Romantic Road to Rothenburg

We were given a Glass Blowing Demonstration on board today

Well, it might have been romantic if the weather was a bit kinder.  Snow again today but not heavy.  The sun did manage to breakthrough for a little while that warmed us up nicely.
Rothenburg is another medieval town dating back to 950.  It is interesting that during World War II the US Assistant Secretary of War,  John McCloy, knew about the historic importance and beauty of Rothenburg so he ordered the US General Devers not to use artillery in taking Rothenburg.  The local Nazi military commander, Major Thommes, ignored the order of Hitler that all towns were to fight to the end, and gave up the town thereby saving if from total destruction by artillery.

Prisoner Vans of yesteryear

Everything is decorated for Easter

Door Bells

Rothenburg is surrounded by the great wall.  It has been restored and we walked a little way around it.

We follow these "lollipops" - very closely!

This park looks lovely even coming out of winter

The oldest house in the village built in 1450

The Germans love their sausages and I must say they are delicious!

Bamberg

Approaching one of the 75 locks

The tour director told us that it is not impossible to take two or three hundred photos around Bamberg and he was not wrong.  It is a lovely city that was virtually left alone during World War II.   Bamberg is 63km north of Nuremberg and 101km east of Wurzburg. Today the weather was much kinder at about 8 degrees.  Tomorrow, it is predicted that we will once again experience snow!

Anyone need a brush?

I would love to know what this means in English

The Germans love their brown bread and this street vendor sells it to them by the kilo!

Little Venice

Coffee with blanket included

Sailing into Bamberg

Nuremberg

Nuremberg in the state of Bavaria held great significance during the Nazi Germany period.  Hitler held his great rallies in the city and Nuremberg was the Nazi headquarters during World War 11.  Consequently the city was heavily bombed by the allies, indeed 90% was destroyed in one raid lasting just one hour.  However, the city has been rebuilt and to some extent restored to it's pre-war appearance including the reconstruction of some if its medieval buildings.

I did a sausage and beer tasting tour today, while DH did the WW11 tour

Regensburg

Today we were in Regensburg.  What can I tell you about it. 

Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian region and the centre of the town is a UNESCO world heritage site.  Regensburg sustained very little damage during World War 11 and

has an almost intact medieval city centre. The first settlements in Regensburg date to the Stone Age.  The German Gothic Dom (Cathedral) towers over the city.  Building of the cathedral started in 1275 and was completed in 1634 with the exception of the towers that were finished in 1869. 

Views from Wallhala

A giant mural of David and Goliath

DH took this photo of Wallhala

This tiny pub only holds 18 people and serves wonderful sausage and beer

Philip giving Poss some clues on riding the bike.

I did a self-guided tour of Regensburg today.  Scenic have these wonderful GPS devices that are loaded with information.  When you walk past a listed site the GPS starts talking to you.  As well, it guides you back to the ship if you lose your way and that is very easy!

DH took a bike ride to Wallhala today -24 kms round trip.  Unfortunately Wallhala was surrounded by scaffolding so they didn’t get to see too much of it but the views from the top of the hill were spectacular.

Cyclists back from their 24k ride

The weather appears to be getting worse with temperatures today from minus 1 to minus 7, but still surprisingly, it is not worrying us too much.

The Dom (Cathedral)

Medieval stone bridge

The outside cafes - covered in snow - amuse me.

Cesky Krumlov,

Today we left Austria and travelled by bus to the Czech Republic and to the little town of Cesky Krumlov.  We had heavy snow today but it made the countryside look so very beautiful.  DH said that he was pleased that we had the snow because it was how he envisaged Austria.  The temperature was, for the most part of the day, well below zero.
Cesky Krumlov is beautiful.  It is a tiny village that  has a massive castle towering above it.  The village hosts the Five Petal Rose Festival each year when the town is recreated into a medieval village.  It would not take much work because the village certainly does look medieval.
Our bus ride back to the ship, waiting for us in Passau Germany,  took us through Sumava National Park.  The Sumava mountains lie along the border with Austria and Germany. We also passed the man made Lake Lipno that was starting to form ice along the edges. It was of interest to also pass through  the old "check point Charlie" on the Austrian/Czech border and again on the German/Czech border.  A reminder of the cold war.
All the locals have told us that this is the coldest March on record and the usual temperature is around 15 degrees!

The ice on the cobblestones makes them extremely slippery.

Even the police do not go out in this weather!

Tonights dessert, and yes the scroll is chocolate!