After breakfast, we spent more time on the sun deck. The water was calm and still this morning and perfect for reflection photos. I took a lot of them! We passed a couple more castles and turrets and made our way through a couple more sets of locks as well. The countryside scenes were beautiful! I loved the rolling hills. The red jagged rocks really stand out amidst the green hillside.
The captain has the back sun deck flattened because we are expecting several low bridges for the next couple of days. And sure enough, we had a really low bridge this AM. We all had to get down really low in our chairs in front of the captain’s wheelhouse. The wheelhouse itself was flattened down to half of its size, and we cleared the bridge just fine. But I confess I hit the floor on my knees just to make sure I wasn’t gonna hit my head. HA!
Mid-morning, there was a glassblowing demonstration in the lounge, and so I went down to watch it. The guy was fascinating, and he spoke excellent English. One of my new friends, Al Doty, got called to be a volunteer glass-blower, and he did a great job!
After lunch, we had a walking tour of Wertheim, which is located at the confluence of the Main and Tauber Rivers. It is an old Franconian town which has kept most of its character. Our awesome guide Brigitte took us on a stroll through some of the windy roads and timber-framed houses. We learned why a cock is placed on the tops of most church weather vanes. It is to be a reminder or Peter and GOD’s forgiveness after he denied Christ 3 times and heard the cock crow.
Along the way, we ran into another group from our boat and learned that there had been an incident on the walk. Two passengers had been hurt. Brigitte handed off the yellow sign to George and went running down the lane while we waited. An ambulance soon arrived, and we started back on our tour of Wertheim.
We learned about the pretzel which was first created by monks in Germany. They wanted to make a salty bread they could enjoy during lent, and thus the pretzel was born.
We also learned that Wertheim has invited back those surviving Jews that once fled the area or were held in concentration camps during WWII. Some of the buildings have the names of former Jewish residents on them. At the end of our tour, Brigitte thanked us as Americans for what we did for her country, and it was rather touching! I think memories of the war are more prevalent here than in my own country, and I am glad to see that the atrocities committed in Europe are not being forgotten.
Mom and Aunt Peggy headed off for a "Kaffeeklatsch" — coffee and cake with a local family. But Dad and I chose to explore more of Wertheim on our own and do some father-daughter bonding. We did a little bit of shopping, and I found a ceramic turtle with mosaic tiles, which I love.
I was curious about the Wertheim castle or fortress overlooking this quaint town, and so we took a mini train up to the fortress. We walked around the structure, which is mostly in ruins, and I took lots of pictures, of course. Then we caught the train back down to the town center and had some eis (ice cream) before walking back to the ship.
I’d like to come back to Wertheim and do more exploring of the fortress ruins. I didn’t feel like I got to see it all, and I’d like to.
We had another fabulous dinner and then retired to the sun deck again to finish off our evening. We got to see the sunset over the river, and it was quite nice. We went through another set of locks before retiring for the evening. It was a chilly evening but well worth it.
Favorite Thing or Funny Moment
- Me: Trying to communicate to the Germans at the ice cream shop that I wanted the strawberry sundae. The guy (probably around my age) did not know English, and so he came across to the other side of the counter and had me physically point to what I wanted. HA!
- FEELING: Thoughtful!
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