Sunny at Last

Friday, Oct. 23, 4 PM

Nuremberg was chilly and overcast while we took our afternoon bus and walking tour on Sunday. The tour took us to the Nazi rally stadium first.

Nazi rally grounds

The stadium, like all things Nazi, was intended to last 1000 years and so was supposed to be built of granite. But the granite was only on the outside of the unfinished stadium and brick was used on the inside. And like all things Nazi, the stadium was never completed in any form.

The highlight of the walking tour was the 12th century Imperial Castle and surrounding battlements. But today the castle is a playground for tourists. The gatekeeper’s cottage immediately outside the main gate has been turned into a tavern and beer garden.

Gate house to Imperial Castle - now a ta...

The castle itself has lots of towers, the oldest one constructed partially of wood.

Castle tower- the oldest on in the castl...

The battlements were ingeniously built to trap invaders, who had gotten over the moat breached the main gate, between interior gates and walls where boiling oil and arrows could be poured down upon them. The Holy Roman Emperor’s quarters were inside the final gate.

Final gate to innermost courtyard and em...

Most of the castle was destroyed by bombing during World War II so the castle we see has been rebuilt to match the original pictures and description.

After the castle tour, we walked down to the market square past a couple of gothic cathedrals to an ornate fountain to wait for our buses. The heavy overcast and late afternoon glaring light prevented good pictures of the fountain, so none is included here. Since it was Sunday, all the shops were closed, which the women found frustrating, but the sausage roll and beer stands were all open, which allowed the men to graze.

On Monday, we visited Bamberg. It was still cold and rainy, but the weather held off while we walked around the preserved Renaissance-Baroque old town. We entered next to the old town hall

Bamburg town hall - Baroque decorations

via a bridge over the river whose name I don’t remember. We walked through the narrow streets past shops and brew pubs to the cathedral on a hill.

The cathedral is surrounded by the 11th century house of Holy Roman Emperor Henry II.

Emperor Henry II's 12th century house ne...

The site was later taken over by a bishop who built a palace in the 17th century. In back of the palace is a rose garden with a view of old town Bamberg below and an abbey above.

Bishop's rose carden with abbey in backg...

After we returned to the ship, we saw the sun come out and were treated to pink ribbons of color at sunset.

Pink ribbons of sunset reflected in the ...

The next day, Tuesday, dawned very cold (27°F) with frost on the ground. We left at 8:45 am for an all day excursion to Wurtzburg and later Rothenburg. Wurtzburg is the location of a famous German university, especially for Physics and Mathematics. We visited the Residence, a huge palace built by a Prince-Bishop in the 17th century. Some palace rooms were beautifully restored following nearly complete construction at the end of WWII. However, we were not allowed to take pictures.

Rothenburg has a preserved Medieval/Renaissance walled city

Main street of Medievel Rotherburg old t...

where we had lunch, a walking tour and then free time for shopping. It had the best shopping I’ve yet encountered, including a famous Christmas village. I looked around a lot, took many pictures, but bought only a couple unbreakable items as souvenirs. The sun shone brightly from a clear blue sky, so I spent about an hour sitting in the sun (all bundled up against the cold air), drinking tea, sampling a cake and watching the activity on the main square.

View from cafe table in sun on main squa...

On Wednesday, we visited Wertheim with its restored Franconian half-timbered houses.

Wertheim market square

The clouds, but not the rain, had moved back in but there were occasional periods of sunshine. The village was pretty, but much smaller and less interesting than Rothenberg. I took some pictures, but spent most of the time in a café drinking tea. After we left, we passed a pretty town on the Main with swans and local tour boats.

Town along river Main

On Thursday, we were running behind schedule. We arrived at the junction of the Rhine and Main at 9 AM, about 45 minutes late, that made our tour of the Romanesque cathedral

11th century Romanesque cathedral - Main...

and Guttenberg Museum

Gutenberg Museum

somewhat abbreviated, but it was enough for me. The Guttenberg bibles and other 15th century books on science, religion and medicine were interesting, especially when they were side by side with books written out by hand from the 14th century. The printed versions were neater and, of course, much less expensive, i.e. only 1 year’s salary. No pictures were allowed of the 15th century books; only the outside of the museum and antique printing presses could be photographed.

The weather on Thursday dawned sunny and partly cloudy, but by the time we left Mainz, the clouds had settled in. The temperature was in the upper 40’s to low 50’s F. We were a half-hour late leaving Mainz for Rubesheim because some people were late returning to the ship.

We started our tour of Rubesheim in Siegfried’s Mechanical Music Museum. This is a collection of mechanical music players from the late 19th and early 20th century. It includes orchestra players, jazz players, symphoniums, music boxes, gramophones and other mechanical musical players where the sound was created by mechanical means using steel discs, brass cylinders, wax cylinders, ceramic discs (without electronic amplification), and paper sheets (a la player pianos). Most of the orchestra players

German-made orchestra player machine

Violin orchestra machine

have a loud, non-harmonious sound using short piano wires, steel tubes, and small drums. They were used by hotels during the ragtime and jazz eras to provide dance music. Since they create such an awful din, everyone must have been pretty drunk to stay in the same room with such music machines.

The symphoniums

One of many symphoniums

were made for home use and had a much sweeter sound. All these instruments used replaceable media. For example, the large steel plates used by the symphoniums could be changed to provide different music pieces. My grandmother and grandfather had a player piano and a large music box with replaceable 3-inch brass cylinders such as the one shown here.

A music box with 3-inch diameter brass c...

After leaving Siegfried’s Museum, the Drosselgasse – a narrow pedestrian street filled with shops, beer gardens, cafes, and restaurants

Rudesheim's famed Drosselgasse pedestria...

– was just a few steps away. I strolled along and took some pictures but didn’t sample any wines.

Another section of the Drosselgasse

I have been too well fed and get too much alcohol with my ship-board wine package to be tempted to stay in Rudesheim for more of the same.

Today we are traveling along the Middle Rhine where there are many, many castles and charming riverside towns. Unfortunately, it is foggy and cold, which had us all cowering in the Observation Lounge drinking hot beverages and trying to take pictures through glass instead of going up on the “Sun” deck. Many of the castles were obscured by the fog. We reach Cologne at 3:30 PM where we will be docked near the cathedral.

Oct 23, 2009

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