- Day 1 & 2 – Amsterdam
- Day 3 – Amsterdam, Avalon & Zaanse Schans
- Day 4 – More Amsterdam & Departure
- Day 5 – Cologne
- Day 6 – Rhine Gorge to Rudesheim
- Day 7 – Miltenberg
- Day 8 -Wurzburg
- Day 9 – Bamberg
- Day 10 – Nurnberg (Nuremberg)
- Day 11 – Regensburg
- Day 12 – Passau, Cesky Krumlov & Linz
- Day 13 – Melk & the Wachau Valley
- Day 15 – Bratislava & Scloss Hof
- Day 16 – Budapest
- Day 17 – More Budapest
- Day 18 – A lot more Budapest
- Day 19 – Budapest back to Vienna
- Day 20 – Vienna
- Day 21 – Vienna
Today was an early start, we were off the ship at 8:30 and bused to the Bishops Residenz in Wurzburg, a small city of about 130,000 people, also located on the Main River in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany.
The Bishops Residenz is an excessively large and grand building, with just under 400 rooms. It was built from 1720 to 1745 and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here is a very small section of the left wing.
The grand staircase spans an area of 16 x 30 metres beneath an unsupported trough vault with a maximum height of 23 metres. It is truly spectacular. Unfortunately, they don’t allow photographs to be taken inside so no pictures.
The Alte Mainbrucke (Old Bridge) is a pedestrian bridge that spans the Main River and dates back to the 1500’s. The statues were added around 1730.
From the bridge you get a great view of the Marienberg Fortress and the vineyards below.
The water of the Main River has been very calm, which gives some great reflections.
The Marienberg Fortress sits high above Wurzburg and dates back to the 1200’s, but most of what you can see from this angle was built after 1500. It served as a home to the local prince-bishops for almost 500 years and has been a fort since the ancient times.
They tell you when you first set sail that in some stretches of the river the bridges are very low. Because of this, for periods of time, they close the Sky Deck and you aren’t allowed up there. I couldn’t figure out why because the bridge is up there and is over 6′ high. Now I know. The bridge actually collapses down to about 3′ (with a small opening in the roof for the captain to look out), the radar at the front is lowered as are all the awnings, railings and chairs. When we went under this bridge, you had to sit in a chair and slouch down so you wouldn’t hit your head…
