Cruising Central Europe: Germany
So after our time in the Czech Republic, we finally made it to the Danube to start the cruise. The first stop along the way was Nuremberg. To be honest, I was still recovering from rugby tour and the early hours weren't helping, so I was a bit zombie-ish for the first couple of days once we got on the boat, and consequently took in a lot less information. That may be lucky for you (if anybody is actually reading this) in the end, because it means I have less to write about.
Nuremberg was full of all sorts of Nazi-era history. Hitler picked the place to build the Nazi party rally grounds that they began to use for propaganda and indoctrination in 1927. The guide took great pains to explain the psychological measures Hitler used for this, including speaking from way up high to appear godlike and making everyone wait for hours in line in extreme heat so that their brains were addled (and therefore more receptive) by the time they listened to him speak. She kept saying that these were not excuses for their acceptance of Hitler, but that it would help us understand how it happened. Among the many grey, dull buildings of the larger rally ground complex, Hitler also had a huge coliseum built for himself, which remains unfinished and is now being used partially as a museum.
[Nuremburg: 1 - The Nazi Party Rally Grounds, 2 - The courthouse where Nazis were tried after the war]
There was also a medieval part of the city with a modestly named "Beautiful Fountain" shaped like a big golden tower that we used as our meeting point. There was a big fruit and vegetable market in the plaza in front of the church, and the church itself housed another of those fancy clocks with mechanical figures that come out and move around on the hour. Some of my cousins and I just sat and had a beer off the plaza until our free time was up.
[My cousin Trevor spinning the ring on the Beautiful Fountain for luck]
The second stop in Germany was Regensburg, a small little town with some architectural remnants of its Roman heyday and a medieval town square, now also known for being the birthplace of the current Pope. The tour was, thankfully, short, and I wandered around a bit with my parents, looking for a jacket for me. The weather had been extremely screwed up since we got there, regularly featuring cold, rainy days where the cruise director assures there is normally only sunshine and heat this time of year. He says its probably better (for him anyway), because people tend to get cranky in the heat. But it was definitely a surprise to me that I needed to layer up with a sweater and a jacket in the middle of the summer.
[Regensberg: 1 - Artwork about the Pope, 2 - Don't trust a wolf in priest's clothing]
[Regensberg: 1 - Chocolate & teddy bears, 2 - A shop in the basement of an old Roman structure]
[Regensberg: Chapel to the Virgin Mary]
Our last stop in Germany was Passau, right on the border with Austria. I was a little more awake by this point, and it was a nice little town with pedestrian streets leading you around to sweet-smelling bakeries and other little shops. As with the other towns we'd been to in Germany, people were big on bicycling and they were parked everywhere across town. Passau is known as the town of three rivers, as the Danube, the Inn, and the Ilz all meet here. Along the banks of one of these rivers, I sat and watched two women feed the ducks along the sidewalk for ten minutes or so. They smiled and said it was OK for me to take pictures. After they were done, one of them told me (in literally flawless British-accented English) that she had moved to Passau three years ago from her hometown elsewhere in Germany. Shortly afterwards, walking along the river, she had noticed a duck with a broken bill that could not pick up its food. Saddened by the thought of this duck starving to death, she has come back every day for three years and fed it hand to mouth. I was really struck by the dedication and the thoughtfulness it would take to make a commitment like that. Anyway, it gave me something to think about as we boarded the boat and headed across the border into Austria...
[Passau: 1 - Graffiti, 2 - Bicycles everywhere]
[The duck lady]
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Nuremberg was full of all sorts of Nazi-era history. Hitler picked the place to build the Nazi party rally grounds that they began to use for propaganda and indoctrination in 1927. The guide took great pains to explain the psychological measures Hitler used for this, including speaking from way up high to appear godlike and making everyone wait for hours in line in extreme heat so that their brains were addled (and therefore more receptive) by the time they listened to him speak. She kept saying that these were not excuses for their acceptance of Hitler, but that it would help us understand how it happened. Among the many grey, dull buildings of the larger rally ground complex, Hitler also had a huge coliseum built for himself, which remains unfinished and is now being used partially as a museum.
[Nuremburg: 1 - The Nazi Party Rally Grounds, 2 - The courthouse where Nazis were tried after the war]
There was also a medieval part of the city with a modestly named "Beautiful Fountain" shaped like a big golden tower that we used as our meeting point. There was a big fruit and vegetable market in the plaza in front of the church, and the church itself housed another of those fancy clocks with mechanical figures that come out and move around on the hour. Some of my cousins and I just sat and had a beer off the plaza until our free time was up.
[My cousin Trevor spinning the ring on the Beautiful Fountain for luck]
The second stop in Germany was Regensburg, a small little town with some architectural remnants of its Roman heyday and a medieval town square, now also known for being the birthplace of the current Pope. The tour was, thankfully, short, and I wandered around a bit with my parents, looking for a jacket for me. The weather had been extremely screwed up since we got there, regularly featuring cold, rainy days where the cruise director assures there is normally only sunshine and heat this time of year. He says its probably better (for him anyway), because people tend to get cranky in the heat. But it was definitely a surprise to me that I needed to layer up with a sweater and a jacket in the middle of the summer.
[Regensberg: 1 - Artwork about the Pope, 2 - Don't trust a wolf in priest's clothing]
[Regensberg: 1 - Chocolate & teddy bears, 2 - A shop in the basement of an old Roman structure]
[Regensberg: Chapel to the Virgin Mary]
Our last stop in Germany was Passau, right on the border with Austria. I was a little more awake by this point, and it was a nice little town with pedestrian streets leading you around to sweet-smelling bakeries and other little shops. As with the other towns we'd been to in Germany, people were big on bicycling and they were parked everywhere across town. Passau is known as the town of three rivers, as the Danube, the Inn, and the Ilz all meet here. Along the banks of one of these rivers, I sat and watched two women feed the ducks along the sidewalk for ten minutes or so. They smiled and said it was OK for me to take pictures. After they were done, one of them told me (in literally flawless British-accented English) that she had moved to Passau three years ago from her hometown elsewhere in Germany. Shortly afterwards, walking along the river, she had noticed a duck with a broken bill that could not pick up its food. Saddened by the thought of this duck starving to death, she has come back every day for three years and fed it hand to mouth. I was really struck by the dedication and the thoughtfulness it would take to make a commitment like that. Anyway, it gave me something to think about as we boarded the boat and headed across the border into Austria...
[Passau: 1 - Graffiti, 2 - Bicycles everywhere]
[The duck lady]
Up to top
posted by Nora @ 9:22 PM
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