Cities of Light River Cruise - Day Eight

When we awoke, the Viking Odin was still underway, having sailed through the night. The Main River, on which we're traveling, has 34 locks, and it seems as though we went through at least six of them through the night. There is often a gentle shudder in the boat if it comes in contact with the walls of the lock. It's not a cause to worry - it is just a gentle interruption if it happens.

As soon as we arrived in Karlstadt, we boarded buses for the tour of Wurzburg. The feature of the tour is the Bishop's Residenz, a monumental baroque building commissioned in 1720 by one of a series of bishop-princes who ruled the city of Wurzburg. In it is a grand staircase above which is the largest fresco in the world painted on an unsupported vaulted ceiling. The theme of the fresco is the Four Continents (Australia was unknown at that time) with people and animals. The artist had a vivid imagination.

We were able to tour one of the suites, a series of progressively more opulent rooms. Our guide explained that the whole purpose of the building and the rooms was to impress visiting princes with how wealthy and powerful was the bishop-princes, hence the over-the-top decoration. Part of the building was destroyed by Allied bombing and rebuilt. Miraculously the staircase and frescoed ceiling were not damaged. The whole building is a UNESCO site.

We then toured the old city part of Wurzburg, which while in the German state of Bavaria, fiercely contends that it is a part of Franconia, a separate entity with separate traditions and dialect, even though later political settlements lumped it with Bavaria. Our guide was firm that Franconian Wurzburg does not celebrate Oktoberfest, instead it has a wine fest in September. Wurzburg is also the resting place of Saint Kilian, an Irish monk who brought Christianity to the region. He is remembered as being the patron saint of those with rheumatism.

A dampening shower brought our tour to an early end, so we returned to the ship where we enjoyed lunch followed by a restful afternoon. This evening was the Captain's cocktail party and a special seven-course dinner. While not the last night on the ship, the dinner was held tonight so as not to conflict with packing tomorrow night. We leave the ship day after tomorrow to journey first to Nuremberg, then to Prague. Tomorrow we will arrive at and tour the city of Bamberg. So, more to come...