22 September - On the Main River in Bavaria

For the past two days we have been sailing through the German state of Bavaria on the river Main. We have left the romantic Rhine behind and we are now on a smaller river with locks every few kilometres. As we travel upstream, the ship is raised progressively to higher levels. I have now lost count of the number of locks we have encountered. In some cases the ship only just fits into the lock and we can open our stateroom window and touch the concrete walls.
Yesterday, our first stop was Miltenberg. We arrived here nearly two hours late due to high traffic levels causing delays at the locks. When we berthed at Miltenberg, it looked like rain and we were all offered umbrellas to go ashore.

At this stage our prospects looked pretty grim, but as we reached the inner city both the wind and rain all but disappeared, and we were able to enjoy our guided walk led by a very good, English speaking local guide. The inner part of this amazing town has a history well in excess of 1000 years, and walking into the main street is a bit like walking into a fairy tale, with castles, crooked narrow streets and crooked little houses.

The whole town is like a living museum. Although our time was limited we were able to have a good look around and I even managed to buy a bavarian snack consisting of a bratwurst in a bun. We also managed to find a little cafe and had great cappuccinos. Our tour continued with a bus ride to the next town called Wertheim, which also immediately makes a visitor feel they have stepped back into medieval times. Despite some sporadic rain we managed to complete our visits to these marvellous towns and arrive back at the ship in time for a somewhat delayed dinner.

This morning we berthed in Wurtzburg, a very large town here in Bavaria, and the site of a 600 year old university. 

The ship just pulled up at the river bank where buses were waiting to take us into the city. Our guided tour took us to the Wurtzburg Residenz castle, which was the seat of one of the powerful Bishops who ruled these areas during the middle ages.

Once again, we were led by an excellent English speaking guide who, as a former architect explained the history and the baroque and rococo features of the amazing building. The building was extensively damaged by allied bombing in WWII, but has been beautifully restored. There are many beautiful rooms featuring wonderful frescoes and tapestries and it is obvious that no expense had been spared. One of the most beautiful rooms was the hall of mirrors. 

As photography is not allowed inside this building, I had to settle for a postcard from the gift shop. Finally, after another wonderful walking tour, we had time to walk back through the town and then along the river bank, where our ship, which sailed after we left it in the morning, was berthed. This whole area is stunningly beautiful and is part of the Southern Franconian wine growing region. All the hills are clad in vineyards and many of the hills have castles or other impressive building on them.