the Nazi stadiums, rally grounds, and buildings, including the Federal Building where the Nuremberg Trials were held in Rm. 600. And trials are still held there today.

Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos because of the darkened and curved glass windows on the bus, so just use your imagination.

After our bus tour, we began our walking tour of the old city, including the medieval Nuremberg Castle.

I  will have to admit  that the Castle tour almost finished Jan and I off. The walk up to the Castle was a very steep climb, with largest cobblestones we encountered the entire trip. They were humped up about 4”, very rough, and hard to walk on. And they were wet, due to the on and off cold drizzles we were having.

By the time we were to the top our ankles were screaming for Advil, and we were both hobbling the rest of the day. And we probably wouldn’t have made it to the top with some assist from our friends.

But once we were at the top, the view out over the city was great.

Next up was a couple of very old churches, St Sebaldus, which dates from the early 1200’s.

and the Frauenkirche (Our Lady’s Church), which was consecrated in the mid-1300’s.

The clock in the tower has been ticking away since 1509.

Did I mentioned that everything over here is just OLD.

As we walked through town we passed the Albrecht-Dürer house.

Built in 1420, it was the home of Dürer, a noted Renaissance artist.

We also noticed that a number of houses had these intricate statues mounted on the corner. Not sure what the significance is, though.

We ended our guided tour at the Main Market in the center of town next to the City Hall. Our rendezvous point to meet up later to head back to the buses was the Schöner Brunnen.

A 60+ foot high Gothic spire, the fountain dates from the late-1400’s, and depicts 40 different colorful figures, ranging from leaders of the Holy Roman Empire, Church Fathers, Moses, and seven of the Apostles.

Since we were getting a little hungry, we decided to try the nearby Behringer’s Bratwursthausle, listed as the home of the original Nuremberg Bratwurst. But we didn’t know at the time how ‘original’ it was. Founded in 1313, the European Union has designated it as the ‘First Sausage in Europe’.

Now I’m not sure how the Old Sausage Kitchen in Regensburg feels about this, since they’ve been around since 900 A.D. Our guide told us that’s there’s a big rivalry between the two cities over their sausages. I guess now we know why.

Our guide told us that Nurembergers are known for being especially grumpy. In fact she said that if Snow White needed a new Grumpy, she’d come to Nuremberg. And we found this out for ourselves.

We ordered sausages with kraut and bread, and this is what we got.

Note: No kraut.

And though we asked repeatedly, in both English and my halting German, we never got it. And in fact, the more we ask, the grumpier he got.

And before you ask, no, it wasn’t just us. Others from our cruise were having the same problem. And when we tried to get our check, it got even worse. He had them all mixed up, with different tables lumped together. And the more we tried to correct him, the grumpier he got.

But finally settling up, we headed over to other side of the market square to buy some of the famous Nuremberg gingerbread. But what we got was kind of disappointing. Turns out that Nuremberg gingerbread has no ginger in it.

Or cinnamon or cloves.

In fact, it pretty much tasted like an moist oatmeal cookie. But it was tasty, anyway. How can gingerbread not have any ginger in it?

Back at the ship, we took the obligatory nap, gobbled down some more Advil, and met up for dinner.

Jan and I both repeated on our Appetizers and Entrees, with the only new dishes, our desserts.

Jan had a delicious Mango sorbet, so good she almost ordered seconds.

And I had the Blueberry Crumble, also delicious.

Tomorrow: Bamberg

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