Regensburg Germany, Nuremberg, Germany, and Main Canal

Regensburg, Germany

We spent the morning trying to complete the daily quiz and challenging our minds to a game of Sudoku. Last night we had a happy hour with some people we have met on the river cruise. One of the couples had a magnificent room on the top deck which has enough room for eight people and a window that opened. We had a nice time before dinner with fresh air from the Danube.

When we docked in Regensburg we took a walking tour of the town. We got to hear more of the David and Goliath story, see the oldest stone bridge and tour the oldest sausage factory in Germany. Of course we also visited the lovely churches (St. Peter’s Cathedral, the Old Town Hall and the Holy Trinity Church, Dominican Church, New Parish Church, and The Holy Chapel)…One of the most interesting things about Regensburg was that you need to get married at the Old Town Hall. Now this is a very picturesque spot with tiny cobble stone roads, old architecture and the buildings all have window boxes filled with flowers of all sorts, it is picture perfect for a wedding, despite all the tour groups, cars, taxis and buses that just happen to be roaming through. We may have seen at least six different weddings while walking through town and in some cases they even served champagne in the streets!

After dinner, we thought we were going to have a lesson on how to speak German. Needless to say, they prefaced the lesson on what happens to river cruises when the river water levels get too high or too low. The hotel manager showed us pictures of past river cruises that have endured tragedies. We learned that if the water levels get too high, you might be asked to pack your bags and finish your trip using busses and hotel accommodations because the ship cannot pass under the bridges. If the water gets too low, the ships have run aground, been stuck on rocks, propellers have been damaged, and some river cruises end in the middle of the Danube. The pictures were incredible, but we have had non-stop rain for three days, I am afraid, the waters levels might be getting too high for the ship to pass under some of the bridges… Only time will tell…

Nuremberg, Germany

This is the sight of Hitler’s uprising, lots of Nazi party rallies and the famous Nuremberg Trial’s. Before the 20th century Nuremburg was one of the most beautiful medieval cities in Germany. Located at the crossroads of major trade routes; anything you wanted could find at Nuremberg. Nuremberg was regarded as the unofficial capital of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (this becomes a very important piece of psychological information). In Nuremberg you can tour the Kaiserburg Castle which is something not to be missed! The views are outstanding and you feel like your walking through a medieval village.

Over the years prior to the 20th century Nuremberg’s political and economic importance started to decline. Amongst other reasons, Hitler used this to his advantage to rally Germans and eventually launch his Nazi Empire. He played these mind games and promised the citizens that they would again become the awesome power (Roman Empire of Germany) they once were 5 to 10 centuries ago. Hitler even started to build buildings that would be bigger and better than the Coliseum in Rome. Needless to say his “Coliseum” was never finished and to this day remains unfinished and unused. It is now known as Congress Hall; it gives detailed information about the history of the Party Rallies and exposes them as manipulative rituals of Nazi propaganda. We also visited the Nuremberg Palace of Justice, the location of the Nuremberg war-crime trials.

Main Canal

Main Canal pronounced “Mein” connects the Danube and Rhine Rivers. It stretches over 106 miles between Kelheim and Bamberg Germany. The highest point of the canal is 1,340 feet above sea level. It is an awesome sight to watch the canal reservoirs fill as the ship lowers. Our river cruise has left the Danube River and has been traveling the full length of the Main Canal over 68 locks. We will end up in the Rhine River to continue our travels through Germany eventually ending in Amsterdam.