Wurzburg

This day was a bit of a disappointment.  It seems Viking decided because it was Christmas and no one could shop, that no one would want to see the town of Rothenburg.  It is one of Germany’s most scenic routes.  It is  the best preserved medieval town in Germany with a 1.5 mile city wall from the middle ages.  The last time we tried to see it the river was low and they also cancelled it.  Writing a letter about this grrr.

We did however get to go to Wurtzburg.  There is only a tiny part of the palace that was not detroyed in WWII.  We got to go into those rooms, but could not take pictures because of the frescoes.  I have to think, “Hmm our tax dollars at work,” to have restored all of these palaces.

It was orginally built between 1720 and 1744 for the Prince Bishop Joahh Philipp Franz von Schonborn.  These Prince Bishops had both political and religious power which seemed to be quite a gravy train.  

Note: the dates on all the pictures are wrong.  I bought a “new used” camera and did not get it set right.  I wanted the dates  on the pictures because in the past when I took pictures my daughter called me a liar and accused me of buying all the pictures......so I allowed the dates and it is wrong so she will still say I lied about taking the pictures but ANYWAY!

 When coming for a visit with the Prince Bishop your carriage would approach the doors from the right.  Your status was dtermined by  how many horses pulled your carriage.  The doors would be opened to the right (the grand stairway would be on your left as your carriage entered)and your driver woudl make a U turn  placing you at the foot of the grand stair case.  The steps are low and gentle so that guests could easily ascend the long stairway in their finery a gowns.

 One third of the palace today is used for city offices, private business offices and university classrooms.

City of Wurzburg at the foot of the palace.

 You can see the Prince Bishop’s residence seeking over the city buildings.

The palace was built so that the Prince Bishop would not have to make the long commute from his residence.  This is what the old residence looks like from the Palace.

My Jim.  The trip was really hard for him.  

The first chance you get...HATE PARKINSON’S DISEASE.  It steals the very essence of a person’s being.  It is a long, sad painful process.

The best part of the palace for me was the incredible wine cellar deep below.  We sampled Germany’s renowned Reisling wine.  It was very good, however, I have to mention that the number 2 Reisling in the world is produced in the Coumbia Valley at the Cave B (Or is it B Cave) Winery in Quincy, Washington.   (Where my grandparents lived.

These pictures are not too good.  It was pouring rain outside.....they would not let us into the Christmas day mass.....so we drank Resisling.

Wertheim was a charming town where the Main (pronounced mine) river meets to Rhine. It is in the state of Franconia.  Franconians are known for not being the most positive people.  If they visit you and have a nice time their comment might be, “It wasn’t as dreadful as I thought it would be.”

 This was the walkway from the ship to the main part  Wertheim.

The Rhine divides Franconia from Bavaria the state that has quite a snobby reputation..BMW, Mercedes etc. Less known than Pisa there is also a leaning tower here, The Pointed Tower.  Originally it was built as a lookout.  If danger was spotted they....played music!  Its was once a prison for “Drunkards and Shrews”.  This tower leans because of 800 years of flooding along the river.  Since the town is at the intersection of two rivers it floods quite frequently.   As you walk along the shops and houses you will notice flood lines with dates recording the floods.  Shops are on the first floor  and residences are ont he upper floors so living quarters will not be flooded.

Notice the tiny window in the middle?  That was so the man could keep up wtih what his neighbors were doing.

Jim standing by our ship the Viking Freya

Frankfurt to Nuremburg....2013

For two years I have been blocked  out of my blog...... then today it pops up and encourages me to post....go figure.  The timing however is great.  We just returned from a trip to Germany.

We slid into Frankfurt late in the afternoon...well, not that late, but considering it gets dark by 4 PM late is realtive.   The Freya was docked by the old medieval dowtown.  The Christmas Market was still at full tilt so we walked down the cobblestone walk by the river to the old part of town.  I have to say  I was not all that impressed. Perhaps because it was a small market, but it reminded me of the county fair with varieties of German food everywhere I looked.  Most impressive was the old carousel, blinking and playing its typical music.  There were as many adults riding it as children.

Jim and I were amused that Frankfurt is billed as a “bustling city of commerce, full of vertiginous sky scrapers, slick city bankers and vast international trade fairs.”  We did not see a building over 20 stories and only about 4 of those.  It is however the birthplace of Anne Frank..certainly noteable.