20071216 Miltenberg, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Schweinfurt    Link to Pictures

Rothenburg wiki:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothenburg_ob_der_Tauber
Schweinfurt wiki:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schweinfurt

This was an unusual day for everyone. 

We put out our bags this morning and they were loaded onto our busses while we had breakfast.

We went by bus today to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a medieval walled city, exactly as we would have per the original schedule. The city is totally surrounded by its walls and towers with narrow entries even today. It was started before 1000 AD but really got started in the early 1200's. One church still exists from 1248.

We went into the city and walked to the square, where there is one Christmas Markt. Around the corner is the shop of Anna Liese, the friend of Rick Stieves, the travel expert. We bought a few things there and next door in a gift shop. Then we did what the Bavarians (actually Franconians, here) do - stand in the plaza and eat bratwurst on rolls with mustard, with a cup of Gluhwein (hot flavored red wine) and converse.

Then we shopped some more and took pictures. The day was below freezing, with a heavy frost and a moderate breeze that made it feel pretty cool. We walked around the town looking at things. Then Glenn & Owen climbed the wall and looked out through the defender holes to get a flavor of that style of warfare.

We found a place to sit for a while in the Weinstube of the Hotel Reichskuechenmeister. We had beer & wine, then felt that a small bite would be nice, so they served us on an oval wooden plate a mixture of cold cuts, cheese, pickle, and onion, with a basket of brown bread. We nibbled from it till it was gone (not long) and found it of excellent quality.

Back to the bus. A mother-daughter team in our "Orange" group misinterpreted the meeting place and were waiting elsewhere, so we left a half-hour late. Our program manager (David Pogul) had a minor heart attack until he found them. 

Then off to Schweinfurt; David said he'd been here once before, seven years ago, when the river rose and they couldn't get through - much like now.

We boarded the ship we originally signed up for, River Discovery. It's the same size but laid out differently, with perhaps a little more room per cabin. Glenn popped the cork on a liter of white & we sat in their room across the hall until the bags were delivered to the room, then went to the lounge for the cocktail hour & description of tomorrow's events. Our new Captain talked a bit; it seems there's a wreck in the most dangerous part of the channel between Miltenberg and here; they may be able to raise it soon, but that doesn't matter to us.

Dinner was nice, and we're getting accustomed to the new crew and the slightly different boat layout. After dinner, Vantage sprung a surprise on us and had the Franconian Brass Band give a concert in the lounge. They were obviously the town band, but they were very good - they reminded me of the Oompah bands we saw in Wisconsin in the 1950’s. The first half of their presentation was Christmas music; then they got into waltzes and polkas. We bought the CD of the part without the Christmas songs for posterity.

We're here (Schweinfurt) tomorrow with busses to Wurzberg.