Kinderdijk Windmills, Netherlands

We see windmills so we must be in Holland and the cruise is drawing to an end.  We dock in Amsterdam in the morning and Kathy and Mike head for home.  Lee & Millie are staying over for a day to see the city highlights.  It has been wonderful having Kathy and Mike to share this portion of our trip with.  Lots of stories and laughs.

Lee ran into these two charming Dutch girls while walking arount the windmills.  You should have seen the funny shoes they had on.

Cologne, Germany

Cologne is the 4th largest city in Germany with over 1 million people.  It was 96% destroyed in the war so the city buildings are no older than about 50 years.  Just another large city as far as we could tell even though they have a very long and colorful history.  The city was offically recognized by the Romans in 50 AD so it has been around awhile.  Workers building a new subway station just recently discovered an intact Roman ship from the 1st century buried under the main square.  The Cologne Cathedral was virtually the only building in the city to survive the war.  It is one of the largest gothic cathedrals in the world.

Construction begain in this cathedral in 1248 and was finally completed in 1880.....and we thought our public works project took a long time.

The size of the Cathedral was designed to pay tribute to the most prized possession of the city.  Entombed in this gold case is believed to be the bones of the Three Wise Men.   

Middle Rhine River Castles and Marksburg fortress

This morning we sailed on the Middle Rhine River which hosts one of the largest concentrations of medieval castles and fortresses in the world.

These castles are in various states of ruin and restoration - some have been restored well and others not so well.

A lot of them have been turned into youth hostels.

and several are now private residences.

and some are just ABC!......"Another Bloody Castle"

But all of them have a history of ownership, conquest, destruction and rebuilding.

The crown jewel is the Marksburg castle in Brauback.  It is the only medieval castle never to be destroyed.  The boat pulled in here and we walked to the top and visited this facinating place.  This is one of the be perserved/restored buildings that we have seen on any of our trips. 

View of the town from one of the tower windows.  All of this land (and the people) would have been owned by whoever owned the castle at the time.

Wertheim, Germany

Wertheim is known for glass blowing.  Almost all of the old glass thermometers were manufactured here until these were replaced with digital devices.  Now, there are many fiber optic companies here as well as major manufacturers of scientific glassware (and glass eyeballs).  There are many glass artist here as well. 

The town is by far the smallest one we visit on our trip.  It only has about 2000 people living withing the actual city but about 20,000 in the surrounding hills.  80% of them are employed in some way in the glass industry.  The town has many buildings made of this half exposed timber design which we believed was just "Bavarian" decoration.  Actually, it was originally a matter of economic necessity since stone cost more than wood, people would make their home out of as much stone as they could afford.

In every town we have been to since Budapest, we have seen these little brass plaques in embedded in the roads which pay tribute to jewish individuals and families who lived at that location and who were killed or deported.

Here is the crew in the city gardens.

We climbed to the castle ruin above Wertheim to see one of the largest castle ruins in Germany.  This castle was first constructed in the 12th century, destroyed and rebuild at least 6 times until final destruction in 1634.

It was a long way up to the ruins but the view is spectacular!

Wurzburg and Rothenburg, Germany

We have been traveling through the heart of the Baverian wine country with hillside vineyards and large and small wineries.  This one happens to be the largest winery in Germany just outside Wurzburg.

This this the modest town home of the Duke of Bavaria.  Nice digs but lots of windows to clean.

Two German blonde sisters who told Lee that this was their home.  

We took a side trip away from the river to visit Rothenburg ob der Tauber.  This is a very well perserved city from the 14th century with its city wall still intact.

Lunch in Rothenburg.  Simple but oh so GOOD!

Walking the ramparts on top of the old city wall.

Bamberg, Germany

Bamberg is the historical family seat of the Counts of Babenberg, who were founders and rulers of Austria from the 10th to the 13th century.  Bamberg retains most of the 14th throught 18th century structures since it had virtually no damage during the wars of the 20th century. 

Most of the buildings near the city center retain these marker which indicate the type of merchant who owned the building.  These not only served as a sign but also as an address for early postal service.

This gate dates back to the 9th century and connected the civic town to the diocesan town. 

We walked throught the imperial rose gardens which where much more colorful than can be seen in this picture.

We watched these three little kids "fish" for coin in the wishing well with magnets on the end of string.  They got very excited when they got a "bite".

The Messerschmitt was a very effective German warplane named after the family who owned the factory which made them.  After the war, the Messerschmitt family was prohibited from making planes of any kind so they opened a hotel here in Bamberg.  It is still run by members of the family.

Nuremberg, Germany

On Sunday, we visited Nuremberg.  This city was 80% destroyed during WWII and has been rebuilt in its historical style.

The Pegnitz river flows through the heart of the old historical city center.  During the reconstructions almost all of the original buildings within the city walls where rebuild to their original style and function.

The town's main square is huge, lively and lots of fun. 

Within the city wall is the Imperial castle.  The Bavarian Emperior would stop by here every year or two.  It stayed empty the rest of the time.  Funny way to run a country.

Regensburg, Germany

We have not had an internet connect for a little while so we are behind in our posing.  On Saturday we visited the 7th century town of Regensburg.  This little town was the center of power of the Bavarian  dukes for centuries. We wondered the narrow streets of this wonderful little village.

Behind the walls that face the streets are these little courtyards with wooden facades and apartments.

For 700 year the Regensburg stone bridge was the only stable structure crossing the Danube anyware in Austria or Germany.  The German army tried to destroy it in their retreat during WWII but failed.  It is now a beautiful walking bridge.

We took a break from the stress of traveling for some local sauage and refreshment.

After leaving Regensburg, we passed this ancient manument to a long forgotten war.  To get a prespective as to size, the statues are over 16 feet high.

Passau, Germany

Passau, Germany is at the confluence of the rivers Inn, Danube and Ilz and is over 2000 years old.  Narrow streets and beautifully perserved houses made for a very relaxing day of walking.

Millie and Kathy at one of the many town gardens.

We loved the narrow streets and the neat little shops and apartments that we found along the way.

In the heart of the historical center is St Stephan's Cathedral.  We liked the open, bright style compared to the dark gothic designs we have seen so far.

St Stephans is the home of the largest pipe organ in the world with almost 18,000 pipes.  We got to hear a 30 minute sample of music from this amazing organ.

Wachau Valley and Melk, Austria

We spent the morning (Thursday) sailing up the Wachau Valley of Austria.  We past literally hundreds of little villages and hamlets that looked like they came right out of a storybook.

This is wine country and the hillsides are covered with terranced vineyards.  This is probably the the most scenic part of our trip since we left Norway.

....just a bit of technical info.  The pilot house on our boat can retract into the deck so we can clear low bridges along the river. 

We stopped in Melk, Austria for a visit to the Benedictine monastery there.  The buildings were originally build as a residence of the Babenger family but were given to the church in 1089 to become a monastery.  It is still an active abbey for 33 monks that also operates a school. 

Our favorite room in the monastery was the library.  This was one of 17 library rooms that hold over 180,000 ancient books.

View of Melk from the monastery. 

A very rainy Vienna, Austria

We arrived in Vienna this morning to pouring rain and 60 degree temps.  No complaints from us; we are in Vienna for gosh sakes and we learned when we first started traveling that there is no such thing as bad weather....just inappropriate clothing!

The city is broken up into two distinct sections, the old city with its museums, narrow streets and 14th - 17th century buildings.....

.....and the new city across the Danube with modern, glass buildings and wide avenues.  Not much charm but it is good that they can keep growing while protecting the historical areas.

We spent all our time in the historical area.  Lee finally got to the center of the city.  He had been here 40 years ago and never found the city center since he was driving and couldn't read the street signs.  Walking in this city is much faster and easier than driving.

St Stephans Cathedral from the gates of the Museum Quarter.  At night we attended a Strauss and Mozart concert at the Kursalon, one of the many halls where Johann Strauss had conducted.  It was wonderful music and the setting only made it even more enjoyable.