Romantic, Charming, Historic Germany

One of the great appeals of this river cruise 

is that it takes you through quaint and charming villages 

as well as famous larger cities.

Rothenburg is the best-preserved medieval town in Germany. 

It is scarcely changed in appearance for hundreds of years (though, of course, 

 it is now much more touristy), and it is an exceptionally pretty town. 

We visited Rothenburg in 1988 on our way to ASTA in Budapest and found it so charming 

that we couldn't wait to get back.

We purchased this post card then . . .

. . . and took this pic of Roger.

Back to 2015, Roger took so many wonderful pics of the architecture and charm of this town. 

Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles are evidenced in the houses and fountains.

This is the Rothenburg Town Hall, built in 1250.

This tower had fabulous views of the town and surrounding countryside.

There is a 1.5-mile wall, which has five medieval gates that encircle Rothenburg. 
built in the Middle Ages.

We had a tasty lunch at this cafe.

Each village and city has its special pastry exclusive to it.

This is Rothenburg's.

The Kathe Wohlfahrt year-round Christmas Shop originated in Rothenburg.

So many of our Christmas customs originated in Germany.

You can find other KW stores throughout Germany.

Here I am in front of the same store in 1988.

I purchased this little miniature treasure . . .

. . . to place here on my shelf back home.

It was about a 45-minute bus ride from our boat to Rothenburg, and we spent half a day there.

We bused back . . .

. . . to Wurzburg, where we toured a magnificent Baroque palace, built between 1720 and 1744. 

It features the largest ceiling fresco in the world.

Oh my goodness, it was ornateness personified!

This is the chapel where the residents attended worship services.

The gardens were lovely.

Back on the boat, we had a delicious dinner.

This is a yummy salad.

Next morning, we docked in Banberg. In 1007, it was the center of the Holy Roman Empire. 

Emperor Heinrich 11 wanted it to become a second Rome, and it was also 

built on seven hills, each with a church on the top. 

Note how the city hall was built on a tiny island in the middle of the river. 

+According to medieval planning rules, the city was laid out as a cross with churches at the four cardinal points.+

It was a special day because it was Roger's birthday.

We hiked up to St. Michael's Abbey.

Up at the top, there were these pretty gardens.

We had to take a pic.

It was a 90 degrees+ day, and about now, I was feeling like the last rose of summer!

At each town we saw, there was a wonderful Farmer's Market in the town square.

Here we are waiting for our guide to take us back to our bus, then our boat.

Hot and tired, when we arrived at our boat, this sight greeted us.

They were singing and dancing to "Happy."

This is Roger's first dessert after dinner.

Then a big group of the waiters brought him a mango mousse cake and sang "Happy Birthday."

I was trying to video, so I didn't get a pic of the cake, but the next day, it was Anne's birthday, 

and there is a good pic of one just like it.

This is Roger's piece.

It was a fun birthday celebration!

When we returned to our room, this towel cake was waiting for Roger.

I had them also give him a Viking hat.

We had to pack up that night to move from the Vili to the Mimir, exactly-alike sister ships, 

because the river was too low to continue up the river.

So the Mimir, having left from Budapest, turned around further up the river, and the Vili, 

the one we were on, turned around after we disembarked to go back to Amsterdam, and they traded passengers, and we were bused to our new ships. 

Viking was very sorry for this inconvenience, and everyone received two free optional tours, 

which were the ones we had planned on purchasing. 

So next morning, we put out our luggage, then departed on a bus to Nuremberg.

Good-bye, Vili. You were awesome!

The first thing that came to our minds about Nuremberg was the famous Nuremberg Trials 

of some of the Nazi leaders after WW11. 

We drove through the Documentation Center Nazi Rallying Grounds, 

where they marched in front of crowds and much propaganda took place.

Palace of Justice, site of the Nuremberg Trials

The next four pics are of a Jewish cemetery.

So very many Jews were killed during WW11 - so sobering to be in the towns and cities where they had lived.

Our guide took us on a walking tour, beginning at the Grand Castle.

We walked through the medieval streets . . .

. . . and saw the birthplace of this famous painter, Albrecht Durer from the Middle Ages.

We loved watching the glockenspiel on this church in the Old Town Square.

There were gorgeous flowers for sale in the marketplace.

Nuremberg is the capital of lebkuchen, the beloved German Christmas cookie. 

It was baked by monks as early as the 13th century.

Every day on our boat, three kinds of cookies were put out for passengers:

always very delicious oatmeal raisin ones and double chocolate ones, 

and the third one was always a typical one of the area where we were.

In Holland, we had strupwaffles, and in Germany, we had these delicious lebkuchen. 

When we traveled through Austria, Slovakia and Hungary,

we had typical cookies from each of those places.

We had a delicious typical German lunch together. . . .

. . . then traveled to where we boarded our new boat, the Mimir.

Next day, an 1 1/2 hour bus trip to Regenseburg (because our boat couldn't get up the river to dock there) 
was scheduled. 

Roger and I decided to just hang out for the day in the little village where we were docked, do some laundry, read, watch movies and Roger found a trail to do some running.

It was actually a nice respite.

There was just one little country store in this tiny village, 

and I found it interesting that on the shelves with the food and other goods, 

there was this huge variety of yarn.

That must be what the women do during the winter - knit, knit, knit!

A delicious lunch

Anne and Jay went to Regensburg, and they brought this post card back to us and told us all about it. 

They heard a wonderful church choir rehearsing, which would have been fun to hear.

We celebrated Anne's birthday that night, and here is that delicious mango mousse cake we all shared.

Fabulous opera singers from Munich sang, "Melodies from the Danube to the Adriatic Sea."

They sang selections from Mozart and Verdi, and also favorites from, Sound of Music. 

They engaged the audience in almost every number, bringing them up or going to them to sing.

It was a delightful performance.

Our last stop in Germany was Passeau.

The city lies at the confluence of three rivers, the Danube, the Inn and the Ilz, 

where they all meet.

It is near the Austrian and the Czech border. 

Notice the difference of colors in the water.

 Roger got some great shots of the confluence of the rivers at the top of the hill where the Niedernburg Convent sits.

Our guide took us through the narrow streets of the Old Town.

This is Art Alley, where these umbrellas are hanging.

This is St. Stephen's Cathedral, which houses the largest cathedral organ in the world.

Roger took pics of this grand sight, inside the lovely Baroque Lutheran Church before the mass.

We wanted to hear the organ, so we waited until the services began.

When that organ played, Roger and I both got tears in our eyes.

Oh, what a gorgeous, powerful sound! 

It has 17,974 organ pipes, 233 stops and four carillons. 

All five parts of the organ can be played from the main keyboard, one at a time or all together.

Our adventures passing through the locks began in earnest here. 

In all, we passed through 67 of them throughout our trip.

As we left this interesting town, we said good-bye to Germany.

We cruised on to our next stop, Austria . . .