After sailing overnight, the Viking Legend arrived just outside the city of Nuremberg, Germany. Many people remember Nuremberg as the city in which the Nazi party held annual mass meetings, and where were held the war trials following the end of World War II. On our bus tour, which followed breakfast, we saw the building in which the trials were held. The tour took us to the castle high above Nuremberg, fascinating in itself, but also as a vantage point to see the area which had been mostly destroyed by Allied bombing and almost miraculously rebuilt.
Our guide then led us down from the castle past the house in which the artist Albrect Durer did his work, past St. Sebaldus church, past the city hall to the main market place of the Old Town. There were stalls upon stall selling all manner of fresh vegetables and lebkuchen -- gingerbread -- a local speciality.
After lunch aboard the ship, Jan and I went back to the center of the Old Town on our own, to see the interior of St. Sebaldus church which had been badly damaged by the bombing and rebuilt after the war. It was somber to see what is the waste and suffering of war for all concerned, and to see the hope for peace the church now represents.
We then walked through more of the Old Town and the Pegnitz River which flows through it. We went outside the city walls to the Baroque Garden and returned for a cappuccino at the Nuremberg Starbucks.
Tonight we enjoyed our final dinner and began our good-byes. In the morning we leave early for the Nuremberg airport, from which we fly to Frankfurt and then back to Newark. We look forward to being back home.
