Cruising the Main River & the Main-Danube Canal

            Sunday, 1 Sep 2024 – Sally was glad to get up for breakfast, being hungry after a wakeful night.  We sat by our Australian friends, Anna & Morris.  (Anna mentioned that her family was from Italy, but moved to Australia before her birth.)  We talked about temps, and it was supposed to be 92⁰ F today.  Back in our cabin, Sally went back to bed and instantly fell asleep until almost 2:45 PM.  She didn’t walk in the heat today, but Jesse went anyway. (It was a 3:00 – 5:30 PM, Miltenberg, Bavaria walking tour.  Sally really wanted to see it, Bavaria, but with her bad cold and not sleeping, she felt really crappy.  Signs near the river said “Distelhauser” and “Stadt Freudenberg.”)   Again, the ship set off, after people got off, so there would have been no returning for Sally.  She watched as the ship traveled upstream, and saw men with no shirts – it was definitely very hot!  (Sally never knew it got this hot in Germany!  Jesse later said it was 12 degrees above normal.)

Jesse went on the Miltenberg, Bavaria walking tour without Sally.  Once off the ship, he joined the Leisure group.  The ship started the Leisure group to accommodate those of us that were unable to keep up with the regular tour groups.   Our tour guide was Judy.  We first walked through an open-air market.  Jesse looked for a hat, since he had forgotten to pack one.  He saw a couple that he liked, and later wished that he had bought one.  There was a 95-year-old man, George (from MD), with us, accompanied by his three children, John (from NC), Jeff (from San Francisco), and Valarie and son-in-law, Terry (from MD).  He kept insisting that he could make the walk.  Finally, his kids talked him into taking a shortcut to end of the tour.  They considered a taxi, but the wait would have been at least 20 minutes.  A polka band was playing in the square towards the end of the tour.  Jesse wished he had a dance partner, though no one else was dancing.  At the end of the tour, our tour guide dropped us off at the location where we would be picked up by a bus and transported back to the ship.  While there, Jesse talked with Imelda (Gary wasn’t with her), and another couple that he met, Wayne & Kathy from Hawaii.  Wayne was a 78-year-old disabled veteran who had been injured in Vietnam.

Monday, 2 Sep 2024 – Sally was asleep soon after dinner last night, and slept until after 8:00 AM.  Her cold feels really almost over.  We went to breakfast on the late end – these breakfasts are very good.  (Sally eats two yogurts plus a small dish of Muesli if she doesn’t get much milk otherwise, but also eats scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit, and cranberry juice.  Most waiters know now that she drinks cranberry juice, so that they automatically bring it to her.)  At 1:45 PM, we met with our tour guide, Miguel, and boarded a bus to the Wurzburg Residenz.  (Later, Miguel introduced us to his wife, who happened to be leading another Viking tour group.)  “For centuries, the Wurzburg prince-bishops wielded enormous power and wealth, and the city of Wurzburg grew in opulence under their rule.  Their growing glory is the UNESCO-listed Bishops’ Residenz, one of Germany’s finest baroque palace ensembles, built between 1720 and 1744.  Commissioned by Prince-Bishop Johann Philipp Franz von Schonborn, the palace of palaces was designed and built by the architect Balthasar Neumann.”  We saw the “largest ceiling fresco in the world, The Four Continents.  Created between 1752 and 1753 by Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, this massive work” is fantastic.  Different parts of the world are represented, with the one of an American “Queen” riding an alligator, etc.  Sally was able to sit on her cane/seat a lot, so she was able to walk more in between.  At the last, we took the bus on back to the ship, by 4:30, while many others went for a walk in the “garden.”  Sally was definitely glad that she went today.

Tuesday, 3 Sep 2024 – We went on our shore excursion at 1:30, which was “Bamberg Walking Tour.”  Bamberg, Bavaria, is “scenically situated on seven hills, each crowned by a beautiful church.”  This old village was not bombed in World War II.  Bamberg is not known for its wine but for its unusual beer, called “Rauchbier.”  It’s a smokey beer made with malt that has been dried over open flames.  We followed our guide, Rebecca, for a short distance, then stopped at outside tables where we could order desserts or drinks.  We were in “Leisure,” group.  We joined a table with Clarence & Carol, Richard & Sandy, and at least one other couple, all part of the Leisure group.  Jesse ordered a small glass of Rauchbier, and Sally ordered a large bottle of dunkel bier (dark beer, which became her favorite when she lived in Germany).  While waiting for our drinks, Jesse walked across the street with Clarence to a drug store, where he purchased some fingernail polish and cough drops.  We sat until it was time to walk back to our meeting place.  (Sally was a little worried about drinking such so much beer before getting back on the bus, but all was well.)  We haven’t commented about all of the locks on these European rivers.  Our cruise would be transiting 68 locks!  The scenery gets ugly and dark when we go into a lock, and we go through several every day. 

Wednesday, 4 Sep 2024 – At 9:00 AM was our excursion in Nuremberg (Bavaria).  The bus took us on a good tour of the most important buildings in the city.  Hitler held a lot of rallies here, and the trials of the Nazi leaders after World War II also took place here.  More than half of the people on our bus got out at a castle, intending to walk quite a lot.  The rest of our leisure group walked only a couple of blocks to the main square.  After a bit, we walked up the street for about a block and through an Apotech.  Then we walked back to be closer to where the Viking bus would come; we sat for 45 minutes or so at a local bus stop before walking back and getting on the Viking bus.  Yesterday and today were both easier walking days for us.