Bamberg and Nuremberg, Germany

The past two days haven’t gone as expected! A series of locks on the Danube are closed for maintenance. We had hoped they would be done by the time we arrived but, since the Germans haven’t finished a church in less than 100 years we shouldn’t be surprised that they are still working on them! 

The Aegir docked in Bamberg, we took our usual walking tour, returned to the ship and spent the night at the dock. We packed up all our stuff and left it in the hall the next morning while we boarded a bus to Nuremberg. Another walking tour and lunch and we were back on the bus headed for Deffendorf. Five and a half hours later, most of it stuck in a major traffic jam due to road construction, we finally arrived at our new ship, the Embla, on the other side of the locks!

The weather in both Bamberg and Nuremberg was NASTY – on and off rain, sleet and snow storms with a wind chill in the 30’s! That is not a typo – the 30’s! – made it a particularly delightful experience!

We had the options of traveling to Regensburg or Munich today but, even though the weather is predicted to be better, we decided to remain on the ship. Unfortunately, we are sharing the dock with other Viking ships – they pull up right next to the Embla and walk through our lobby to get to town! I pulled open the curtain on our sliding glass door this morning and there was a gentleman about 4 feet away, in his stateroom, as surprised as I was!

Although the situation is not ideal, Viking has done an excellent job of smoothly rerouting us and making sure we have the opportunity to tour as we expected. The social director and the concierge from the Aegir accompanied us to the Embla to offer some continuity. Some of the other cruise lines do not have the fleet to swap ships and those guests are being bussed from city to city, and staying in hotels until the end of their “cruise.” How disappointing!

Bamberg wasn’t anything special. But they have a huge fortress that guarded the city and a town hall located in the middle of the river! They are famous for a type of smoked beer called “rauchbier” but we opted for bakery sweets and cappuccinos to warm us up!

Fortress guarding the town of Bamberg

Bamberg townhall built in the river

The white figure in the foreground is a mime

Mike & Lorraine's triple deck dessert - apple strudel on top, ice cream and whipped cream in the middle and warm vanilla sauce on the bottom!

 Roger and Mike enjoyed an added excursion, Nuremberg World War II, that took them to a museum about the rise and fall of Hitler, Zeppelin Field, and Courthouse 600 where the Nuremberg trials were held.

Glockenspiel in Nuremberg

Today dawned with a blue sky and sunshine! A glorious 60 degrees! We had a lazy morning on the ship and then walked into Deggendorf to explore. The town square was lovely and we finally had the opportunity to eat at an outside cafe and just enjoy the atmosphere!