Nuremberg

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Hi all,

We did have a third day in Prague, but I figured that I had already posted enough pictures of Prague, so I will spare you. I can tell you that I was feeling better, so I was able to go explore too, which was nicer than just looking at pictures Steve had taken. We took the Hop-on-Hop-Off bus, which took us to all the sights, with narration, without me having to walk all around. So, that was nice. There are lots of little Christmas markets in different places around the city, so we visited two more. A little the same, a little different. We mostly drank hot mulled (spiced) wine and Christmas punch (non-alcoholic for me), and sampled a few different foods. It was fun.

So, the next day was Sunday, and we hopped on board a bus provided by the Viking company to take us to Nuremberg. It was about a 4 hour trip and we got here just in time for a welcome on board talk, and then supper. Unlike the ocean cruises, there isn't two dinner seatings. Instead, supper is at 7 pm for everyone, and it consists of appetizer course, main course, and of course, dessert. Then they come around with coffee or tea, and you have the opportunity to finish your conversations with your table mates. Seating isn't assigned, so you just sit wherever you like. So, we are meeting different people every meal. Everybody's friendly, so it's kind of nice, but a bit of a chore too, making conversation. It's usually 8:30 or 9 by the time we finish supper, and I'm beat. Others sit up in the lounge and have cocktails. Every night there is some sort of entertainment, but nothing like you get on the big ships. Last night we had a little talk about how the locks were built which now allows boats to use the river from one side of the European continent to the other. But because there is a mountain range to cross, the rivers are at all different levels, and they had to build a steel and metal channel to hold the larger boats like this one (called a long boat because, well, it's long). Longboats must also be not too high, in order to cross under the many low bridges. This ship actually has a function where the upper deck and wheelhouse is lowered into the middle of the ship to make it low enough. Pretty cool.

I will come back and post pictures later in the day. The internet signal is pretty weak, and I can't log on from our room, so have to come and wait to use one of the two computers that actually work on board. So, check back later for pictures.

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Photos

Nuremberg
Entrance to the Castle

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This is the moat - no water anymore

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Having to walk uphill into the castle allowed the defenders to roll burning bales of hay, or barrels of burning oil, etc down onto the soldiers trying to take the castle.

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Looking over the city from the castle

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One of the stalls at the Christmas market

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Look at the snow and frost beside the river that we are on. This was a really cold day! It took about 2 hours for me to be able to feel my fingers again after getting back to the ship.

Comments

[Colleen]

Looks cool (literally and figuratively). Hope you are having an awesome time.