Typical morning.
Actually our mornings and evenings are falling into a pretty consistent routine.
Up at 6:30, Breakfast at 7:00, back to the room to do a few things (like write this paragraph) before the morning excursion leaves – usually 8:00 or 8:30. Days when there is no morning excursion are days to turn off the alarm and throw the whole schedule overboard. In answer to the obvious question: Yes, we could get up later and have less time between breakfast and the excursion. But the problem is the restaurant. It opens at 7:00 and by 7:30 it’s hard to find a table. So it’s more a matter of convenience. Once we’re back home we’ll return the alarm to a more civilized hour.
After breakfast I headed off on an excursion to learn about Nuremberg thru history while Cheryl went back to bed. She’s doing better but we’ve got two really important (and long) days coming up so she doesn’t want to burn up excess energy today.
Leaving the ship we noticed that the Viking Gymir was also at dock. This is the ship we were supposed to be on but because of a high water incident back in June it has been ‘trapped’ going the wrong direction since then. It’s complicated but essentially our ship was supposed to be heading from Budapest to Amsterdam (B to A) this week while the Gymir was supposed to be A to B. Anyway, there it is. We’re happy. They’re (probably) happy and Everyone’s happy.
Boarding our bus we drove thru town to the rally grounds where Hitler and others worked to convince thousands of disaffected people that they were oppressed and that they needed to rise up against their oppressors.
Driving back into town we drove past several very impressive homes, the train station, and large portions of the city wall…
…on our way to the castle.
Dry moat 
Curved elevated walkway to entrance 
Hilltop wall to make access difficult 
Holes in tunnel ceiling to drop stuff 
Original blocks are the ones with dents (used to help handle them. 
vine covered tower 
View from the balcony 
Gate to the inner keep 
modern building in the former style 
Administration building 
Amazing colors 
major portions of the castle incorporate existing rock 
Note the change in building materials 
“Built on a rock”
Leaving the castle we walked down to a square where we saw Albrecht Dürer’s house and learned about the artist and his work. This early renaissance artist is one of my favorites.
Near the square workmen were resetting the cobblestone street.
We have a love/hate relationship with cobblestones.
They really add to the authentic feel of the place.
But they are murder on your feet/ankles/knees.
Whatever, it was interesting to take a bit of time to watch them working.
We walked past St. Sebald’s church (More on it later.), and past the Old City Hall with 17th century characters over its door lintels representing Biblical themes from the book of Daniel.
After some time to shop (We moved back up the street to sample the beer and sausage at a highly recommended establishment. Turns out the reviews were correct.), we gathered to board the bus for the hour ride back to the ship.
There we had lunch, refreshed ourselves, and got back on the bus for the hour ride back into town for the second Excursion: Surviving the War: Art in Nuremberg.
This excursion was billed as a look at the reality behind the movie Monument Men.
While we did go down into one bunker in the extensive underground system, we spend much less time talking about art than about the destruction and rebuilding of the city (which we had already covered in the morning session).
Still, there was some good information.
Entrance to the bunker thru the arched opening 
The entrance needed to be wide enough to bring a truck in 
Sample of storage box 
Our guide talking about one of the posters 
Destruction of the city 
The blue area shows the extent of this bunker 
Some pieces were left in place but packed to prevent damage. 
The reliquary packed for protection 
Stained Glass windows were brought to storage 
Old vault doors 
living chambers for the maintenance crew 
Royal jewels from Hungary were stored 
Along with many liturgical items 
and statues 
Hallways with some remaining rubble 
The ceiling was supported with large timbers
Our next stop was the church of St. Sebald. Begun in the early 13th C. and added to many times since this church was converted from Roman Catholic to Lutheran when the city determined to follow the Protestant Reformation.
It was possible to be a Lutheran enclave in Catholic Bavaria because Nuremberg held a charter as an Imperial City – answering directly to the Holy Roman Emperor – who didn’t care one way or the other.
One interesting fact about the church is that they still have a relic (left over form the time when it was a catholic church) of the bones of St. Sebald. It still draws Catholic pilgrims. It is the only Protestant church in Europe that can claim a relic.
Following the visit to the church we moved on to the market square where we had time to visit air conditioned shops before we boarded the bus for our ride back to the ship.
Once there we met Cheryl on the terrace where she had saved a table for us.
We were a bit late for a preprandial libation but we had a great dinner and watched the world as we passed by.
That really deep lock is one of the three largest in the system. It raised us 81 feet. Impressive.
We were beat so after dinner we retired to rest our poor bodies. Because tomorrow is a new day.
Till then…
R