bus tours on river cruises, Prince Eugene of Savoy, Steiff bears, Stephensdom Vienna, Winter Palace

A wonderful day in the warm and welcoming city of Vienna

May 18, 2016 1954 Leave a comment

Needless to say, we didn’t jump out of the comfortable beds in our room at the Ritz at 6 AM. Our scheduled tour of the city and the Winter Palace wouldn’t leave the hotel until 10:15, so there was no need to rush. Breakfast was included in our stay so we headed to the Melounge, the first floor dining area, around 8:30. On our way, we took some time to admire the comfortable but elegant design of the Ritz.

The hotel, like many other buildings in Vienna in the area, had been put together from four 19th century palais many years ago.Elements of 19th century decor had been incorporated into the modern building very successfully.

We noticed a number of our fellow passengers were already in the dining area intermingled with the other guests when we arrived. The Ritz is a large hotel, with more than two hundred rooms so it was able to accommodate the 100 plus passengers of the Maria Theresa fairly easily, especially since most were couples who would stay in the same room. We enjoyed an excellent breakfast in the Melounge which offered a variety of choices, however by this time, we were eating less and less for breakfast and lunch. Our bodies were telling us it was time to return to the simple breakfasts and lunches we ate at home.

Uniworld offered a lecture on European Art and Architecture before the city tour, but I find that I really don’t have much enthusiasm for lectures at this stage of my life. Too many years spent giving rather than listening to lectures, I guess, especially on history and art. I did make an exception and went to the program on the construction of the locks on the Rhine Main canal, and it did not disappoint. The senior Rambler was only too happy to skip this lecture as he is not a lecture fan. He had found his friend from New Zealand, a fellow smoker at the Ritz. They again got together in one of the smoking-allowed spots and enjoyed both cigarettes and conversation instead.

One good thing about the upcoming Vienna City Tour was that we wouldn’t spend much time on the bus. The Ritz was centrally located along the Ringstrasse, so on the first part of the tour,

Just one of many impressive buildings that lined our route, complete with gilding. Not bad, considering it was taken f rom a bus win dow.

we enjoyed a driving tour of central Vienna and its major landmarks. After an hour or so, we disembarked near the Stephensdom to meet our guides for the tour of the Winter Palace.

The Ramblers haven’t minded the time we spent on busses on our cruise excursions. The bus time usually wasn’t very long and it did give us a chance to see some of the non-touristy towns and the often beautiful countryside. It was pleasant to be driven around the Ringstrasse on a sunny day and we enjoyed the scenery, Vienna has lots greenery mixed in with beautiful buildings, many attractive landscapes, and even a large woodland. In an odd way it reminded me of Atlanta, and is very unlike my birthplace Chicago. In Chicago, once you leave Lake Michigan’s shores, the landscapes become mostly brick and mortar. An infestation of Dutch Elm disease which killed the columnar elm trees that shaded Chicago streets and boulevards didn’t help.

Since the Danube is a fair distance from the Ringstrasse and the historic center of Vienna, we were now much closer to the sights, shops and cafes at the Ritz then we would have been if we were still on the MT.

Many people were walking or riding along the streets not like last December.

The last time we visited Vienna, on the Uniworld Christmas Markets tour described in some of my earlier posts, we were bussed into the City Center and toured the wonderful National Library. After the tour was over, we had free time to visit the Christmas Market at the City Hall. Because the weather was cold and rainy that day, we didn’t stay long . For those who wanted to spend time in Vienna and browse the Christmas Markets, Uniworld ran shuttle busses every hour at an agreed upon stop. We and some of our friends waited anxiously for the first shuttle back to the boat, while others didn’t return until much later. Those who missed the last shuttle took taxis or public transportation back to the Beatrice.

This time, we would have a different kind of tour. We now had two cruise directors on board( figuratively speaking) to sort out the logistics of our new destinations. Today, Jan, from the Netherlands, who had just joined us, would ride on our bus. He was a very interesting guy who had a more European point of view than Chad ( who was Canadian). The Uniworld tour directors had to not only make new arrangements for the last 3 days of our tour but do the same for the next group of river cruisers who would be arriving in Budapest on September X. The Maria Theresa was still trapped in Regensburg as the Danube was still too low.

Our starting point for the city tour was the Winter Palace of Prince Eugene of Savoy. Then we would tour the surrounding area, taking a look into the Spanish Riding School which was not in session, and eventually wind our way back to the bus

Better look at a fiaker, these folks seem to be waving at us.

I don’t have much of a sense of direction and had only spent a little time in Vienna, so I was glad we would have a guided tour and then would get a ride back to the Ritz. The streets were filled with both locals and tour groups enjoying the pleasant day. We saw several fiakers (carriages) filled with happy tourists carefully winding their way through the crowded streets.

We were with the Gentle Walkers again, our old friends from the MT. Our guide was a Viennese lady who was very proud of her city. Touring the the inside of the Stephensdom, the magnificent cathedral which dominates the skyline of Vienna, was not on our schedule. although the cathedral was visible from our bus stop.

However our guide felt we should get a closer view of the church as it was such an important part of Vienna’s history… even tho it was’t part of the tour.

The cathedral is surrounded by buildings and it is difficult to get a clear shot. It really isn't leaning. — The cathedral is surrounded by buildings and it is difficult to get a clear shot. It really isn’t leaning.

While the other groups moved off, we learned about the cathedral’s history. Archaeologists have found that a church has stood on this spot since the 4th or 5th century, The building we saw before us was constructed between 1300 and 1450, enlarging on an existing structure. The massive 450 ft. south tower was added at this time and the smaller north tower, 233 ft. was supposed to match it. However its construction was abandoned around 1500 as the money was need to repel the Turks, It is possible to climb to the top of both towers, but only the north tower has an elevator.

There aren’t any tall buildings in this part of Vienna and the Stephensdom’s tile roof and two towers dominate the skyline. The cathedral was heavily damaged during WWII but it wasn’t until last-ditch fighting between the Nazi’s and the Soviet’s in 1945, resulted in setting the original Gothic wooden roof ablaze. The great bell Pummern, made from melted Turkish cannons, plummeted to the ground.

As you can see in the background the roof of the Stephensdom is gone except for a few ribs. — As you can see in the background the roof of the Stephensdom is gone except for a few ribs and the street is lined in rubble.

There was much internal damage as the fire burned for two days. However, the civic pride of the Viennese had in their cathedral resulted in an outpouring of funds making it possible to completely restore the building by 1952. This at a time when much of the city was in ruins and money was scarce. The multi-colored tiles that now make up its roof were financed by the citizens of Vienna. Alte Steffi , as the Viennese call the cathedral, unlike most churches of its importance, is surrounded by buildings which makes it difficult to photograph.

I think many of us would also have enjoyed seeing the equally impressive interior, but we had to stick to the schedule.

A close up of the roof tiles, the roof itself is very steep and snow slides off easily in the winter.

Even so, we had been left behind by the other groups. This meant the Gentle Walkers had to move more briskly through the rest of the tour than they would have chosen. We didn’t mind the extra information, you couldn’t help appreciating the enthusiasm of our guide.

Fortunately our destination, the Winter Palace of Prince Eugene of Savoy was not far from the Stephensdom. Although born in France in 1663, Prince Eugene served the Habsburg emperors for 60 years. He was a very able commander who made possible the Habsburg dominance of Central Europe and the Netherlands. Prince Eugene was awarded many honors and grew wealthy because of his military prowess.

Prince Eugene direction his troops in battle, with spyglass in hand. — Prince Eugene directing his troops in battle, with spyglass in hand.

He spend much of his fortune building the Belvedere Palace complex ( which includes the Winter Palace) and collecting fine art. We got to tour the state apartments which were opened to the public for the first time in centuries in 2013. Throughout his life he was noted not just for his skill as a general but for his honesty, loyalty, bravery and sense of personal honor. Unfortunately he was not blessed with good looks or an impressive physique and he never married. After his death, at 72,

The Winter palace has the most elaborate gilded ceiling I have ever seen.

Maria Theresa bought his palace at auction for the use of the imperial court, and it housed many government departments until the empire was dissolved in 1918.

The beautiful white interior of the Winter Palace

The palace that we toured was renovated between 2007 and 2013, and is today a magnificent example of Baroque architecture, “one of the most magnificent in Vienna,” according to the experts.

After leaving the palace, we walked along Kärntner Strasse, a pedestrian boulevard that links the Stephensdom with the Vienna State Opera. Incidentally, the operas and the concerts are always the hottest tickets in Vienna, a city that loves opera, ballet and music of all kinds.

We walked along a street that was lined with a melange of historic buildings inviting shops and cafes, including the ubiquitous Starbucks. I had to go into Steiff Vienna. I have always loved their stuffed bears and have gotten several for our children over the years. As we were late, there was no time to shop but I did get my photo taken with the gigantic bear they have on display.

One of the biggest Steiff animals I have ever seen.

Brandner Cruises, Cafe Schwarzenberg, Ritz-Carlton Vienna, Wachau Valley

The Wachau Valley and then on to Vienna (Wien)

May 3, 2016 1954 Leave a comment

We straggled onto our busses for the short ride to the town of Melk situated below the abbey on the Danube. If we had still been on the Maria Theresa, our ship would have been docked there. Then we would have gone on to dock at the ancient town of Krems. Our original tour choices for the day had been a visit to Melk Abbey, which we had just finished, a farm day tour to the pretty little town of Weissenkirchen, or a bike ride along the Danube.

The ticket office for Danube excursions and other things at Melk

Unfortunately we were not able to chose options two or three this day. The Ramblers enjoyed Melk Abbey but probably would not have taken this option if we had a choice. I was attracted to getting up close to the producers of the wonderful fruits and apricot products of the region in Weissenkirchen. However I did manage to get a variety of fairly priced and attractively packaged apricot gifts in the Melk Abbey gift shop; all was not lost, but still…

Instead of cruising the scenic Wachau valley in wonderful style on the MT, Uniworld had arranged a substitute cruise with a local company, Brandner and we trooped onto the Austria Princess.

Photo of the Austria Princess from the Brandner website. She is much smaller than the MT.

It was quite nice and is reviewed well on Trip Adviser, but it was not the MT. The crew and waitstaff would do their best to accommodate the somewhat spoiled passengers from the MT but they were not accustomed to dealing with such a large group at short notice. Uniworld had contracted with them to serve us a buffet lunch, as we were by this time fairly hungry. Unfortunately as I learned later, they don’t usually serve lunch and as it turned out, they probably shouldn’t. To make matters worse, there was barely enough seating for all of us as they usually don’t carry so many passengers.

As the Princess moved away from the dock, we got a better lock at a charming in and campground along the Danube. Looking through the colored windscreen actually makes the Danube look blue.

The Ramblers had not scurried to get into line and found themselves scrambling to find a place in line for the buffet. After we finally did reach the food, it took a while to locate a table where we could sit and eat what we had selected. They did serve wine and had an open bar in the dining room, so all was not lost except for the Senior Ramblers and others who don’t drink alcohol. I don’t want to be too hard on the crew of the Austria Princess. They did their best but the food was certainly not spectacular.

To make matters more difficult, the weather changed and a gusty wind blew in cloudy weather, blowing over glasses and table settings on the upper deck.

As we stepped onto the top deck, we could see Melk in the distance. The wind has started to blow away the napkins.

This was the best place to view the scenery. We Ramblers had sailed through the Wachau Valley on a Christmas Markets cruise. That day it was chilly and overcast, so no one went up to the top deck. To our surprise, we saw the Beatrice, the ship on which we had taken our first Uniworld cruise, pass us in the other direction. Of course we waved enthusiastically. However no one on the Beatrice knew that the people waving away were actually exiled passengers from the Maria Theresa and didn’t pay much attention to us.

The Uniworld Beatrice heading towards Melk.

Also since the Beatrice was moving at a good clip going the other way, they were soon out of sight. The Beatrice sails from Passau to Budapest and then from Budapest to Passau. They don’t go as far as the low spot in the Danube which kept us from completing our cruise.

As the Danube flows through the Wachau Valley, it is bordered by a variety of pretty little towns, resort hotels with attached campgrounds and castles. One of the towns we passed is Durnstein. It’s claim to fame is that Richard the Lionhearted was imprisoned in its castle. Durnstein is hard to miss because its church is painted blue and white rather than the more common pink or gold and white. It also has some what of a Disneyesque appeal. However, the Ramblers did miss it. The Princess must have sailed past it as we were standing in the buffet line.

We did see the well kept-up Schloss Schoenbuhel which I learned had been restored in the early 1800’s when it was nearly a pile of rubble.

Pretty hard to get to it from the river side, over those cliffs.

It is a real castle though, and a fortress has stood on the spot since the 11th century. Not far from Melk, although not visible from the Danube is the museum that houses the famous Venus of Willendorf, the prehistoric fertility figure that was discovered near there.

It had been a busy day and we were not sorry to disembark from the Princess and climb aboard our bus. The first leg of our bus trip had been about 200 miles, but the second would be slightly shorter. According to our schedule, we would arrive in Vienna between 5 and 5:30 PM, depending upon traffic. They do have rush hours in Europe but not like those in Atlanta or Chicago. To be honest, I don’t remember just when we did get to Vienna, just that we were glad to get there. The checking in process didn’t take very long and we were soon headed to our room on the 4th floor. Although I didn’t take a picture, too tired, the Ritz Carlton building started life much earlier and when it was transformed into a 5 star hotel, the builders left some of its earlier features.

The amazing bathroom, all chrome, marble and mirrors.

Our room was next to a sitting area paneled in dark wood with comfortable chairs and a coffee table. It seemed quite large compared to our cabin on the MT, although it was good sized. The bathroom was spectacular, all marble chrome and mirrors.

In the hallway there was a counter set up with a coffee service. It was my first experience with a Nespresso machine.

Although we were only there for two nights, I used up all the coffee capsules although we were in a city famous for its coffee. I would receive one just like it for Christmas from the Senior Rambler.

All though we didn’t feel much like going anywhere, it was a nice evening and we needed to get a bite to eat. Fortunately we weren’t that far from one of Vienna’s old style coffee shops, the Cafe Schwarzenberg which had opened in the 19th century. We carefully dodged cars, trams, scooters and bicycles to reach our destination and were not disappointed.

The senior Rambler relaxing at the Schwarzenberg Cafe. The windows look out onto the busy street and are great for people watching.

We both had traditional Austrian dishes which were excellent. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel. This was one night where we appreciated the comfort of our room, in spite of the fact that the Ritz has a wonderful roof-top bar which provides a view of many of Vienna’s favorite buildings.

ADA accessibility on river cruises, Apricot schnapps, incunabula, Melk, skeleton saints, Uniworld, walking the gangplank

Leaving the MT; our first stop en route to Vienna, the glorious abbey of Melk

April 26, 2016 1954 Leave a comment

After our gala farewell dinner, we bade farewell to our favorite servers in the dining room, went to the lounge for a while and then headed to our room to pack. Some of the passengers were taking advantage of their last night on the MT enjoying the music and atmosphere. We would undoubtedly see the new friends we had made on the cruise during the next three days, but we didn’t think it likely we would be in the same place at the same time again.

Chad handed out our next days schedule in the usual information session before dinner. As it turned out, we would all be staying at the Ritz-Carlton for our two nights in Vienna. Budapest was another story. It is a much smaller city and though it has its share of hotels, there was not one which could take all of us. Chad told us he was still working on placing us in Budapest Hotels, but they would all be four star hotels.

Actually most of us were pleased to be staying at the Ritz. It has a central location off the Ringstrasse and we would be able to walk to many places on our own. If we had still been on the Maria Theresa, we would have been quite a distance from the city center, requiring either a bus, taxi or tram ride. Finally, because we wouldn’t be eating our meals on the MT, we each got 90 EU spending money for our lunch and dinners in Vienna. Breakfast was included in our hotel stay. The Ramblers were surprised to hear a few people grumbling about the amount, as we thought it was quite fair and actually came home with Euros left over. However, we spent no time at the bar, didn’t order room service and enjoyed eating regional food at local places. We felt that Uniworld had treated us very well, adjusting as best they could to the low water problems.

We were asked to have our packed luggage outside our cabin door by 4 AM, so it would be ready to be loaded onto our busses just as if we were leaving for our flight home. And so it was, after a last excellent breakfast, we headed down the gangplank of the MT for the last time. Of course, a number of the staff were there to wave good-by as we left.

Before we leave the Danube behind, the Rambler would like to say her bit about exiting a river boat. If you are at all familiar with boats, you may recall that all gangplanks have some sort of cleat on them to prevent people from slipping on rainy days. These cleats stick up from an otherwise smooth surface. In the case of the Maria Theresa, they were very prominent, and placed every foot or so along the gangplank. Those of you who are prone to tripping or have trouble walking please look carefully before you place your feet when walking up or down, even when it’s not raining. It is possible to take a nasty tumble when leaving the ship, especially when you are walking downhill.

Our first stop today would be the beautiful Abbey of Melk, nearly 200 miles from Regensburg.

We had arrived at the abbey parking lot. The abbey is still quite a ways off.

We left the quay at 8:30 and expected to get to the Abbey around 12:30. On the way we would stop for a break at a rest stop off the Austrian version of the US Interstate. Of course we all got out to check out the rest stop. Some wanted to visit the bathrooms and others looked over the shops. It wasn’t quite as nice as the one we had stopped at on our way to Salzburg from Linz, but clean and neat, nevertheless.

We got to Melk at 12:30, but would only be able to stay for an hour as we were scheduled to go on a cruise of the Wachau Valley at 1:30. Seeing the abbey in an hour was a tall order as it is huge. It also turned out to be a fairly long walk from the parking lot to the Abbey entrance.

These steps were quite a haul for the Ramblers and many of the other passengers.

Some of us were dismayed to find that we would have to climb an extensive series of steps to reach the main path to the Abbey. After having both her hip joints replaces, the Rambler can now walk quite well on level ground but steps are still a chore. Nevertheless, Melk is a spectacular place, so climb we did.

Last December we had visited Gottweig Abbey, another Benedictine monastery near Krems, only a sixty miles from Melk. It too is an impressive baroque structure, founded a thousand years ago but rebuilt during the late 17th century. However, I found Gottweig to have a museum-like quality as its current congregation is quite small, and there is a sense of loneliness within. Melk, on the other hand, exudes a welcoming warmth, and not just because the sun was shining.While Gottweig has a pink and white exterior, another favorite baroque color, Melk glows in Hapsburg gold and white. Evidently that particular shade of gold was a favorite of the Habsburgs; think of the Schonbrunn Palace… In fact, Hapsburg gold is a popular colorchoice today in Vienna paint stores.

A little bit of history before we enter the abbey. It was founded in 1089 by Benedictine monks. A century later, the monks established a school there and it soon became renowned for its manuscript collection. some of the monks who worked there excelled in copying manuscripts and it soon was renowned for its collection. The Benedictine life included both work and prayer; some monks were farmers, others copied books.

This photo is from Wikipedia's public domain photos. We could look but not touch. — This photo is from Wikipedia’s public domain photos. We could look but not touch.

The abbey was rebuilt in the early 18th century in the baroque style so popular in Eastern Europe. Its library is renowned for its collection of incunabula. Although the word sounds like some sort of mystic spell, it actually refers to books printed before 1500. When you consider that the printing press was invented in Europe between 1440 and 1450 (the Chinese much earlier) these books date to the beginnings of the printed word in Germany.

One of the many long interior hallways; the walls are lined with portraits of assorted Habsburgs.

Melk has 750 in its collection which is amazing. There are many rooms to the library but only one is open to the public. The others are for research purposes only.

Melk also has a famous and expensive gymnasium or high school which currently has over 900 pupils, both boys and girls. Perhaps that it one thing that give it such an air of vitality.

We would have a quick walk through of the abbey, which included a stroll on the terrace with its magnificent views

To me, this view of the town looked almost like it could be a miniature train setting.

After being awed by the the library and admiring the views from the terrace at the top of the abbey, we headed for the church. Now Austrian baroque churches are similar, lots of gilding, curves and gorgeous frescoes but the Melk abbey church actually had something more unusual to offer. Nearing the end of a two week river cruise, we had already seen many churches and frescoes. Quite a few of the passengers took a quick look around and headed toward the gift shop. The Rambler on the other hand, had to get her money’s worth so she walked down the side aisles and stopped, looked, looked again. Yes, that was a skeleton dressed in velvet and pearls reclining in a glass coffin at one of the side altars. Looking further, I saw there was yet another elaborately dressed skeleton in a coffin at another side altar. Looking at them closely I decided they were relics of saints, but there were no identifying signs to tell just who these saints were.

St. Friedrich in his glass coffin in the Melk abbey church. For a gruesome close-up, check out the link.

We Catholics do have a penchant for relics of saints which dates back nearly to the time of the apostles but they are usually not displayed in skeletal form, or so I had thought. When we got home I found an interesting article on these skeletal saints on the web here, if you are interested. http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-most-beautiful-dead-photographs-of-jeweled-skeletons

Incidentally, the saints at Melk are Saints Colomon and Friedrich. These saintly skeletons can be found in churches in Eastern Europe and Switzerland, and are still considered by many to be a devotional aid, although others have been packed away, vandalized or stripped of their precious gems.

After communing with these saints, I was more than happy to spend time in the Melk gift shop staffed by jolly and helpful Austrian women. Since we weren’t going to be able to spend time in Krems or Weissenkirchen, I was able to buy some of the apricot schnapps which this region produces in large quantities. It makes wonderful souvenirs. For the non-drinkers, they also sell delicious apricot jam. The ladies kindly wrapped my purchases very carefully so that they would travel home safely.

On the way out, I noticed this back parking lot, must be the tradesmen's entrance. — On the way out, I noticed this back parking lot, must be the tradesmen’s entrance.

By 1:30, we had boarded our busses and were on our way to Krems, where we would board yet another boat for an afternoon cruise to the Wachau Valley. The Ramblers wouldn’t have minded staying on at Melk as its restaurant looked very inviting and the food smelled delicious.

cycling on river cruises, Passau, Simon's Cafe, St. Stephens organ concert

A bus ride to Passau on our last day on the Maria Theresa

April 19, 2016 1954 Leave a comment

Again it was cloudy when we headed to breakfast, and not particularly warm. The weather forecast predicted a high of 66 and a cloudy showery day. We had hoped for beautiful weather on our last full day on the Maria Theresa.

According to the original schedule, we would have been docked in Passau this morning; instead we were still in Regensburg. Fortunately, our walking tour of Passau was still on the menu though we would have to take a bus to get there.

As we got off the buss we could see one of the many Churches of Passau — As we got off the bus we could see one of the many Churches of Passau

The folks who had wanted to bicycle through the Wachau Valley were not so lucky. They would still be able to take their bike ride but it would be in the Regensburg area instead.

I haven’t said much about the bicycles on board the Maria Theresa because the Ramblers can’t bike any more. However, they looked very new, sturdy and comfortable. They weren’t electric though; the cyclists would have to supply their own energy. Since the trails along the river are flat, it shouldn’t be too difficult and the cool weather would probably be more comfortable for them. If you enjoy cycling, there are opportunities to ride at many of the stops on most river cruises. Most river boats now provide bicycles for their passengers.

We, along with a substantial number of the MT’s passengers, boarded busses at the Regensburg quay at 9 AM for our drive to Passau. The picturesque Bavarian city is about 90 miles cross country from Regensburg. As the Danube loops around it is considerably further by river boat. The Ramblers didn’t mind the bus ride; it gave us a chance to look at the countryside away from the river

Although we didn't get to the other side of the Da — Although we didn’t get to the other side of the Danube, it looked very intriguing.

. We would be spending most of the day in Passau with lunch on our own, so we were all handed 30 EU lunch money to cover the cost. This turned out to be more than ample.

Passau is one of the oldest cities in Bavaria, mainly because it sits at the confluence of three rivers, the Danube, Ilz and Inn. People have settled near rivers for thousands of years, and Passau has three! Initially settled by the Celts, then the Romans and finally Germanic tribes, it has always been an important stop for Danube travelers. By the 10th century it was also a Christian center, and would be ruled by the Bishops of Passau for nearly six centuries. Mozart visited the imposing Dom or cathedral and played on its majestic organ when he was only 6 in 1762. The Bishop was impressed by his talent but also thrifty as he gave the child prodigy a measly ducat ($2). In fairness, that was a lot of money in 1762. The Dom of St. Stephen’s would be our first stop when we got to Passau. There is more information about Passau in our blog about our Christmas Markets cruise.

Unfortunately the rain that had been forecast, had started falling by the time we reached Passau, around 11 AM, but thankfully it was more of a drizzle than a downpour.

After meeting our guides and sorting ourselves into groups, we headed for St. Stephen’s Cathedral for a concert on their renowned organ at 11:30. Chad, the tour director, was already stationed at the Church entrance to hand us our tickets.

When the Ramblers visited Passau on the Christmas Markets cruise we missed the organ concert. I love organ music and was looking forward to it but the Senior Rambler who doesn’t and wasn’t, opted to stay outside, saving Uniworld some money. LOL There were quite a few folks scrambling into the Church for the concert. The majority were Viking passengers, as they are usually wearing something red, red and white being the Viking colors. I am glad that Uniworld doesn’t inflict this punishment on us.

Before the concert, the audience was instructed to refrain from recording or taking pictures during the performance which is customary.

A picture of the huge organ, taken after the concert.

Of course, as soon as we heard the first notes of the magnificent organ, several people around me began recording the concert with their phones or cameras. This is one of my pet peeves. You are not going to get a good quality recording in those circumstances and it is extremely rude besides. Oh well, there was nothing I could do about it, so I closed my eyes and listened to the music with great pleasure.

The organ in St. Stephens is the largest in any European Church and it has the sound to match its size.

This is a beautiful church, rebuilt at the height of the baroque era. All the art moves heavenward.

The concert was a wonderful experience. A few organ statistics here: it has 17,974 pipes and 233 stops. It consist of 5 separate parts and all can be played from the main console, either individually or simultaneously, delivering a fantastic sound. All in all, a great experience, except for the annoying folks recording it, and I highly recommend it if you enjoy the sound of a magnificent organ.

The weather hadn’t improved much when I stepped out into the plaza in front of the Church after the concert, and I soon located the Senior Rambler. We both thought it was time for lunch so we headed towards the Hollgasse in the old town area where we knew there were many restaurants and shops. Unfortunately it was still drizzling so we bypassed those with outdoor seating, though they were doing a brisk business. We noticed a number of our fellow passengers already eating lunch in several places and were then hailed by another group we knew from the ship. They invited us to join them at a large table and since the food being served smelled delicious, we were happy to do so.

I didn’t write down the name of the restaurant but after looking at photos on Trip Adviser, I think it was called Zum Grunen Baum. Not only did we enjoy the company, but the food was absolutely delicious, a true home-style Bavarian meal of roast pork, sauerkraut and dumpling.

Not the clearest photo, but you get an idea, everything was delicious, Here they make dumplings the size of baseballs, much like mine at home.

This is dumpling country and they come in many shapes and sizes. Each cook seems to have his/her own recipe as I do myself. We Ramblers pronounced these as being excellent and noticed that all the members of our party cleaned their plates.

After our hearty lunch, we still had some time, so we wandered around the streets before stopping at Simon’s Patisserie for coffee and dessert. Simon’s is both a cafe and purveyor of Shokolade and Pralinen, really tasty Shokolade and Pralinen. They also make a wonderful gingerbread with marzipan. I know most Americans don’t like marzipan, but with my Eastern European roots, I love it.

A view of the pastry case from the cafe area at Simons

Simon’s does not ship to the US, so I bought several cans to bring home. However first we chose slices of Black Forest Torte which seemed appropriate since we were in Bavaria, and enjoyed them with coffee in the cafe section.

We then headed back to the quay to wait for our bus back to the MT, it was still drizzling, but hopefully the sun would be shining tomorrow. Chad explained what we could expect for the next three days. We would tour the famous Meik Abbey, and cruise the Wachau Valley along the way to Vienna by bus. We were instructed to put our bags outside our cabin door by 3 AM, just as if we were going to the airport to head back to the states. However, instead we were heading to Vienna by bus with several stops on the way.

Bavarian brass band, dining on the Maria Theresa, Entertainment on the Maria Theresa, low water on Danube

Low water blues, only two more nights on the Maria Theresa

April 12, 2016 1954 Leave a comment

After an exhausting but entertaining day, we were looking forward to a special dinner in the Leopard Lounge and the next day’s stop in Passau. This Bavarian city had been the last stop on our previous cruise and something about the place had captivated us. However, we were just a little concerned about the possibility that we might not get there by boat. On the way to Regensburg, we saw that the river had receded from the banks several feet, exposing a rocky shore, and could only imagine what lurked underwater in the channel. Unfortunately if we couldn’t go any further, we would miss cruising through the Wachau Valley, On our Christmas Markets cruise, it had been cold and rainy, and we wanted to see this picturesque area when it was warm and sunny.

Thus we were a little apprehensive when we went to hear Chad, our tour director, talk about the next day’s activities before dinner. We had enjoyed our voyage on the Maria Theresa very much so far,and hoped it would continue all the way to Budapest.

As it turned out, our fears were justified. When we walked into the lounge, we found waiting for us not just Chad, but our Captain and Carmen, the Hotel Manager as well. This did not look good.

From left to right, our hotel manager, Carmen, our tour director, Chad, and Captain, Martin.

Captain Martin , despite his English sounding name, was a an experienced Dutch mariner who knew the Rhine river very well.

During the voyage, our Captain had been very forthcoming about the state of the river and his hopes that we might complete the voyage. However, this time, he explained that the water in the channel was now as low as he had ever seen it, too low for the Maria Theresa. Thus, for the safety of the passengers and crew, we would go no further on the Danube.

We would stay on board for yet another night but then we would travel to Vienna and Budapest by bus, staying in hotels for the last three nights.

Evidently there was a low spot between Regensburg and Passau that held the larger river boats and barges back when rainfall was scant. After we left, the Maria Theresa would tie up on the opposite side of the Danube and await its next group of passengers who would have to board in Regensburg instead of Budapest. They would be staying in hotels the first three nights of their cruise and then board the Maria Theresa for the voyage to Amsterdam. Both the shipping and cruise lines felt that if a lock were constructed between Regensburg and Passau the low water problem would be solved but so far environmental concerns had blocked its construction.

Chad told us that he was already working on our hotel assignments and would let us know tomorrow night just where we would be staying in Vienna. In Budapest, we would be split into several hotels as the smaller city’s hotels did not have the capacity of Vienna’s. At the same time, he assured us that Uniworld would do its best to make sure we had the opportunity to take all the tours that had been scheduled in our original itinerary. Carmen then explained that our gala farewell dinner would be scheduled for the following evening, and we would say farewell to the Maria Theresa and its crew the next morning. The the riverboat part of our trip would end three days early.

Needless to say, the Ramblers were very disappointed to learn that they would have to leave the Marie Theresa three days early. However, Uniworld has an outstanding reputation for treating its customers very well, and we hoped that this would be the case for us. We need not have worried. Although the rest of our trip was different, it was very enjoyable in a totally different way. We would, however, miss the crew of the Maria Theresa who had treated us so well on our voyage.

That night the Ramblers were scheduled to attend a special , intimate Hapsburg Dinner in the Leopard Lounge available to all the passengers.

Here is the senior Rambler all dressed up an ready for dinner.

All they had to do was make a reservation in advance at the front desk as there was seating for only twenty. There were rumors that the dinner was only available to the passengers in the suites, but this was not the case. Anyone could attend if they reserved a spot in time. This was an evening to dress up a little and the senior Rambler even wore his sport coat, but not a tie.

The dinner was a five-course tasting menu, which started out with a kir royale, and then moved into a five course meal with wines to match.

The alcoholic beverages were rejected by the senior Rambler, but I enjoyed them very much. No worries about having to drive home! Since it was a tasting menu, the portions were small, but you got a “taste” of a variety of foods, except for the main entree which was an excellent filet. We had a great time, although there was a sense of concern as to what would happen next. The food was of the same high quality that we had enjoyed all along, but the presentation was extra special. Even the white-gloved butlers were part of the wait staff for the special dinner.

I haven’t talked much about the evening entertainment available on the Maria Theresa, but that is because for the Ramblers, evening entertainment wasn’t necessary. The senior Rambler would miss it entirely, spending his time somewhere on deck, enjoying the scenery and the night air. That is not to say that many people did enjoy the evening entertainment. Most times it was low key but fun.

Every evening an excellent pianist played a variety of requests, and even a small dance floor for those who enjoyed dancing. This came into play several nights when a band came on board. The band was so popular with a number of the passengers that they were invited back for an encore.

This night a 4 man German band, Bavarium Optimum came on board to play a variety of German songs. They were dressed in traditional costume, lederhosen, suspenders, etc. , very appropriate as we were in Southern Germany where these costumes are popular. They were a great group of talented musicians who seemed to enjoy playing as much as we enjoyed hearing them.

After a very long day, we Ramblers headed to our cabin, hopeful that the last days of our trip would be as good as the rest.

BMW Factory Tour, Regensburg BMW plant, Uniworld

We Ramblers get our fill of walking on an amazing tour of the BMW Plant…

April 4, 2016 1954 Leave a comment

For the first time since we boarded the Maria Theresa near Amsterdam, the Ramblers were going directly to our second tour without returning to our ship. We didn’t understand why then but the reason would be revealed to us later that day. Although we missed our lunch, the driver distributed water on board the bus, which was definitely appreciated. Uniworld supplies a pitcher of fresh water to each cabin every morning and we all got metal water bottles with the Uniworld logo to fill and take with on our outings. However, the Ramblers must confess that they never used their water bottles on the cruise, preferring to take along a plastic bottle that could be discarded. They did make nice souvenirs though.

The Regensburg BMW Plant is located on the outskirts of the city and I enjoyed the drive through the streets of the ordinary neighborhoods, a change from the historic sites we visited. Would have liked to check out their supermarkets but we went directly to the plant which was indeed as large as had been reported. We disembarked from our bus at the welcome center and found that we would have a tour limited to our Uniworld group with an English speaking guide. BMW offers two kinds of tours, a mixed group or an exclusive guided tour. The Ramblers were glad that we were on an exclusive tour as on the regular tours the guides are German-speakers. Before we started, we had to place all our belongings in lockers as we could bring only ourselves into the plant. Unfortunately no photos were allowed. This was disappointing for the Rambler who missed a lot of great photo ops, I have compensated by putting up a few excellent pictures from the BMW website. This is the first post in which I haven’t used any of my own photos.

Ariel view of the BMW plant in Regensberg. Since we couldn’t take any pictures all of these are from the BMW website.

Our guide told us that to make getting around easier, sometimes we would take our bus to the next plant. Even so, we were warned that there was lots of walking on this tour. More than 25,000 people from all over the world, take the tour every year.

In the press shop, metal is stamped into auto parts.

Our first stop was the press shop where lots of metal was stamped into auto parts. We learned that the Regensburg plant has been in operation for twenty years. It has a workforce of 9,000 in the plant with approximately 300 apprentices who all wear some form of blue uniform. Jobs in this plant are much prized and there is considerable competition for them. We were there during the beginning of the shift change and the large groups of workers heading for the plant, certainly looked happy to be there.

A view of the paint shop. The painting is done by robots behind a glass window. The is absolutely no paint smell in the viewing area.

BMW now employs both men and women although this was not always the case, but women are in the minority in certain areas, particularly the press shop.

Here they produce more than 1,100 BMW’s every day. The models that are built in Regensburg include the BMW 1 Series, BMW 2 Series Gran Tourer, BMW 3 Series Sedan, BMW 4 Series Convertible, BMW M 4 Convertible, BMW X 1, and BMW 24 Roadster.

Another view of robots at work. The human workers duck behind the wire screens before the robots do their thing. — A view of robots at work. The human workers duck into the wire cages before the robots do their thing.

My favorite part of the tour was the final assembly plant where the cars were put together by humans and robots on a series of assembly lines. BMW uses many different kinds of robots which work alongside human workers in what looks like a stylized ballet. It was very impressive.

Everything was choreographed for efficiency but also for safety as no one would like to be clobbered by one of those robots. By the time the tour was over, we were all ready to go home and order a BMW, so impressive was our experience. The company does an excellent job of selling the superiority of their product during the tour, but for most visitors, the glow wears off eventually. I am still driving my Jeep. LOL

At the end of our tour, we were offered cold drinks which were much appreciated after our long hike. We did get a bathroom break during the tour, for those who wonder about this, as the tour itself took several hours. Tired and hungry, we boarded our bus for the drive to the Maria Theresa at the Regensburg quay. Much to our dismay, construction in the area forced the our bus to stop a long way from the ship. When we finally got to the quay, we found that we had to cross over a rafted ship to board the Maria Theresa. The Ramblers and their fellow tour members were not the only ones climbing up and over to get to the Maria Theresa. We shared space with a long procession of the kitchen staff, each carrying boxes of vegetables and other kitchen supplies to the galley. Wish I had taken a picture because it looked like a scene out of a film, , but I was hot and tired and didn’t think of it until later. Drat!

Back on board, we gravitated to the Leopard Bar for a cool drink, trying to decide if we had the energy to walk back into town to get a bite to eat, as we had missed lunch and dinner wouldn’t be until 7. There were always snacks available, of course, but we were pretty hungry. After a very brief discussion, the Senior Rambler refused to walk anywhere else as some major body parts were aching. I must confess I wasn’t too eager to go anywhere either, since I had done the full tour while he had stayed on the bus for a few of the stops. Wish I had worn a fitbit to see just how far we walked that day.

What we didn’t know was that it wasn’t really that far to the alstadt, The Maria Theresa was now tied up on the opposite bank of the Danube opposite where we had been dropped off early that morning for our historic Regensburg tour. We wouldn’t have had to cross that 1,000 ft. bridge to reach the historic center. We didn’t learn this until I starting work on this blog entry. I always try to place our location with google maps, and I searched for our quay for long time on the wrong side of the Danube before I realized this.

A photo from Wikipedia commons of Die Konigliehe Villa von der Donau. The Maria Theresa was tied up right in front of the turreted wall which effectgively blocked our view of the town. We looked directly at the stone blocks of the wall from our cabin window.

As it turned out, the high stone wall of Die Konigliehe Villa, blocked our view of the alstadt

Even if we had known it was close, we were pretty tired of walking, so we just sat there looking very droopy. The MT’s hotel manager for our cruise, Carmen Mladenovic, noticed us and asked if we needed anything. We confessed that we didn’t have the energy to go to town to get something to eat, and we had missed lunch. She frowned and asked us why we hadn’t ordered food from the bar, since it was available all day and into the evening. Before we knew it, she had handed us bar menus and almost ordered us to get something. Of course, we were pleased to follow her orders and enjoyed our impromptu lunch. We did appreciate Carmen’s kindness and concern very much; just one of the many reasons we cruise with Uniworld.

Uncategorized

Memo about comments for all my blog readers

March 22, 2016 1954 Leave a comment

I just realized that the comment function on my blog entries was not activated. I have corrected this and now you can comment if you wish.

GeorgiaRambler

Low water again, Old stone bridge, Oskar Schindler, Regensburg UNESCO, Uncategorized, Wurstkuchl

The Old Meets the New in Regensburg

March 20, 2016 1954 3 Comments

Today would be one of the most interesting but also most confusing days we spent on the Maria Theresa. Little did we know that morning we would spend only two more nights on our lovely ship due to problems beyond the control of our Captain.

Fortunately, the day started out very well, with beautiful sunshine and warm but not hot temperatures. The ship made another technical stop at Kelheim, to unload the passengers who had chosen to tour the BMW plant. Because this option called for two separate tours, first briefly in historic Regensburg and than at the plant, it would last six hours. Thus those that selected this option would go first to Regensburg by bus while the Maria Theresa slowly sailed the final miles to the Regensburg quay with everyone else.

Here we are, heading off down a rural Bavarian road towards Regensburg.

This was not in the original Uniworld plan, but we all could see that the water in the Danube was very low, and this forced Captain Martin to steer our very large boat slowly through the deepest channel available. Often times, we noticed the propeller churning up mud from the river bottom.

Our affable Captain Martin had been a visible presence every day and always took time to explain what was going on to the passengers. Every evening before dinner, our tour director, Chad along with the Captain, would discuss what we would be doing the next day, but our biggest concern was the low water. By this time, the passengers knew that we might not finish the cruise on the Maria Theresa and we had our fingers crossed. Obviously we hadn’t gotten a firm answer to our questions about the water level yet because at this point nobody knew for sure.

Uniworld had cancelled the sailing of the European Jewels cruise immediately before this one in hopes that the water levels would come up, but there had been little rain, and the lowest spot, between Regensburg and Passau, was still very low and still ahead of us. Passau would be our next stop on the Danube if we could get there on the Maria Theresa. Uniworld had gone ahead with our cruise because it started in Amsterdam, so most of the cruise would be completed even if the Maria Teresa couldn’t get through the low spot.

Endless bridge — Our goal was in sight but the bridge seemed endless.

There wasn’t much the passengers could do about the low water but hope for rain at night. So we climbed aboard the bus to Regensburg at 8:30 AM determined to enjoy our day. When we got to Regensburg, we could see that there was a considerable amount of construction going on which resulted in even more walking. As it turned out, it was fairly fast walking too. We got the most exercise during the whole cruise on our day in Regensburg.

Up til now, the Ramblers had been with the Gentle Walker group which moved at a fairly slow pace. Because of the change in plans due to the low water, those who chose the BMW tour had to do them back to back, and there was no Gentle Walker option. After our first stop at the historic Roman center of Regensburg we would go directly to the BMW plant by bus.

We learned that those who chose not to tour the BMW facility, relaxed on the Maria Theresa until it got to Regensburg around 1:30. Then they had the choice of either “2000 years of Regensburg,” or a “Jewish Regensburg,” tour that lasted about two hours.

We had been warned that the visit to the BMW plant would involve lots of walking, so there weren’t many Gentle Walkers on our bus. The Senior Rambler wasn’t excited about all the walking, but I was determined to go on the plant tour. The only way we could do this was to take these tours back to back and so we did, though he was not a happy camper most of the time.

We couldn't see much of the Steinerne Brucke on this visit so I included a poster of what it will look like when finished. — We couldn’t see much of the Steinerne Brucke on this visit so I included a poster of what it will look like when finished.

Our original tour schedule had included a leisurely lunch in Regensburg . However the lunch break was eliminated from the town tour so we would get to the BMW factory in time. The Ramblers never managed even a snack in Regensburg that day. There were some interesting looking sausage places in town, as Regensburg prides itself on its bratwurst. The Wurstkuchl, a tiny restaurant on the bank of the Danube is thought to be the oldest fast food restaurant as it dates to the middle ages.

First we had to cross the Danube to get to the medieval center as our bus had parked on the wrong side of the river. Unfortunately the Steinerne Brucke (old stone bridge) was being restored and this involved even more walking over a series of ramps and passages to get across the river. The bridge was built in the 12th century, an architectural wonder in its day, as it is over 1,000 feet long and well worth restoring.

Almost there, the scaffolding and temporary bridge allowed tourists and locals to cross the river while the bridge was repaired.

Two couples enjoying brats and sauerkraut as the wurstkuchl — Two couples enjoying brats and sauerkraut as the Wurstkuchl

The Celts first came to the area around 500 BC and by the second century it was a Roman military post in perfect position to protect river traffic on the Danube and unlike the Celts, left many relics of their stay. By the 7th century, Regensburg was a beehive of Christian activity, serving as a hub for missionaries who traveled into the countryside to convert the Germanic tribes. Thus it has been an episcopal center for more than a thousand years.

Regensburg was also a military post for hundreds of years because of its strategic location. During the middle ages, Regensburg was the most important city in southeastern Germany, both a political and intellectual center and for centuries, the capital of Bavaria.

the postman — Evidently Bavarian mailmen deliver their mail from a bright yellow stroller, probably works well on the cobblestones.

As you might expect, there was much to see, but mindful that our time was limited, our guide kept up a brisk pace as she herded us along the ubiquitous cobblestones of the old town.

Here is an example of how Roman stonework was utilized by the early residents of Regensburg.

The historic center of the city is a UNESCO designated World-Heritage medieval city center and the Ramblers would have liked more time to enjoy it.

Once in the alstadt, it was easy to see the remains of Roman construction. The Germanic people who followed them, had incorporated the Roman stonework into their buildings.

St. Peter’s Cathedral dominated the medieval center of Regensburg as its builders had intended when the edifice that stands today was finished ca. 1520.

They were working on the spires; the little gondola carried workers up to the site.

A church had first been built near the area of the Porta Pretoria (the north gate of the Roman fort) in 739, and rebuilt many times before this date. The bell towers stand 105 meters (344 ft 6 inches)above the city. We were not surprised to see scaffolding on the building because these ancient structures need constant looking after. The state has an organization, the Dombauhutte (Cathedral building workshop) that supervises the ongoing maintenance, restoration and even archaeological exploration of the cathedral.

They are also working on the stonework of the front facade. We would have enjoyed going inside.

The last complete restoration of the Regensburger Dom took place in the 2000’s.

Unfortunately because we were on the quick city tour, we didn’t have time to go inside but mainly walked around the narrow streets. Along the way we admired the medieval Rathaus, the Roman gate and other interesting buildings. There were many photo ops but photos had to be taken quickly if at all. I did manage a good photo of a striking mural of David and Goliath, in Renaissance style, only to learn later that it was not a Renaissance era painting but a recent one. Oskar Schindler had once lived briefly in the building that it decorated.

I didn't realize until later the significance of this wall painting, but I am glad I took the photo. — I didn’t realize until later the significance of this wall painting, but I am glad I took the photo,

Although most of us would have liked to stay longer, our guide soon rounded us up for the hike back to the bus. Our day was only starting! At least we got to relax on our bus ride.

Rathaus tower, build in the middle ages.

Interesting detail on the Rathaus or city hall. Built in the middle ages, it is still used today.

Durer House, Frauenkirche, Nuremberg bombing 1945, Nuremberg castle, Uncategorized

Nuremberg, a city that rose from the ashes after WWII

March 7, 2016 1954 1 Comment

I always mean to research the cities we will visit before the Ramblers leave on their trip. This sounds good, and would be very good, but usually it never happens. Life intervenes and instead I find myself knowing only what we have learned from our guides and the handouts provided by Uniworld. Obviously the quality of the information on our tours,depends on the knowledge of the guide, and while most are at least good, some could be better at their jobs.

The first part of our tour, which had featured a drive through the ruins of Hitler’s grandiose rally grounds, really was almost self explanatory. And the rally grounds were still there, in pretty bad shape to be sure, but recognizable. The second part of our day featured a walking tour of the historic old town of Nuremberg , and it looked looked amazing. Looking around as we walked on the cobblestone streets, the Ramblers could imagine that nothing much had changed since the middle ages. Our guide mentioned that the whole area had been heavily bombed during WWII, but it wasn’t until I got home and did some research, that I realized the extent of the damage. Those same beautiful medieval buildings, not to mention the castle, had been reduced to rubble, or in the case of the Frauenkirche, merely a shell of their former selves. However, the people of Nuremberg were determined to rebuild them and rebuild they did, using bricks from the debris, although half of the old imperial city was lost forever.

A photo taken in 1945 of the historic center of Nuremberg reduced to rubble after several bombing raids.

For the sake of accuracy, I must mention that the castle was crumbling in the 19th century, and they had already done some restoration work before WWII. However afterwards, the buildings were almost flattened.

On 2 January 1945, the medieval alstadt was systematically bombed by the RAF and the USAF and about ninety percent of it was destroyed in only one hour; 1,800 residents were killed and roughly 100,000 displaced. In February 1945, additional attacks followed. By the end of the war, about 6,000 Nuremberg residents are estimated to have been killed in air raids. Why did the allies rain terror and destruction on the heart of this beautiful city known mainly for its manufacture of toys before the war? Of course, the fact that Hitler had chosen it as his special city didn’t help. In addition, during a bombing raid in 1944, the allies suffered their heaviest losses to date, losing a hundred planes to the defenders of the city. Six months later, the Germans had run out of fuel and were only able to offer a token resistance. Thus the allies could bomb the city almost unopposed.

A view of the Frauenkirche's shell , still standing in 1945. — A view of the Frauenkirche’s shell , still standing in 1945.

Obviously, the historic center was not a military target, and so the raid did not have a military purpose.

We were glad that the Nurembergers had worked so hard to restore their city as it provided us with an enjoyable visit to the past. Our bus dropped off the Gentle Walkers at the entrance to the Nuremberg castle grounds. This was one stop where it was impossible to get out very close to our tourist target. As we know, castles are almost always built on the highest ground for strategic reasons, and the sandstone Nuremberg castle, first built in the 13th century, was no exception.

A long trek up the path towards the castle couryard... — A long trek up the path towards the castle courtyard…

We followed a long, winding, uphill path, which led past the moat, now dry, and seemed almost endless to this Rambler as I started to puff and wheeze. Determined not to give up, I finally made it, at the very tail end of the Gentle Walker group, but it was worth it. The view of the alstadt from the castle walls was beautiful!

Everything visible from the castle ramparts had been destroyed in 1945.

We did not go inside, the castle but instead enjoyed walking around the grounds on a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky.

From the castle, we had a long stroll downhill on lumpy cobblestones, but now we were on our own. The Ramblers could take our time, and even stop, although there were no places to sit down. I eventually regained my lost breath, and began to enjoy our surroundings. We walked down a maze of cobblestone streets past the four story Albrecht Durer house, which is now the home of an interactive museum on his life. Most people have seen his etching of the”praying hands,” but his work is much more complex and interesting.

The Albrecht Durer House, a popular tourist site.

Our downward stroll eventually led us to the market square which was faced with shops and restaurants on three sides and the Frauenkirche which took up the fourth. The market square is also the location of the “beautiful fountain” but unfortunately we were unable to appreciate it as it was under reconstruction and hidden from view.

787 — A small sampling of the beautiful fruit on display.

In the square, market vendors had on display a beautiful, multi-colored selection of fruits, vegetables and flowers which were tempting. However, since we were very well fed on the Maria Theresa, it did seem silly to purchase any, especially since our room didn’t have a refrigerator. I couldn’t help myself though and eventually selected some giant fragrant raspberries. Unfortunately the pricing was somewhat mis-leading and I ended up buying the most expensive berries I have ever eaten. The cost was 7 Euros a box,holding less than a pound. Ouch! Not wanting to say that they were too expensive, I paid up. Oh well, next time I will ask about the cost before I buy. At least they were delicious.

Our final stop was the Frauenkirche, built in the 14th century as a Catholic church and still Catholic church today, unlike many medieval churches in Germany which converted to Lutheran during the Reformation.

Simple statue of Our Lady next to the candle stand.

. Unlike the larger, highly decorated baroque churches, the Frauenkirche is quite simply adorned on the interior. Many of the statues looked like they dated to medieval times, and had probably been restored after WWII along with the church itself. Tired from our long walk, the Ramblers took advantage of the seats available inside the church, enjoying a rest after our long ramble down from the castle.

Our candle lit here, you can see the edge of the marble table at the right. — Our candle lit here, you can see the edge of the marble table of Our Lady’s Altar at the right.

I took the opportunity to light a candle for travelers and those at home while we were there.

The Frauenkirche is famous for a large mechanical clock, the Mannlienlaufen which springs into action once everyday at noon. It is supposed to have done so every day for centuries without fail, but I doubt it was operating in the days after the horrific bombing in 1945.

You can see the circle of the clock but not much else, and of course it was in the shade.

Although the Ramblers were still in the square at noon, when the bell began to toll, we were at the far end, so we really didn’t see much of the medieval figures who came out, paraded around and rolled back inside the clock. It would have taken very good eyesight to see them without binoculars from our location. And because my excellent camera has a fixed lens, I was unable to zoom in on the clock.

Here is a video from You Tube that shows the Mannlienlaufen in action complete with the ding dong of the church bell that accompanies it. Just highlight the link and it will play. The entire sequence takes 5 1/2 minutes, as the Frauenkirchen Bell chimes first then the trumpeters and drummers spring to life and finally the electors parade.

▶ 5:31

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBXO_Fee4Zg

As it was, we were supposed to meet our bus at noon, and Chad, our program director, busily rounded us up for the buss ride back to the Main Canal and the Maria Theresa. Nuremberg was a wonderful stop, truly a city of contrasts.

Finally, I have included a photo of the Frauenkirchen from the preceding post which shows the church in 1946, one year after the bombing. Some vendors have already set up shop in the central market.

The ancient frauenkirche in the main market platz in 1946. Most of the surrounding area is rubble. Photo credit Scrapbookpage — The ancient frauenkirche in the main market platz in 1946. Most of the surrounding area is rubble but the plaza has been cleared and the vendors are back. Photo credit Scrapbookpage

Hitler's Nuremberg, Nuremberg Rally Grounds, Rebuilding Hitler's Rally Grounds, Uncategorized

The Two Sides of Nuremberg – Part 1, Hitler’s City

February 21, 2016 1954 Leave a comment

Our next stop was the city of Nuremberg, both famous and infamous at the same time. Nuremberg had a glorious past and was once the unofficial capital of the Holy Roman Empire. It is still considered one of Germany’s most historic cities with written records that date back to the 11th century. As Germany moved into the 20th century, Nuremberg still enjoyed a wonderful collection of medieval buildings in its old town. However, this beautiful city would pay dearly for Hitler’s interest in its connection to the Holy Roman Empire. Nuremberg was very heavily bombed during WWII and almost 90 % of its historic city center was destroyed in a single raid by the British Air Force on January 2, 1945. Nuremberg was noted for the production of toys and gingerbread not war material but because Hitler had made it a Germanic symbol, the British deliberately set out to destroy mainly civilian targets in the medieval heart of the city.

Two ancient churches were heavily damaged as most of the buildings were turned into rubble. It did not help Nuremberg’s fate that the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were announced there nor that Leni Riefenstahl used it as the site for her iconic Nazi film, Triumph of the Will.

We were scheduled to arrive at our city dock around 8 AM, which unfortunately was not in walking distance of the city center. After breakfast, we would have the choice of two tours, both of which would take about 3 hours. The first was dedicated to WWII,, which included touring the decaying buildings of Hitler’s rally center and Zeppelin field, followed by a visit to the Nazi Documentation Center. This did sound interesting but the Ramblers decided to take option 2. This was a relatively brief drive-thru tour of the Nazi Parade Grounds followed by a Nuremberg city walking tour of the castle and the heart of medieval Nuremberg.

Walking towards the reviewing stands in the Rally Grounds

We later heard that the folks who took the Documentation Center tour enjoyed it very much and would have liked to stay longer but we also enjoyed our tour and felt the same about the medieval alstadt.

Boarding our bus with the rest of the Gentle Walkers, we headed into Nuremberg, a city of about 500,000 people, today, the 14th largest in Germany. If Hitler had been successful it might well be much larger now, since he considered Nuremberg the most authentically “German” city with its ties to the ancient Holy Roman Empire. Thus he had the grounds that we were soon to visit constructed on a giant scale for massive Nazi rallies.

Hitler's crumbling coliseum — Hitler’s crumbling coliseum

Like many grandiose plans, they never entirely came to completion.

The Zeppelin Field and Rally Grounds have become a major tourist attraction, and although we approached them quite early on a week-day morning there were already a number of busses parked in several areas as well as another string of busses whose passengers were doing only the drive through tour. At least 250,000 people visit the grounds every year.

The decaying grandeur of Hitler’s red brick coliseum ruins were matched by the over-grown expanses of the rally grounds.

The Ramblers along with the rest of the Gentle Walkers were quiet as we viewed the expansive area from where Hitler briefly had Germany mesmerized. It is a somber setting and made one think about the twists of fate that caused the eventual destruction of the Thousand Year Reich.

It may be that in twenty years or so, the place will be well on its way to total decay. However, the Ramblers are not so sure this is a good thing.

Surreal ruins. Taking this photo from the bus window, it looks like ghostly images of the Hitler's Reich are swirling in the air. — Surreal ruins. Taking this photo from the bus window, it looks like ghostly images of the Hitler’s Reich are swirling in the air.

We have added a link that provides a good argument for rebuilding the grounds so that people will not forget happened here not so long ago. Yes, it will be expensive, but again it will be money well spent.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/nuremberg-germanys-dilemma-over-the-nazis-field-of-dreams-a6793276.html

Georgia Rambler