This is the last part of my trip report. There is a link at the end that might interest some of you. Sue

Day 7 Nürnberg
Saturday, September 5 16C/61F Chance of Rain 60%
This port was a special one for me and having it at the end of our trip was really nice.

I lived in Fürth, a small city just outside of Nürnberg from 1952 to 1955 because my father, an army officer, was stationed there. I spent many happy hours with my parents in Nürnberg during that time including going the first toy fair after World War II.

In 1968 Paul and I returned to Germany and included Nürnberg so that we could visit family friends. We have some wonderful memories from that trip.

This time we considered staying a couple of extra days, but because no one we know is there anymore we decided against it.

I had been told by our next door neighbor, who is from Germany, that we would see many changes. We certainly did. Nürnberg is now the third largest city in Germany. There were some big changes in the old city as well, but much of the familiar was still there.

The river that runs through Nürnberg is very shallow so we were docked way out of the city in an industrial area. Because it was so far, Viking provided shuttle buses for us to get back and forth from the ship.

There were 2 tours: A World War II History of Nürnberg, an optional extra cost tour, and the included sightseeing tour.

Alex, our tour guide, an historian, was one of the three best guides that we had. We started with a bus tour with our first stop at a stadium that Hitler started but never completed; although, he certainly had grandiose plans. From there we continued the bus tour that took us into the old walled Imperial Castle. It was very cold and windy in the morning, but at least not raining. By afternoon the weather was beautiful.

Being in Nürnberg was like coming home again. From the castle we walked down the hill to the old Rathaus (city hall) that has a very interesting façade of figures over the doorways. Our tour ended at “The Beautiful Fountain.” It is not a fountain at all, but was to be the spire of the Frauenkirche. It never made it as a steeple and was hidden away during the war. There is an elaborate iron work grill surrounding it. Legend has it that if you turn the brass ring on the iron work and make a wish you will come back to Nürnberg. When I said that it worked even though it took over 40 years, I got a very surprised look from Michael, one of our program managers.

Because it was Saturday, the market in front of the church was open. The produce and flowers were beautiful. At one stand we had to look twice at some grapes. They were so huge we did a double take to make sure they weren’t small plums. At Christmas time the market platz becomes an amazing Christmas market.
We walked around for a while looking for possible places for lunch. We were also looking for a Konditori (great pastries and coffee) that we really liked. Sadly it is no longer there. The toy store that Paul really liked was also gone. We did find the Wein Stuben that I used to go to with my parents. We decided to go back later to see if it was open for lunch.

Before lunch, we needed to be in front of the Frauenkirche to see the amazing animated clock. Every day at 12 noon since 1509 it has performed. First the bell ringers lift their bells, then the trumpeters lift their trumpets, and at exactly 12 noon the abbots come out of the clock and bow to the emperor. They come around 3 times. The doors for the abbots close and the clock continues on with all kinds of rich chimes. We joked that it would be 12:30 before it was finished.

We went back to the Wein Stuben, and it was open for lunch. We had 6 Nürnberger Bratwurst (they are quite small)with potatoes and a good dark beer. The inside looked just like I remembered it. The apple drinks I used to have when my parents were having wine are still on the menu.

September brings the first lebkuchen of the season. We bought several small tins to bring home as gifts. The tin we bought for our granddaughter was divided into 3 sections with heads of a figure in one section, bodies in the middle section, and legs in the bottom section. The sections can be turned to create some really funny characters.

We did a little more walking and went to lookup the shuttle bus. We realized we had a pretty long wait so went back to a café that we had seen that also had ice cream. As we were waiting the German man in front of us told us it was then best ice cream in Nürnberg. We sat at tables on the sidewalk and had fun watching some interesting cars go by.

We took the shuttle bus back to the ship and got ready for dinner. This time is was a farewell from the Cruise Department, Marcela the Program director, Erika one of the program managers, and Michael the other program manager. They each spoke a few word then a toast was made and Marcie read a charming poem about hugs. They did get lots of hugs as they left the lounge and we got ready to head for dinner.

Dinner was a German Dinner. Many people were surprised that the entrée was duck. We also had potatoes and red cabbage along with appetizers and soup.

There was a Bavarian entertainer scheduled after dinner. I would have loved to have seen him, but we were leaving very early the next morning.

Day 8 Departure
Sunday, September 6 Sunny once the sun came up
Each departure time was assigned a colored ribbon to attach to the handle of their luggage. We were given a schedule as to what time suitcases were to be outside our cabins in the morning (5:30 AM). We were the second group to leave. The first group left at 4:30 AM. We left at 6 AM for our flight to Frankfurt.

This was the morning to settle your on-board account and add gratuities to your credit card if desired. Cash was also acceptable. The Itinerary and Departure Information book spells out recommended amounts. We choose to give our room attendant extra and the 6 of us went together to give our waiter extra as well. The general tips that are added to your bill or cash deposited in the gratuities slot are equally divided amongst all crew members, including those you don’t see.

Breakfast was available in the lounge for us and in the restaurant for later departures. When we got to the bus Marcie was there checking to make sure they had everyone’s luggage. When she asked for mine it was already on the bus. Apparently someone else had identified it as theirs. I have a very distinctive luggage tag that I use so I don’t know why someone else claimed. We got that straightened out and headed for the airport.

Summary
This week absolutely flew by. Even though there was plenty of down-time, it was full of activity. Not only was this an educational trip—it was fun. The crew was wonderful and really wanted everyone to have good cruise. It was really nice to travel with friends whose company we always enjoy. We are already talking about where we will go next (probably South of France); although, we all have plans for next year so it won’t be then.

We all agree that Viking takes very good care of their passengers.

To view the photos with captions, double click on the first photo then use the next or previous buttons above the photo. The photos can also be viewed as a slide show, but there are no captions. I took a text photo each day to keep track of where the photos were taken. I shot the one for Nurnberg about 10 times and gave up on getting it straight. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />

http://www2.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=2333329013/PictureID=92819950013/a=129258069_129258069/