Bamburg and Nurnberg, Germany

Yesterday we had a stop at Bamburg where we saw the medieval cathedral and the monastery, now a senior residence. It rained off and on all day as it has the past few days. We see peeks of sun, then rain. It is definitely not warm here. More like March - cool, windy and wet. 

This very old city was largely untouched by the war. There wasn't much industry here and so it was not a strategic target. Here is an unusual bit of sun!!  Windy. The above photos aren't very straight. 

 Today we had a really wonderful tour of Nurnberg and some key sites from Nazi Germany. We saw the parade grounds and the famous podium where Hitler address the multitudes in the late 1930's. I recognized this podium structure from post war news reels. 

Here is the Coliseum partially constructed by the Nazis as their palace and showplace for their ideology. It was never finished and now is an incomplete hollow hulk. Parts are used as a museum which we toured. It has a granite exterior which I didn't take and the brick interior shown here. The granite came from quarries worked by prisoners. Thousands died in those quarries. 

The best part of this tour was a lecture given by our guide in the museum about the war trials in Nurnberg. The courthouse building was closed today as it always is on Tuesdays, but the slides and lecture were so good we ended up not caring. Courtroom 600 is still in use today for trials for capital crimes. It has been modified since the late 40's so we saw what it looked like then in photos during the lecture. Only those indicted by the international court for crimes in several countries (about 20) were tried during this time. Of those, 10 were convicted and executed, 3 were found innocent, one was missing (later found dead), and several of the convicted committed suicide prior to execution. Several were imprisioned for years.  We were driven by the courthouse and old prison area. Photos were difficult. 

We visited the old center city area. Nurnberg's old wall surrounding the old city is still completely intact. 

Fountain in market area. 

Summary: Our guide told us that Germans through the 1960's preferred to ignore the 12 years of the Nazis, but now teach their children about it. Hence they built the museum fairly recently, and we saw many young people there today. All the guides we've had on this trip express a collective German consciousness about this part of their history. One can't help but be impressed and moved. 

Miltenberg, Rothenburg and Wurzburg, Germany

Miltenberg, Germany

View from the castle at Miltenberg

Rothenburg,Germany

Fortification on wall at Rothenburg

Wurzburg Residenz Palace

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Cologne and Koblenz, Germany

We have been sailing on the Rhine and then the Main Rivers for the past several days. By the time this journey is over we will have passed through 68 locks. It is a time consuming process. As our Program Director Joey (Jochgum) says, "Ve haf to go through every one of them".  

The rivers are wonderful. We pass town after charming medieval town, hilltop castle after castle, medieval church after church. In view are vineyards that cover the steep slopes of the hills by the rivers. High speed trains run along the Rhine but many of the towns are frozen in time. We have also passed many areas of industrial Germany and products that we all benefit from. Everywhere we have been is very very green and lush. 

We stopped in Cologne and saw the cathedral, at one time the tallest building in Europe. Cologne was virtually destroyed in WW II. It was rebuilt fairly quickly after. A history lesson we had reminded me of the rebuilding that took place through the US initiative to rebuild Europe following the war (the Marshall Plan). The cathedral at Cologne was one of the few buildings not totally destroyed. But we saw and were told about how the rebuilding took place. 

Here are some representative photos. 

Cathedral at Cologne, Germany: 

Marksburg Castle near Koblenz, Germany. This is the only original completely intact castle along the Rhine. 

Looking down at the River from the castle. 

Kinderdijk

This is a World Heritage site. We toured a mill today, and saw a system of old mills to manage the water in the areas below sea level in The Netherlands. They are fascinating and beautiful. 

Amsterdam

What a wonderful city! After a LONG airplane flight and a ride on several trains to get from Dusseldorf to Amsterdam (several minor mistakes made getting to the right track), we had a lovely walk yesterday (a little sleep deprived) and another today ( great night's sleep last night). We figure we walked at least 6 miles yesterday and at least 5 today. 

This is a fascinating old city of old leaning brick and stone buildings along many canals. It is full of young people and lots of tourists. We happened to hit a holiday weekend unbeknownst to us: WW II Day of Remembrance yesterday and Victory Day today (liberation day over the Nazis). Tons of people everywhere! So many bikes it is hard to describe. They are the preferred mode of transportation. You really have to watch out for them!  (We think we have bikes in Minneapolis... We are small potatoes compared to this!)

I snapped some photos around the city. 

We went to the Hortus Botanical Garden yesterday...

And the Rijks Museum today - the tulips in the adjacent garden were almost gone but still pretty. 

Saw many Rembrandts and a few Van Goghs and Vermeers today in the newly renovated museum. 

Saw the church where the English Separatists worshipped for a time before they eventually set sail for the new world. Really cool to see this very old building and to read of its Catholic history prior to the Orange time when Catholicism was banned and properties confiscated. 

Much more to tell but we have to go get dinner now at one of the MANY restaurants in the area.