July 23 Sailing over night to Wurzburg, Germany

Lots of thunder and lightning last night. Got some rain so everything really fresh this morning.
Just past by some keel boats with the masts up. Not sure why, they can not really go anywhere due to the low bridges and the Main river is not that big!

Since leaving Bamberg we are now on the Main River. Difficult to tell except the river is a little wider, sometimes.

After a lazy morning on the boat we arrived in Wurzburg and on the bus for a tour to the Princes-Bishop Residence. A huge lavish palace. The entry way and the rooms were all very large and decorated. They used plaster to decorate the walls. At first I thought they had used some material to hang from the walls and ceiling but it is actually plaster. Amazing how they got it to look like flowing curtain material. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures.

Then a short walk into the city. Then onto the stone bridge. Apparently this is the oldest one not the one in Bamberg! This one is great as everyone was standing around having a glass of white wine. This is the thing to do here. You could not find a better setting. I had to do the same but that was after walking up the hill to the Marienberg fortress. This is a huge fortress on the hill that dates back to the medieval times and building continued on for about 400 more years. A real mix of buildings and walls.

Met up with Frank and we stood on the bridge having wine. The bargain of the trip. An overflowing glass (more than 250 ml) for 3.50 euros! And the wine was pretty good.

Back on the boat for a quick swim and dinner. Dinner was a birthday celebration for Gillian. Champagne, birthday song, big candle and of course cake.


July 22 Sailing over night to Bamberg

Arriving much earlier than planned again since there is not much other boat traffic. Rumour has it that only 3 boats of 25 made it through the low water a few days ago. We are very lucky to make it. The trip would be much different if we had to bus it to all the ports.

Docked in another industrial area, but still only a 10 minute bus ride to the city centre. Short stop at the Green market set up in the main square. Short walk across the bridge and through the Old city hall. It is built on a bridge as the bishop at the time would not allow city hall to be built on land. This is a very nice city.

Mostly a university town with lots of breweries. Must be a connection there. Stopped at a local brewer that makes a smokey beer. Tried it. Looks dark but not dark beer tasting. You can really taste the smoke in the beer. Not sure if I like bacon flavoured beer!

Then to another church. Had some free time to wander around. Lots of little streets with lots of shops.
Some beer tasting last night at dinner. Frank bought 3 different beers from the Monks so he shared them with us. A couple were fairly dark and tasted that way but the first ale was really quite good.


July 21 Sailing over night to Nuremburg

We left the Danube at Regensburg yesterday afternoon and are now on the Rhine Main Danube canal. This joins the 3 rivers and allows travel between the 3. The canal was only finished in the 1990s at a cost of trillions of dollars. Very interesting as in places the water level is much higher than the land surrounding the canal.

First thing this morning we hit the highest lock, it is now all down hill for here to Amsterdam. About a 200 metre difference. The celebrate we were given champagne and orange juice on the top deck. The crew actually opened up a section just for this. And just through it, the road actually goes under the canal! A weird sight.
First stop was the Justice Building where the Nuremburg trials were held. We could not go in as it is still an active court house.

Then to the Imperial Castle. A medieval castle. Lots of renovations being done here as well.

Then to the Nazi Rally grounds. This is huge and can hold about 5000 people. The guide was excellent. He kept a very balanced but open view about WWII. Much of the site is in disrepair but it is still used for concerts and a car rally. Nearby is the Documentation Centre in the Congress building. The congress building was never finished. It is huge coliseum type building that now houses the Documentation Centre. The Documentation Centre is a historical time line leading up to and about the war. Very well done. We only had about an hour but you could spend 5 hours if you listened to all the parts.