Wurzburg & Rothenburg

Yesterday our tour of Bamberg left us wondering and I forgot to mention that Levi Strauss and Willy Messerschmitt were from this town. Today however is a new day and we have a full on day ahead of us. Our first stop is Wurzburg and once again a township steeped in history back from the 13th Century. Leaders of the church were bestowed the title of prince bishop by Friedrich II which gave them huge wealth and power  until Napoleon abolished it in 1803. The palace grounds show the pure opulence these people had and today a team of 11 to 13 gardeners maintain the grounds.  

We were there on a Sunday and also at mass time. The bells rang for several minutes and I have never heard such loud bell in my life. We had some free time after our tour, but as it was a Sunday there wasn't much open so it was coffee and cake again, something the Bavarian's do well.




After a short break we then boarded the bus for part 2 of our select experience. This was a visit to Rothenburg, one of Germany's oldest towns. The weather has started to turn sour on us and as we got off the bus it started to rain. Everyone was scrambling  for shelter, but not long after it started it stopped again, giving us time to look around. Rothenburg is known for its Christmas decorations and no visit here is complete with out a visit to the Christmas Museum. We walked around with a travel companion Gordon, and stopped to look at the Criminal (or torture) museum. Now it sounds pretty gruesome and it is by all accounts, but it also shows how cruel human beings were back in the Medieval times. There were stocks, shame masks, an iron maiden and all sorts of instruments of torture and brutality. 


Once we finished the tour of the museum we walked part of the castle wall. It was interesting seeing the houses from above, and many are still used as private residences. We eventually found our way back to the square and somewhere for lunch. Ann and I had pork knuckles with saurkraut and knodel (german dumplings) with a beer.  Needless to say we weren't having the evening meal after this feast. We had about 30 minutes to kill before heading back to the bus so a visit to the Christmas shop was in order. I saw some decorations I remember from my childhood that my dutch grandmother gave us, that we don't get in Australia. Naturally we had to get one. 



Back on the bus and we were motoring to the ship that had sailed further downstream to make up time. We were in for a treat tonight with a world renowned glass blower, Hans Ittig, giving us a demonstration. As Ann is an accomplished glass artist in her own right, this was a must for us so we were there for front row seats and managed to spend some time talking to Hans before the crowd came in. We bought quite a few beautiful pieces before his demonstration and were in for something special we weren't aware of. Hans showed us how he makes Christmas Decorations (balls) and got me up to make one. He is the ultimate showman and makes it look so easy. I did record some video and although it goes for 30 minutes it is worth watching


You can see his work and contact him at www.glaskunst.de and if you ever tour Germany you must visit Wertheim and his gallery

Day 13 Miltenburg

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