Day 6 (3) - Nuremberg to Regensburg

Late the previous day we left port heading through multiple canals and locks. It was definitely winter.

The front deck the first night.

That morning we were dropped off at Kelheim, where a uniquely shaped war memorial building is located.
But we were just boarding the buses to get a jump on the day at Regensburg. A walking tour of the city, showing the first bridge across the river, along with the cathedral, and then off to visit more Christmas markets!

Grabbing the bus at Kelheim

                      

Regensburg Cathedral

A view of the main Christmas market

Enjoying a Gluwein

On the old bridge looking back at Regensburg

We stayed until after dinner, then it was on to Passau!

Day 5 (2) -- Nuremberg

After a wonderful breakfast (every meal may be eaten in the dining room on board), it was time to pile into the buses for the journey through Nuremberg. With a crisp but manageable temperature in the 30s, we headed for our  first stop. Our guide was an American-born former soldier who had served in Germany in the 1970's, and knew his history.

The audio receiver in its charger
in the room.

Before I go further, I must put in a plug (pun intended) for the audio receivers provided.  They look like little walkie-talkies that are simple to operate, with an easy-access volume knob to turn up and down as needed. Even though there may be four buses with four guides, it was easy to make sure you were listening to the right guide. You made sure you were closest to the guide you wanted to hear, then turned on the device. Within 15 seconds you were now able to listen with ease.  During one tour we got as far away as 100 feet and could still hear the guide. It makes it easy to view the sights while not having to hover around the guide. OK, back to the tour.

The bus pulled up at what appeared to be a dilapidated stadium, which it was.  This was where Hitler held the huge rallies in the 1930's that you sometimes see in old newsreel footage (or old footage on  Youtube today😊).

Zeppelin Field on that Sunday.

A detail of the Beautiful Fountain

Then we were off to see Nuremberg Castle, which overlooked the center of town. We were introduced to feudal techniques of holding off enemies, from raising the drawbridge to dropping pots of boiling oil in narrow passageways into the castle. After that, it was a short ride down the hill where we parked a block from the main square, known as Hauptmarkt. In the square, the first feast for the eyes was the Beautiful Fountain, where we were to meet to return to the bus for lunch.

The entire square was filled with shops set up for the Christkindl market. From Christmas angels to gluwein, there was a lot to see.  Frauenkirche church on the east end of the square provided a gorgeous backdrop for our first market.

Checking out the Rauschgold Angels at the Christkindl market

Frauenkirche Church at the main square

We headed back for lunch onboard the ship. It turned out that lunch could be taken in either the dining room, or in the lounge in the upper deck.  As we ate, the snow began to fall, dropping a light blanket all over the city.

After lunch the bus returned for more shopping at the market, or one could opt for a presentation in the lounge on the latest happenings in Europe's common market countries. 

Your intrepid author remained behind so he was unable to take photos of the falling snow at the market for the afternoon. All of us, however, returned to the boat by 5:00 p.m. so we could start the cruise, beginning with the Main-Danube canal.

Dinner in the dining room followed by a nice chat in the lounge filled out the day, as we retired for the night as the boat continued on its course for new sights tomorrow.

Goodbye Nuremberg!

Day 4 (1) -- Munich to Nuremberg

Today we were excited as we knew by sundown we'd be aboard the river ship settled in for the trip down the Danube. We checked out of the hotel--our car didn't have the complimentary liters of water as it had for our aborted trip to Schwangau two days before, but we still looked forward to a small auto tour through southern Germany by way of Rothenberg ob der Tauber.

In our once previous trip to Germany in the '80s we'd been through the town before. We were told it was the place for Hummels and that was certainly true then.  The day started out cloudy in the mid 20s, but the autobahn was clear of any snow so it turned out to be an easy drive.

Like all things, Rothenberg had changed.  Before we'd come in April--now we were attempting to visit during the high Christmas season. We pulled into the first parking lot and were astonished at the number of parked buses--there must have been 25 or more! This was not a good sign as far as we were concerned. We were also not excited to spend 5 Euros to park outside the walls, just to walk into the city.

Der Apfel Pie

One of the things we remember about Europe is that when McDonald's converted to baked apple pies in the U.S. back in the '80s, Europe did not follow that trend. So we always try to eat at least once in a McDonald's in Europe, just to clog the arteries a bit for the great taste of the fried apple pies. We decided to try to eat lunch at Rothenburg, and so set our trusty GPS to guide us to the nearest location.  Well, evidently there is a McDonald's INSIDE the walls of Rothenburg. Our GPS had no problem suggesting how to drive into the inner city. So we tried it. We finally gave up at the "no cars 11-1600 hrs" sign, just after we'd seen the tour bus go by. LOTS of people. We figured there must be more than one McDonald's in Germany, so we pressed on for Nuremberg, skipping Rothenburg.

Anspach Church
(and Christmas Market)

Anspach is on the road to Nuremberg.  What a cool-looking city! With a very old city center just off the highway, it wasn't overrun by tourists. We took a photo of their central church in our search for lunch. The restaurant ended up being on the main drag. The employees were very helpful and patient with us as outside of "apfel", "bitte", and "danke", our German was pretty pitiful. This particular location had a McCafe in it, which looked pretty good for a space to stop and take a morning break in the future. But we did get our apple pie...

We arrived that afternoon in Nuremberg. The car needed to be dropped at the airport and we read somewhere that taxis charge for additional passengers, so we first stopped at the ship, which was docked at the Nuremberg port...well sort of. Turned out the "port" section was basically alongside the canal with some other ships with the same idea of going south--two of them were in fact other Viking ships.

Check-in was published as starting at 3:00 p.m., but we found out later early arrival was no problem--they even had food set out for those who arrived around lunchtime. Plus they provided shuttles to the city center for those who wanted a jump on the Christmas Market. The map on the Viking site gave a clue to the actual location, but Google maps photos of the area showed a river boat in the exact spot. We checked in, and I drove to the airport to drop off the car. They closed at 6:00 p.m. according to their website. Really it was a "fill out your form and drop it into the box" return. The counter person inside would not check me in, even though I was there around 4:30 p.m. I took a cab back to the port--the cabbie figured out "Viking boat Nuremberg Port" and he took me through town, which although slower was the shortest route.  I was getting concerned when 6 Euros had clicked off the meter and we hadn't gotten off the airport site, but we arrived with 27 Euros showing on the meter.

The Welcome Location

 After a quick unpack, we visited with friends and went to the lounge for the "Welcome Briefing", prior to a 7:00 p.m. dinner in the restaurant. The first of the "Viking Daily" documents were placed in our rooms. These consisted of four pages that outlined the next day's events, along with brief histories of the area. A nice item.

The Odin parked between the Freya and Embla, all new for 2012.

After dinner it was quiet talk as we looked forward to the tour beginning.