Leaving Germany and into Austria

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Sunday, we arrived in Nuremberg. We had not booked any tours but there was to be a shuttle bus going into the city in the afternoon. we caught that into the heart of the city. We had been here in 2008 and had really enjoyed our time here. Unfortunately, it was cool and rainy but we still wanted to revisit. We were bussed into the city and walked to the main square where they have markets. However, as it was a Sunday ,these were closed. We stopped at the beautiful old fountain which was to be our meeting point for our return. We walked through the square and stopped on the bridge admiring the beautiful architecture. This town was bombed substantially during WW2 but much of the older buildings have been restored. We stopped in front of the very tall Gothic St Lawrence's Church. This is now a Lutheran church which was nearly destroyed in the war but was restored and reopened in 1953. There were some beautiful statues here.
When we left we found it was raining heavily so sought shelter but surprisingly most of the cafes were closed. We found an Ibis Hotel and went inside for a drink. The Cafe here was decorated as if it was a birch forest, very unusual. We then walked back, retracing our steps to the main square. We were a little early so had another glass of wine inside an Italian restaurant. Then it was back to the ship.
That night there was a Music quiz after dinner. Danny, the resident pianist ,played songs and then we were asked questions. Fortunately, most were of our vintage and we won a bottle of champagne!! Martin, the cruise director is into 60s and 70s music so we have told him about some Australian bands some of which he already knew.Good fun!!

The next day we continued our way along the Main Canal and stopped after lunch in the pretty city of Regensburg. We had a short walking tour which took us through the town to the centre, of course containing the Cathedral. Many pretty buildings were here including one called the Goliath house, because of its striking mural of David and Goliath. Many narrow alleys and coloured houses. We stopped in a square commemorating the destruction of the Jewish quarter in the 15th century. Regensburg was untouched by the war so the foundation from the old Roman fort still is part of the buildings at the entrance. Again the Cathedral is in the Gothic style and has a beautiful silver altarpiece. We found our own way back to the ship. Fortunately. The sun came out and it was a pleasant walk. That night we were entertained by a two man band playing Bavarian folk music. Dressed in traditional liederhosen they were really entertaining.

The next day we sailed out of the canal and into the Danube. Our stop for the day was at Passau which is close to the border with Austria. This, like Regensburg, is a University town and almost as old. Again, it is very similar in layout, with narrow cobblestone lined streets leading into the centre. But here the Cathedral is Baroque in style and inside is a riot of gold and colourful paintings, very different from the gloomy Gothic we saw in Regensburg. In the afternoon we had booked the optional tour, Bavarian Cruise. We were driven to the small Austrian town of Scharding. This was charming. Our guide, Eva, was the best we have had so far, very knowledgeable and entertaining. We walked into Schardi g which sits on the River Inn. Here the buildings are coloured according to their original use, yellow for a brewery, green for an apocathery and red for a butcher. We walked to the river and then back to a restaurant where we were given salt, herbs a mortar and pestle and shown how to mix them to make herbed salt. Back on the bus we drove to a mooring on the river and boarded an old wooden ship now powered by electric motors. We then sailed along the Inn while beer tasting and eating a pretzel. The sun shone and for once it felt more like summer. A very pleasant ride.

Once back on the Magni, we had dinner and then the night's entertainment involved four of the crew giving us definitions of unusual English words but only one was telling the truth. We had to guess which. Unfortunately we only got one of the five right!! But good for a laugh.

I haven't been able to upload photos for some unknown reason but I will publish this account and try again later.

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