Wurzburg & Rothenburg

Friday, May 4th 2012. Wurzburg.

Avalon Panorama arrived Wurzburg 8am. Again we are blessed with a beautiful sunny day. After an early breakfast off we went on a sightseeing tour which included an inside guided visit of the Wurzburger Residenz, afterwards we strolled through part of the town enjoying the shops, markets and sights.

Wurzburg is a Franconian metropolis, situated on the river Main, we are told that during the war most of Wurzburg was reduced to smoldering ruins by Allied bombing. This important center of the Franconian wine region has been , as best as possible, restored to what it was before the war and this serves one of their most important incomes to the area, tourism. Among the treasures restored was the Residenz, a lavish palace, the building of which begun in 1720  and completed in 1744. Although suffering damage during the war the palace was not completely destroyed and at the time the all important furniture and tapestries etc. were removed to a safe place. This palace was built by the  Bishop of the region who held almighty power during these times, he built the palace to emphasize his power and his power was so great that the King at that time had little control over him.
Enough of the history of the palace I do not believe that I command an vocabulary that is adequate enough to describe this building so that you can envisage the enormity and opulence of its construction but I can only try.
The size of the building with its enormous entrance and stairway, the furniture, wood work and floors of polished wood and marble, the wall and ceiling paintings the color of which is stunning the statues the gold inlayed mirrored room the wall tapestries and their size the Chrystal chandeliers all extremely large and each one valued today at well over one million euros, ( I think their we're six of these with a number of smaller specimens). The total over the top opulence, It is a place that  only a personal viewing can give a full understanding of the place. The palace also has large grounds consisting of lawns and gardens interspersed with fountains and statues.
As I said earlier the bishops of the time and of the past had strong control over the populace and they extracted more than their fair share of wealth from their parishioners to live a life of pomp and ceremony.
With this visit over the four of us meandered through the village back to the Panorama and a BBQ lunch on the sky deck on the way we took many more photo's and Pieter is now suggesting that he has already taken in excess of 1000. Phew.

Carole and Richard you will be interested to know that on our return to Panorama we found that Avalon Tranquility was moored off our bow. On a whim I walked down on the off chance that Lance and Heather could be found, here they were walking to the Panorama on a similar whim. I took them on board Panorama to catch up with Val and introduce them to Pieter and Lyn. They are also having a great time and as with us have stacked on a bit of weight due to the food and lack of exercise.

After enjoying our BBQ lunch we were off touring again, this time a guided tour of the medieval City of Rothenburg.  They say that this city is a must see on any tour of Germany and I intend to agree. This walled and fortified city above the Tauber valley fell into complete obscurity after the devastations of the thirty years war (1618-48).  Poverty stricken its citizens did not have the resources to upgrade and improve their medieval houses, so Rothenburg become  a city of history as the homes today are exactly as they were in those times.
As I said earlier this is a walled city it's history can be traced back to the 10th century, homes in the city are owned by normal people going about their normal daily lives. The residents have relied on tourism for an income for the last 150 years. All the buildings within and a lot outside the walls are covered by strict heritage laws, it is a place that is well worth the visit with beautiful ancient homes, intact walls of the city, cobbled stone streets, shops that sell all the novelties of German history and much more.
After boarding the bus back most of us found it hard to keep our eyes open after the long and demanding day. But those that did were to see and realize that Germany and its residents are much into green energy production as many electricity producing wind turbines, homes, factories and fields covered with solar panels were seen. Also of the 70 odd locks that we will have passed through on this voyage a number produce electricity by hydro technology, producing enough energy to run the whole system.

We all slept well last night, the Hens at the "on board hairdressers "getting a cut, wash and blow wave, just got back looks good.
Crackers the Eagle signing off to go to lunch Yum.