Better known to us Brits as Nuremberg and infamous for the trials after the Second World War, Nürnberg is the second largest city in Bavaria, after Munich. It was largely destroyed in World War II, but there are still 3 miles of medieval city walls with gateways and watchtowers, plus the castle within.
As with Bamberg, we have been here before, but with friends rather than a formal guide. We were able to identify the square where we drank beer with friends one lively evening back in 2016. It turned out to be the same square with the house of Albrecht Dürer, a famous city sculptor.
After finding the bar which makes the Summer Bier we drank back then, we joined the rest of the group – in fact the entire complement of passengers – in a huge restaurant which we did not even fill. They served us Nürnberger sausages (these are small and tasty) with sauerkraut and potatoes, followed by apple strudel, all with beer or Riesling wine. Very German!
Our daily newsletter advised that Nürnberg is the home of Lebkuchen – decorative cookies mainly seen at Christmas. They are often in the shape of hearts or pretzels and are a bit like a very strong tasting and solid version of gingerbread. I never liked them, having been given several over the years by German friends, but I recently found a recipe for a milder version which includes orange zest and I have not only been converted myself but done the same for my husband and friends!
This was also the day when we had to transfer to another ship – hence everyone had had to disembark in Nürnberg – leaving the Viking Tir and joining the Viking Vali past the end of the Main-Danube Canal and lower down the Danube near Passau. It was a long coach journey and I had forgotten to bring something warm to wear on the coach which was overly air conditioned despite the weather being cooler than recently – why do they do that?
However, the Viking Vali was a perfect replica of the Tir – apparently, they were sister ships built together – and we all got the same cabins we had on the Tir which made life a lot easier! It was also a good solution to the issue of the low river levels higher up the Danube which we had bypassed. The passengers of the Vali, who were making the trip in the opposite direction, were transferred to the Tir, and both trips then continued. We think we were lucky with this as, given what happened to us on the Mittel Rhein (nearly touching the bottom) a few days before, and the continuing heat and lack of rain, we suspected it wasn’t the end of the problems for the crew of the Tir.
Anyway, we unpacked (again!) and the adventure continued. 😊
