Wertheim

Wertheim

We had a very nice morning. I woke at five but I did manage to go back to sleep until around 6:30. It was gray and foggy and seemed to not be very nice. We decided that it would be a jacket day. Through the fog we could see what appeared to be a castle on the hill just in front of the ship.

We got dressed and went to breakfast. We sat with Jim and Pam ( I think). We had a good visit and they said they would like to get Kim’s address. There have been a few couples who want a referral to her.

After breakfast we came back to our room and waited till it was time to leave. The swans entertained us while we waited.

 As soon as they announced our excursion I went down to the middle of the ship and got pictures of the little chou chou trains. We boarded the train for our 8 minute trip into town.

This is a very small medieval town that was not destroyed during WWII. Their castle did however sustain damage during the 30 years war . Their castle was built in the 12^th century. They did not try to rebuild it but it is still used as it is today. Weddings and parties rent it.

Our guide was Isabell. She is a local and she was very good and full of stories of the history of this town. We really enjoyed our visit to Wertheim.As we strolled we encountered a sign advertising Tilley hats. A bit of Canada in the middle of Germany.

The narrow streets and the quaint homes make it very special. They have a wonderful Market Square with lots of shops and bakeries

They have their own leaning tower, not as big as Pizza but leaning none the less.It was once a dungeon for witches and shrews.

Isabell pointed out the fact that people often find a way to avoid taxes. Owners are taxed by their road frontage , so some people built a house that was narrow at the bottom and then got wider as it went up. Thus avoiding taxes and getting more square footage.

Wertheim is at the confluence of the Main and the Tauber rivers so they have major floods every 7 or 8 years. They also have markings showing the water levels of the different floods.

There was a beautiful Lutheran church in town and we spent time there.

At the end of the tour we looked around inside the church and then we began the walk to the meeting point for the return to the VE. Along the way we stopped and shopped a little. I bought a hand bag and Ken got a wallet and a belt.

Then we continued our stroll. We sat in the shade and waited for the train. The weather had cleared and it was nice and sunny during our return. Did not need our jackets afterall.

When we got back to our room we were so surprised to see a big city just across from the castle
I did not see that city through the fog this morning.

We had a relaxing day enjoying the views from our balcony. We went to cocktail hour and had rum and coke. Then we went to dinner. Scallops were on the menu. Ken was very happy.

After dinner we came back here to enjoy evening sailing. We are about to leave the Main and tomorrow we will be on the Rhine.

Scenic sailing and Koblenz are on our schedule for tomorrow.