Author: rphbaker

As we walked outside for a quick glance at the gardens we walked into a parade of sorts. Our guide called his German wife to see what the celebration was for. I’m still not sure I understand but it had something to do with a group who has raised money to restore a bridge and it was a big day for them. Regardless it was fun to see.

The gardens were vast and impressive. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to really explore. In fact Greg and I ended up running back to meet the guide. Also unfortunate the skies were overcast so the colors don’t pop.

We made our way inside and it’s nearly impossible to capture the opulence in photos. Everything was massive but yet so detailed.

At the top of the stairs is the largest alfresco painting in Europe. It’s 7000 sq feet and took 14 months to paint. Our guide went into great detail about the meaning of the paining but it’s way too much to type plus I don’t even think I could do it justice. He apparently studied this painting every night. My noble guests, I believe him.

The scene depicts the four continents that were discovered at that time, Europe, America. Africa and Asia. It also includes many of the Greek gods as well as zodiac symbols. It was impressive…that’s my synopsis.

Next we headed into the ballroom.

From here we headed through multiple guest rooms all of which had been restored and were all quite different. It was a little bit of a mind game walking from one to the other.

Our guide let his noble guests rest for about 35 minutes on the bus which was a welcome break. If only people hadn’t been hacking it would have been great. It feels like half this boat is sick….I really hope I’m wrong with that.

We passed lots of vineyards on our way back into town.

We arrived at the Bishops’ Residence and disembarked the bus. Eighty percent of the Residence was destroyed during the war and 97% of Wurzberg was destroyed.

Finishing out the last of the sights from Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

First stop is the Christmas store

Of all the little towns we have been to on this trip as well as our other travels, this one ranks at or near the top. It was so quaint and easily walkable. I hope to return at some point and stay overnight so I can enjoy it without all the tourists.

Our time here felt way too short. We have made our way back to the bus to return to Wurzberg. We will be stopping to see the Bishops’ Palace before returning to the boat.

First stop was the fortress wall to see the sights of the city from above.

There were stones built into the wall that must have been part of some sort or restoration project from lots of different places and times.

We got to the center of town and there was a farmers market going on. The square was bustling with people…mainly all tourists.

We decided to skip the included lunch (because I heard it was gross and because we wanted more time to explore on our own.) We headed out to walk the wall.

I published my last post before I was done take pictures of the swan so here’s a few more.

Greg had to prove he could get up on the window ledge.

We had a departure time of 9:15 so we headed out to the bus. We had a drive of an hour or so with some pretty sights along the way.

We finally arrived at Rothenburg ob der Tauber. So it seems as though there are 17 towns in Europe named Rothenburg so they had to be differentiated. This one means over the Tauber (River.) Rothenburg means red castle.

Rothenburg is an absolutely picturesque town. This day will be in several posts and is mainly pictures. Walt Disney was inspired by this town in the 1930’s and the Pinocchio Village was the first movie inspired by this town.

We woke up this morning docked in Würzburg. We have an all day excursion today so we won’t be spending any time in town aside from visiting the Bishops’ Residenz on our way back into town later.

I can now see why these lower level rooms are sometimes called swan rooms. I’m complete obsessed.

Is there a number of swan photos that tips the scale towards being excessive? If so I don’t care. Could watch this swan swim past me all day long.

A few non swan pics from the boat.

And for consistency, we had breakfast with our usuals…Jane and Paul in Milo, Edwin and Fahad’s section.

Looking forward to another beautiful day!

We returned to the boat just in time for lunch. We sat in our favorite spot with our favorite people.

While we were eating we passed through the narrowest lock along the canal. Which honestly became a theme for the day.

The canal was so calm and peaceful and we were passing beautiful scenery. These boats are so quiet and smooth it’s just insane.

At 3:30pm they had planned a tea and pastry event. That’s just what we needed after our late lunch.

After a lovely afternoon with perfect weather and way too much food and a quick talk about why we should book our next cruise and all the savings we would get if we do it was time for dinner. There is definitely not a lack of food here.

Admittedly this cruise has exceeded my expectations. I’d be totally open to another cruise. Choosing when and where would be the hard part.

Somehow I can’t remember to take pics of my food not that anyone actually cares. I captured the important part, dessert, because lord knows I haven’t had enough of that.

I had the asparagus soup which was good, and the turkey followed by the apple crumble pie. We laughed about the dessert called luke warm creamy pudding cake and Greg decided to try it for the hell of it. He made a bad decision (or good since he didn’t eat it.)

After dinner it was back up to the lounge for a concert by Gavin. He brought all his best show-tunes for 45 mins. My perfect concert. One that ends at 9:45pm!

We have a later start tomorrow but a full day making a trip to a small town Rothenburg ob de Tauber. Oh and probably lots of eating.

I decided to get wild for breakfast and went with an egg white omelette instead of the French toast. I forgot to take a picture before I started eating. Also the cantaloupe has been so good.

We boarded the bus for a 9:15 departure time. Somehow the boat left before the buses even left.

We were dropped off in the middle of town to meet our tour guide for a 90 min walking tour before we have some free time to explore on our own.

This will be mostly a picture post.

We went back to the oldest brewery for a Smokey beer. Want to say I loved it but I can’t. It wasn’t as terrible as I actually anticipated. Actually none of us liked our beers. The pretzel though, they nailed that.

The bathrooms at the brewery were definitely not original. These were the nicest bathrooms we have been to and were free!

We made our way back to the buses for our 30 or so minute bus ride back to the boat. Jane and Paul nearly got lost coming back and came walking up right at departure time. I think they and Gavin all almost had a heart attack!

We pulled into the boat dock in the town where the boat had moved while we were in Bamberg. Greg had looked on the map and said he didn’t see anything there at all. Guess not. The ship was docked basically at a scrapyard. I’d say this business hit it rich when Viking proposed using their docks occasionally.

Bamberg was nice but it wasn’t as much of my jam as I thought it would be. Fun to visit and was a beautiful little town but unless I can live in the swan house I think I’d prefer Regensburg.