2 On the Road: European River Cruise

Heading into Nuremberg, we slide into the Eibach lock. At 65.6' it was the deepest one that I was on deck for the transit. This is lock #23 of the 66 we will go through during the trip.

These are the water reservoirs. Most of the water for each transit is reused and stored in these huge reservoirs.

Here's the Captain working hard to get the ship positioned in the lock.

Looking over the side, I can see we are quite high in the air. The yellow semi is passing by on the road so I think, "Wow this is one of the spots where the canal goes over the road". At that point I didn't know we were going down almost 66'.

Ship's crew hard at work maintaining the ships position.

There are bumpers alongside the ship to keep it from scraping on the lock sides.

We are sinking fast!

I'm standing on the lower part of the Skydeck looking back towards the upper Skydeck. Notice that everything is laid down on the upper deck.

The lock door sliding upwards...

Time to start moving forward.

That hole doesn't look big enough for us.

Time to get dripped on. The ship's personnel were constantly cleaning the ship's exterior.

The Captain had lowered the wheelhouse to fit under the lock door. But wait? We just went under the road instead of above it. That was a deep lock.

Wheelhouse rising and semi crossing the bridge we just went under

Occasionally we would see phones alongside the canal.

Out front the navigation arm had also been lowered. Here it is starting to rise.

Navigation arm fully up into position

This photo is blurry because it was taken out the window of a bus as we headed into Nuremberg. This was the largest semi combo I saw during our trip.

The bus took the road under this underpass. The bus is 3.2 meter high.

Nuremberg has a huge rail yard.

Notice the sign and how the car is parked. Yes, they park up on the sidewalk. Other places I saw that they were parked half on the road and half on the sidewalk. Interesting.

Our tour bus drove around the inside of the Congress Hall (Kongresshalle), planned by the NSDAP (German National Socialist Party - AKA Nazis) to provide seating for 50,000. Inspired by the Colosseum in Rome, this U-shaped building was planned as the entrance to the rally grounds.

Construction begin on the Congress Hall in 1935 but it was never finished. It is 128' tall with a diameter of 820'.

One of the buildings at the "foot" of the Congress Hall has served as the Nazi Party Documentation Center since 2001 while the other "foot" houses the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra.

Our next stop was the Zeppelin Field. This area, with a huge grandstand, was the site of large gatherings of the Nazi Party.

Look up Nazi Party Rally Grounds online and you might come across a video of the giant swastika being blown off the top of the grandstand in 1945. The area is called Zeppelin Field because Ferdinand Graf Von Zeppelin landed one of his airships here in August 1909.

Due to deterioration, most of the Nazi era structures have been demolished. These piers supported seating.

Back side of the piers.

I'm sure you've heard of the Nuremberg trials. They were a series of military tribunals, held by the Allied forces after World War II, at which prominent members of the political, military, judicial and economic leadership of Nazi Germany were prosecuted for their war crimes.

Details on the building in the previous photo. This building is just to the east of the part of the Palace of Justice where the trials of 24 men took place from November 1945 to October1946.

This is the Rose Cemetery where lots of famous people from Nuremberg's history are buried. It is called the Rose Cemetery because of the many rosebushes it contains.

German UPS truck

The bus dropped us off in the oldest part of Nuremberg. This interesting building is at the corner of Waaggasse and Hauptmarkt.

The murals were interesting and I bet they portrayed some of the history of Nuremberg.

The old part of Nuremberg had a wall all the way around it. You can see it in a few pictures later on in this post.

Old Town Hall by St. Sebald Church

One of the decorative entrances to the Old Town Hall

St Sebald church

Sculptured part of one of the church's columns.

Back of St Sebald Church

City Museum

Nasty!

From close to the castle looking back down past the old Town Hall.

Looking up at the Imperial Castle. You can see it is built on rock.

Still looking up at the castle

Heading down the hill to the southwest of the Castle

Plaza along the old city walls. House in the middle back was the home of Albrecht Durer, painter and printmaker of the German Renaissance

Well in the plaza

One of the towers in the wall.

Portal to path through the old town wall.

Headed south on Albrecht Durer Street.

I think this street is Agnesgasse.

Sidetracking down pretty streets got me a little lost for short time.

Fountain in Maxplatz. From the east edge of Maxplatz, I saw the Maxbruche (Max Bridge) and realized I was further south than I needed to be.

I had to get to Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in Hauptmarkt Plaza. At noon each day the clock on the west façade, Männleinlaufen, rings to commemorate the Golden Bull of 1356, when seven electors paid homage to Charles IV and it was decreed that each new Emperor would spend his first day in office in Nuremberg. While the church is an example of brick Gothic architecture built between 1352 and 1362, the clock was designed in 1509.

The Wochenmarkt takes place at Hauptmarkt Mondays thru Saturday. Here visitors and locals can stock up on all sorts of fresh vegetables, fruits, eggs and dairy products from local farmers.

Some of this produce I hadn't seen before. I also picked up some gingerbread here. Called Lebkuchen, is formed or cut out of dough, placed on a wafer but not baked. I bought some but I wouldn't do it again.

Back to Frauenkirche. This is a photo of the lower part where you can see some of the fabulous decorations. You might have to click to enlarge to see the figures on the corners.

This brick gothic style is really different.

Back on the ship for lunch, dessert was Black Forest Cake with fruit garnish. The presentation of all the food was this pretty.

Afternoon found my sister and I back in Old Town Nuremberg. This is Spittletor Tower, an defensive tower on the old town wall.

Kirche St. Jakob

Inside of Kirche St. Jakob

Built in the 13th century, this medieval tower, called White Tower (Weisser Turm), was part of the city’s defensive wall for centuries. When this function was not longer needed, a clock was added. Now it serves as an entry for the Nuremberg metro.

St. Elizabethkirche - St Elizabeth's Church

A large sculpture/fountain called Ehkarussell (Marriage-Merry-Go-Round) depicts the trials of married life from dating to death. It was hard to get photos because people were sitting all around the edge.

More of Ehkarussell. Completed in 1981, the fountain was put in place to cover an air shaft from the metro.

Next we walked to the Hangman's Bridge

From Hangman's Bridge we could see Maxbruche (Max Bridge). Looks decorative but our bus had crossed it earlier in the day.

This picturesque place is the former home of the town's official executioner.

Yes Hangman's Bridge leads to the Executioner's house.

Just loved this beautiful view.

Looking the other way off Maxbruche, we could see the water dropping off a ledge before proceeding under Kettensteg, the oldest suspension bridge in Germany, and part of the defensive wall.

The Ship of Fools statue was even harder to take a photo of because of the kids sitting around it. This bronze sculpture of a boat with seven people, a skeleton and a dog in it, is based on Albrecht Dürer's woodcut illustrating the 1497 edition of Das Narrenschiff, a satirical allegory in German verse published in 1494.

The three figures on this side are: a choleric muscular man with a club, standing for violence; a handyman with a spanner, representing a realist from the present time and a figure perched on the back representing resignation who empties the cup.

This side shows the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise, followed by a laughing skeleton. By Adan is the figure of a small boy, Cain, with a knife in his hand. Behind the is the tree of wisdom, already withered, serving as a mast.

Going over the Museum Bridge

St. Lawrence Church

Back on the ship leaving Nuremberg, we immediately go through another lock. This is Nuremberg lock with a drop of 30.83'. We are leaving the lock in this photo. Notice the bicyclists on the bridge.

A low bridge and a TV tower. Throughout Germany there are over 70 television towers, six of which offer folks the chance to climb to their observation decks, grab a bite to eat, or plunge excitedly to the ground. The tower in Berlin is the tallest structure in the country.

The Captain has prepped for the low bridge by lowering the wheelhouse and throwing open a hatch so he can look over the top of it. What was really funny is that when we passed under the bridge, the Captain slapped his hand down on the hatch cover and said "Ouch"....

Going under. Since most of our traveling is done at night, the crew had to be aware of these low bridges so they could get everything prepared. Another ship hit one of the low bridges at night during the time we were on the river.