Wertheim

Today we took the little choo-choo train into town for a walking tour of Wertheim.
Wertheim is in the Franconia region of Germany and located at the confluence of the Main and Tauber rivers. The ruins of the Wertheim Castle is up on a hilltop overlooking the well-preserved medieval town. The town was spared in World War II because of heavy fog on the scheduled day of bombing.

There is a historic leaning tower called "Spitzer Turm" (Pointed Tower) near the river that was built in the 13th century. The leaning is due to 800 years of flooding. There are markers on the tower and other buildings that show just how high the water has reached over the centuries. Some markings are over 8 feet. Still today no one can live on the first floor and floors have to be tiled.

The leaning tower also served as a prison for debtors, drunkards and “quarrelsome wrenches”. Supposedly, if two women kept nagging and bickering with each other they would be locked up in the tower for several weeks. The entrance to the tower was 30 feet above the ground. The women had to climb up the ladder, and then they were lowered to the bottom of the tower with ropes. It was called the “fear hole”. All the prisoners were down there in total darkness and food and water would be lowered to them. There were no washrooms or toilets. You can only imagine how horrible it must’ve been.

Glassmaking is part of the heritage of Wertheim. This afternoon we had a demonstration of glassblowing onboard while cruising. He is the 7th generation in the family business.

I taught Sue and Rebecca how to play Bananagram, and we had a great time with lots of laughs.

Dinner was a special treat. The crew was dressed in Bavarian costumes, and a large selection of German and Austrian foods was served. The dining room was decorated like a Bavarian restaurant. We had schnapps, beer, and wine followed with just about every German starter, entree, and dessert you could possibly find on a German menu.

Our night ended with a fun game of Bingo.

The ship left Wertheim at 1:00 pm this afternoon and will arrive in Koblenrz tomorrow at 1:00 pm.Читать далее