Wertheim Am Main, Germany
5/9/2019
Our Skirnir docked in Wertheim at 8:30am, and after an early breakfast we left on our Wertheim Walking Tour by taking the train about 9:15. Or a Mini-Train anyway.
And of course, as it’s been for the last few days, it was cold and rainy.
As we came down the gangplank there was a supply truck backed up starting to unload supplies, which strangely enough, seemed to be mostly made up of alcohol.
And for the first time I saw how the ship sometimes hooks up to shore power.
They would rather run their shipboard generators, but sometimes they have to use shore power for environmental reasons, and rather than try to wrestle with one really big, really heavy cable, they use 10 smaller ones.
The train dropped us off in front of the Spitzer Turm, also known as the Leaning Tower of Wertheim.
Tilting due to 800 years of Main River flooding, it was originally started in the 1100’s and added to in the early 1200’s. About 120 feet high, it once served as a prison for drunkards and “quarrelsome wenches”.
It really doesn’t tilt as much as the photo shows dur to lens distortion, but it is said to be a coupole of degrees further along than Pisa.
Like its slightly younger counterpart in Italy, there are regular attempts to stabilize it, with some success, I guess, since it’s still standing.
Wertheim is first mentioned as a city in 779A.D, and some of the many buildings supposedly have been around about that long, especially the ones known as half-timber houses.
And apparently the blue ones are a sign of wealth.
We made our way through the rest of the town taking in the many colorful houses and shops.
We also noticed a few of these ‘corner blocks’ that was the signature of the builder and his workers.
The date is kind of hard to make out, but it says 1595, kind of a youngster here, relatively speaking.
In the background of this city photo, you can make out the remains of Castle Wertheim at the top of the hill.
Dating from the early 800’s, the castle remains in ruins.
This colorful church has a strange history.
Originally it was a Catholic church, but with a change in local rulers, it was given over to the Protesants. Then another ruler, and it was back to the Catholics.
Rinse, Lather, Repeat.
Finally the citizens rebelled and divided the church between the two religions, and everyone was happy.
Getting back to the ship about 12:15, we saw the group getting ready for the 15 mile bike ride starting at 1pm.
Better them than Jan and I.
Heading out about 12:45 we got a better look at Castle Wertheim along the Main.
Further along we passed another castle on a hill, but bigger and more modern, it seems,
And more of the vertical vineyards, these bigger and more commercial it looks like.
About 5:00 we docked for a short time at Freudenberg to pick up the Bike tour riders, and then we were back on the way.
Later, a little before dinner, I looked out our room window and saw this.
This is the wall of the lock we were in, about 6 inches away. And it’s same on the other side, too.
At 443 feet long and 38 feet width, the Skirnir, and the other Viking river cruisers, are sized to fit in the smallest lock along the Danube/Main/Rhine rivers. And they cram in every inch they can.
Tomorrow:
Cruising the Scenic Middle Rhine ending up at Koblenz in the afternoon.
jkhklh
