Miltenberg and Wertheim

I woke up with a very bad headache this morning and wondered if I would be able to get out of bed. I think it was caused by carrying a number of things around my neck - voice system for listening to tour guides, camera, and handbag. Anyway, I got up, and doped up with Neurofen and Panadol, and got through the day with a very numb brain.

After breakfast, there was a glass-blowing demonstration in the lounge. We wondered how on earth that could be done on the boat, but it was fine, using a blow torch to heat the glass. The chap from Wertheim who came on board to do the demonstration, was very informative as well as funny/entertaining.

Shortly after, we arrived in Miltenburg, a medieval town with half-timbered houses and a castle. It was nice and sunny and warm, which made a pleasant change from our usually overcast days with highs of around 17. We took the regular-paced tour, which was actually a bit slow for me. Our tour guide was a South African, and he had been a paratrooper in Angola in the 1980s. It was interesting to hear about the years of witches' trials, and see the place where the 'witches' had been held captive. We also find it interesting that each town has a Rat Haus - what is that, you may ask! It is simply the German name for the Town Hall! After the tour we just had time to climb up to the city gate/tower and take in the view. Jan and Steve took the fast tour which climbed up to the Castle itself.

Then it was back to the boat for lunch and a short sail further up the Main to a drop-off point at Freudenberg, where we disembarked to take up different tour options.

David and Steve chose to do the 36 km bike ride to Wertheim. They donned helmets and rode bikes stored on the boat, and joined a group of around 25 to do the ride along the river, stopping off at a beer garden along the way, and having a short tour of Wertheim before calling into a pub and then re-joining the boat. They thoroughly enjoyed the ride and the company they had along the way from a group of Aussies from Adelaide, who were kind enough to shout them a beer when they heard they were from Christchurch (the earthquake draws a lot of sympathy).


In the meantime, Jan and I joined a tour that travelled a short distance by bus to Wertheim, where we had a walking tour of this medieval town. Most shops were by now closed as it was Saturday afternoon. The tour of the town showed us some more half-timbered houses, a very old church, the medieval town tower and gate. We were shown small square plaques on the ground in front of the houses where Jews had lived but been removed from and transported away to concentration camps during WWII. This is part of a project being carried out by German school students, to find out about the Jewish families, where they lived, their names, ages and what happened to them. This information is placed on the small plaque and placed outside the house where they had lived.




We also saw how many times this town had been flooded, including in January this year. It is situated between two rivers, so is often at risk - we couldn't believe how high the flood waters had reached at times. They have marks on doorways to show the height the water reached. In 1735, 200 people lost their lives because the water rose rapidly and without warning during the night.

After the tour of the town we climbed up the steep hill to the castle. It was a lovely sunny day, and we sat and enjoyed a well-earned cold drink at the top and took in the views. Later, we made our way down and back to where the boat was due to dock, and were very pleased to see it arrive early.

After dinner, we listened to an interesting talk by the ship's Hotel Manager, Miklos, about how the ship operates, with questions and answers.