A Day in Wurzburg

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Tuesday, 7 Oct Late
We are on the move once again without any internet connection. The daily routine is to cruise all night, dock in the morning, have breakfast and be off the boat by about 9:30 or 10:00. We return to the boat late in the afternoon or stay in town for dinner and get back to the boat late. Shortly after we return the boat leaves and we are off again for our next stop. The only time we have reliable internet is when we are docked and then we have comparatively little time to do anything other than eat and get ready to leave. It is a great schedule for touring but not for much else.

Yesterday was Würzburg with a walking tour of the downtown, the prince-bishop’s palace and then a wine tasting in the prince bishop’s wine cellar. In between the walking tour and the palace we had lunch in the Ratskeller. The serving staff did a good job because we basically filled the space and there was very little space in which to maneuver. It was good food accompanied by good beer and even better Franken wine. Würzburg is in the center of the Franken wine producing region which is maybe 50 to 60 miles along the north side of the Main River. In my view, the wines are the best white wines in Germany, flavorful but dry; not sweet like Rhine or Mosel wines. So much for the commercial for Franken wines.

After lunch we toured the Residance or the palace of the prince-bishop of the independent city-state of Würzburg. It was built in the 18th century in the baroque style, which is very fancy and ornate. The whole purpose of the building was to impress other local princes to the point they would never attack Würzburg because, if there was enough money to build such a sumptuous palace, there was clearly enough money to have a strong army. We can only assume it worked for the other prince-bishops because Würzburg avoided war. One thing is for sure, it clearly impressed me. I have never seen a place with such detailed plaster and wood work. Unfortunately we have no pictures because you are not allowed to take pictures inside the building.

The wine tasting was in the wine cellar of the same building. Napoleon, upon seeing the cellar in 1804, is reputed to have given instructions that the cellar was to be protected because there was no more magnificent cellar in all of Europe. It survived Napoleon’s time as well as WWII and is still a functioning cellar where the smell of the wine greets you at the top of the stairs. We tasted four wines and then finished the day by walking back to the boat through town and then along the river. Most took the buses back but we decided to walk since it turned out to be such a nice day.

Grandma decided to stay on the boat rather than take the tour because it was cold and wet when we started in the morning and she didn’t want to take a chance on getting a cold which could turn into pneumonia. She got a massage, read and generally rested while we tramped around the city. She and Grandpa had visited Würzburg years before, so she decided it would be a good time to sit out a tour.

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Photos

Wine Tasting in Wurzberg
Walking through the cellar on the way to the tasting. Napoleon is reputed to have said this wine cellar was the grandest in Europe.

Wine Tasting in Wurzberg
Just before the crowd arrived to sample the wine

Wine Tasting in Wurzberg
Sampling wine in the Wurzburg Prince-Bishop's wine cellar.

Wine Tasting in Wurzberg
The cellar is in the basement of this modest house.