Monday, September 7, 2015

Monday, September 7, 2015

Today, we arrived in Roth - our departure point for a motor coach tour of Nürnberg (Nuremberg). It is sprinkling rain - our first day of inclement weather.

Nuremberg is a commercial and industrial center, served by railroads and the Ludwigs Canal which connects the Danube and Main rivers. Most people still connect Nuremberg with the Nazis. It was here that Hitler built the Zeppelin Field where many rallies were held. The grandstand remains but the tall columns once topped with a swastika were torn down. We saw the grandstand and saw images of the way it was.  We also saw the Congress Hall.  Designed to have a self-supporting roof and 70 meters in height, it was not completed. It currently stands at 39 meters. It is mostly built of clinker with a facade of granite panels. It was inspired by the Colosseum in Rome.   In an effort to change its image, Nuremberg has turned the field into an arena for rock concerts, fields for various sporting activities, etc. The Congress Hall is home to the Documentation Center which gives a historical perspective of the rise and fall of Hitler and the Nazi Party. The documentation is given not to praise but to inform in hopes that by remembering the past, it will not be repeated.

With its "glass and steel arrow" or spear, piercing the north wing, the Documentation Centre is a widely visible architectural counterpoint. Inherent in the gesture of this project is a pun on the name and a refutation of the chief Nazi architect Albert Speer who had directed a masterplan for this site including a Zeppelin Field, a stadium to hold 400,000, a March Field for military exercises, a Congress Hall for 50,000, and a 55-metre (180 ft) wide Great Road. This is where Speer had created the "cathedral of light" and where the Nazis drew nearly a million people in rallies between 1933 and 1938. On 1,300 square meters, the permanent exhibition "Fascination and Terror" looks at the causes, the context and the consequences of the National Socialist reign of terror.

After visiting the Documentation Center, we made our way to Courtroom 600 in the Nuremberg Palace of Justice. It was here the the Nuremberg Trials of 1945 - 1949 were held. Many of the surviving high ranking Nazi party members were tried here. The courtroom has changed since the time of the trials since it is still an active courtroom. There is talk of redoing the courtroom to its layout for the trials and it becoming a museum. (Note: The cross in the courtroom was placed there by a current judge who is Catholic.)

 THEN                                                              NOW

During our morning tour, the ms River Splendor (our ship) moved from Roth to Nuremberg. Following the morning tour, folks were given the option to stay in town or go back to the ship and return later via shuttle. The 2:30 shuttle dropped off at city center. From here, we were able to visit the Hauptmarkt(the main market square) - street vendors were selling flowers, fruit, vegetables, etc. The 14th century fountain, Schöner Brunnen, that is normally a highlight of the Hauptmarkt was under renovation so covered.

On the eastern side of the market is Frauenkirche - "Church of Our Lady". Various works of medieval art are located in this church - among them the Tucher altar - the centerpiece depicts the Annunciation, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. One of the most notable features of the church is the Männleinlaufen, a mechanical clock that commemorates the Golden Bull of 1356. The clock was installed in the church in 1506. The Holy Roman Emperor is shown seated with the prince-electors surrounding him. The clock mechanism is activated at midday, a bell is rung to start the sequence followed by the trumpeters and drummer. Then there is a procession of the electors around the figure of the Holy Roman Emperor.

The Saint Sebold's Church, built between 1230 and 1273, is the city's oldest and most important church. The bronze shrine of St. Sebaldus contains the bones of the patron saint that died sometime around 1070. 















Renovation was going on inside the church so it was difficult to get a picture without getting a lift in the picture. Here is one from the internet. 

Not far from St. Sebaldus, we discovered the street with several buildings that were built during Medieval Times.

Making our way back to city center we spotted the 4 o'clock shuttle leaving town which meant we had to wait for the final shuttle at 5:30 p.m. We made the most of it! We tasted the Nuremberg Rostbratwurst! 3 sausages in bread with mustard (Note: we ate 2 before we took picture). We then located a bar overlooking the city center - enjoyed a Tucher beer and a glass of wine while we waited for the 5:30 shuttle back to the ship. Great time to people watch!
















Back at the ship, we had port talk at 6:45 p.m. followed by dinner. For dinner, we had a choice of duck breast with red cabbage or a broiled salmon filet. Lisa and I chose the sirloin steak and potato - which was always available. Following dinner, there was entertainment in the Cabaret Lounge - the "Willy Ketzer" Band. Lisa and I stayed for awhile then went to our room after a long day.

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Today we are in Regensburg. For most of the group a walking tour of Regensburg began at 9 a.m. For others, me among them, the departure for an optional excursion to the Weltenburg Monastery was at 8 a.m. 


We took a motorcoach to the Monastery- The Benedictine Abbey of Weltenburg. Founded by monks in about 620, it is considered the oldest monastery in Bavaria! The monastery courtyard is sided by Bavarian baroque buildings, the highlight of which is the abbey church. Arriving early to the monastery allowed us the opportunity to go into the church for a tour prior to their Sunday service. During our visit inside, we were amazed by the church’s intricately carved high altar and some fascinating works of art. Among them was a sculpture of St. George on a horse fighting a dragon with a frightened woman close by. Our early arrival also allowed us to hear the monks practicing before the morning service. The Weltenburg Monastery is not only known for the abbey church, it is known for its beer! Following the tour of the church, we had a beer and pretzel in the beer garden, which is a frequent spot for church attenders following the Sunday service (wonder if that would work in the States?). The beer offered was one of their most popular - Weltenburg Barock Dunkel (a dark beer).  

We left Weltenburg via boat and traversed the Main-Danube Canal to Kelheim where our ship was in port. The views along the canal were quite beautiful - rock formations, etc. The weather was a bit chilly but worth it.














Upon returning to the ship, we had lunch then off on the walking tour of Regensburg that others had done earlier in the day.  Regensburg is the oldest city on the Danube River - a medieval city. On our walking tour we encountered a number of quaint, little streets and window boxes filled with blooming flowers!

 

Along our walk we went into Saint Peter's Cathedral or Regensburg Cathedral. It is the seat of the Catholic diocese of Regensburg. The church is the prime example of Gothic architecture in Bavaria.  St. Peter’s has maintained a well-known boys' choir for more than 1000 years, and has a museum of medieval and Renaissance church art.

 

We saw the Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus) dating from the 14th - 18th centuries with its historical apartments, medieval courtroom, art collection, and antiquities. The building's superb Imperial Hall (Reichssaal) is the famous meeting-place of the first German parliament from 1663-1806.

We found the statue honoring Don Juan of Austria, the illegitimate son of a local girl (Barbara Blomberg) and Austrian Emperor Karl V. Don Juan led the Austrian navy in the defeat of the Turks in the naval battle of Lepanto in 1571. Barbara Blomberg's old home has a marker indicating that "the emperor slept here".

On our way back to the ship we saw the Stone Bridge across the Danube. This 1017-foot long bridge was built in the 12th century and is an amazing piece of medieval construction. Completed in 1146, the bridge was the only Danube crossing for hundreds of years. It was the starting point of the second and third Crusades. The bridge was under renovation so I didn't take any pictures.  Here's a pic from the internet.

Returning to the ship we got ready for our Never Too Old Cocktail Party which Lisa and I hosted but the ship sponsored. It was a good time to catch up with everyone in the Captain's Lounge. 

For dinner we had a choice of Rack of Lamb or Perch. 

We are making our way to Nuremberg!

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Today was another sailing day. We slept late. Had a late breakfast. At 10 a.m. we had a German lesson on board. Guten tag! (Good day!)

At lunch we had the Bavarian Lunch Buffet. It started with beer and pretzels. That was followed by lentil soup with roasted sausages. On the buffet we had whole baked suckling pig, weisswurst, bratwurst, potato and bread dumpling, assorted vegetables. For dessert we had "dampfnudeln" sweet yeast dumplings with marinated cherries, bavarian plum cake, and almond creme. Yum!

What a wonderful day for a nap! We took one! Got up in time for the Trivia Quiz in the Cabaret Lounge. Our team - NTO Whiz Kids did alright. Following the trivia quiz, it was open bar in the Cabaret Lounge. (What happens on the boat stays on the boat!)

Following the port talk regarding our day in Regensburg tomorrow, we made our way to dinner for an option of baked chicken and brie or Grilled Red Snapper. Another great meal!

Following the meal, Lisa and I went back to the room and thought we were going to watch the Auburn game on the computer but we received a restricted notice. We listened to the game via Auburn radio and watched the game on game tracker (field which shows progress, etc). The game ended at 1:15 a.m. War Eagle!

Early morning departure tomorrow. Uhhhh!

Friday, September 4, 2015

Friday, September 4, 2015

We departed Vienna in the early morning hours. Our route during the evening would take us from Vienna to the Wachau Valley - an  Austrian valley with a picturesque landscape formed by the Danube river. The valley is one of the most prominent tourist destinations of Lower Austria.  Among the many sites we saw were the following:

The Schönbühel Castle which stands on the edge of a high, and uneven cliff in the Austrian valley of Wachau. Known as the "keeper of the Wachau”, the castle has stood on this place for more than 1000 years.

Melk Abbey—a Benedictine abbey founded in 1089. The current abbey was built between 1702 and 1736.

 A day of cruising is always a welcomed day - a chance to catch up on your sleep, a chance to finish reading the novel you started reading on the flight over, time to watch a movie in your room, or, the best part, sit back and watch the world go by. 

Several took advantage of the galley tour. One of the interesting facts I heard was that samples of food are kept in small viles in the refrigerator for about 3 weeks. The reason for this is to be ready should someone or several get food poisoning, they can determine the cause.

During this time I took a nap on the top deck. When we reached a lock and began making our way through it, I woke up. 

During the port talk tonight we were told that due to the water level in parts of the Danube we were going to have to make a maneuver that would require that we miss the village of Passau. This maneuver would also mean another day of sailing in order for us to make it Regensburg on September 6th. With this word it was announced that we would have a Bavarian lunch tomorrow with beer and pretzels and during the cocktail hour, we would have an open bar. 

At dinner, Lisa and I ate in the Captain's Lounge. We had Saxony Mustard soup with rye bread croutons, seafood paella with vegetables, Indian Curry Chicken, cheese bread salad, and tiramisu. 

Tonight, we sail through the night.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Today is a full day in Vienna. The morning began with a lecture talking about "Musical Vienna". Following the lecture part of the group made their way to the Schönbrunn Palace. The other part of the group went to the Art Historical Museum. The 1,441-room Baroque palace is one of the most important architectural, cultural and historical monuments in the country.  The tour would take the group to a mere 3% of the actual palace. The Kunsthistorisches Museum  or The Art Historical Museum. The KHM contains what used to be the result of many Habsburg generations' obsession with art. Like rarely any other dynasty of Europe, the Habsburgs collected artwork like crazy and spread this passion among the high-ranking nobility of their empire. Many of the works in the museum were by painters whose subjects were part of the Biblical narrative (Madonna & child, Adam & Eve, the Road to Emmaus, the Tower of Babel, etc). There were works by Raphael, Caravaggio, Batoni, Rubens, Durer, Rembrandt, etc. It would take several days to go through the entire museum. 

 








Following a tour of the palace or the art museum, a shuttle took some folks back to the ship. Lisa and I elected to stay in town and have lunch, see St Stephen's Cathedral and other sightseeing. We ate at the Gutenberg Cafe. For lunch Lisa had Austrian goulash (without the fried egg) and I had sausages with goulash juice. 




After lunch, we were off to see St. Stephen's Cathedral. Dating from the 12th century, St. Stephen's Cathedral is the grandest such edifice in Austria. The basilica is filled with such treasures as the carved wooden Wiener Neustadt altarpiece and the tomb of Emperor Frederick III. We decided not to climb the south tower with its 343 spiral steps for the most panoramic view in all of Vienna.

 

 

















Following our visit to St. Stephen's we made our way through the streets of Vienna. Discovered St. Peter's Church. The Baroque church was begun around 1701. The design was inspired by the St. Peter's Basilica of the Vatican in Rome. By 1722, most of the building was finished, and in 1733, the Peterskirche was finally consecrated to the Holy Trinity. The new church was the first domed structure in baroque Vienna.

 


















Time for coffee! Off to Café Landtmann - a traditional Viennese café located on the Ringstraße! This was Sigmund Freud's hangout! It is amazing while you are enjoying a cup of coffee - how often you hear a Freudian slip! 

Our walk took us by an apartment building where Beethoven wrote several compositions. We walked by the Parliament buildings. We then walked into Burggarten where we located a statue honoring Mozart. We also located the statue honoring Strauss. 

 

Our walk brought us to the Kursalon, a music hall where we met the others for an hour of music featuring Strauss, Mozart and others. They welcomed us with champagne and orange juice. It was a delightful program filled with music and dancing!! 

Following the program, it was back to the ship for dinner of halibut or tortellini. Then, off to bed after a wonderful day in Vienna.