We sailed on, this time to Würzburg, Germany. Decided to try one of the optional excursions with Viking. We did the Hike the Würzburg Hills. It was a really enjoyable hike which started at Käppele Würzburg. It’s a lovely baroque church above the river Main.
That clear patch is where they were determining if it was worth cleaning. I would say YES, it’s totally worth it.
We came down the hill to view a bit of the Marienberg Fortress and the beautiful vineyards that climb the hills up the banks of the Main. The Franconian vineyards surround the city and Würzburg is known for its white wine.
The Wine Bridge 
That afternoon, we were given a tour of the Würzburg Residence. It is a palace where the Prince-Bishop of the region resided when he decided that the Marienberg Fortress was just too small. Construction on the residence was started in 1720. It was almost entirely bombed in WWII and was rebuilt from 1945-1987.
One of the fun things to do in Würzburg is to drink wine on the old bridge. We were enjoying our wine while talking with others from our ship that we narrowly made the 6:15 all-on-board time of departure. We clocked in at 6:14 and didn’t realize that we had cut it that close until the ship started pulling away from the dock.
Next up was the town of Bamberg and another walking tour of the picturesque town. This is also one of the few German towns not destroyed during WWII. Bamberg is famous for its smoky beer. They dry the malt over open flames, which gives the beer its smoky flavor. Will didn’t feel the desire to sample this one, but apparently some varieties are available in the US.
The artist created these faces by only cleaning certain areas of the bridge.
Our ship coming in. 
The next morning, we found ourselves in Nuremberg, Germany. We had been to Nuremberg before but took the included tour anyway. We started out on the bus, which took us by the Nazi Party’s Rally Grounds and the courthouse where the Nuremberg trials were held. Then it was a little walking tour which ended by the Beautiful Fountain.
There was a market that day and someone learned just enough German words to be a danger to himself.
Yes, it’s cheesecake.
We had free time in the afternoon, and we headed to the Toy Museum. Nuremberg is also known for making toys. It was a cute museum and happened to be free that day.
The miniatures were amazing. 
We explored further and found some lovely scenic bridges and a sculpture. It was the Ehekarussell sculpture and has been the subject of much controversy since it was unveiled in the 1980’s. It shows a grim representation of the trials of marriage.
That night the ship went through a couple of large locks with the walls rising some 80 feet above us. Then a few miles later, we passed the European Continental Divide.
Our next stop was Regensburg, Germany. We ended up ducking out of our walking tour that day. The guide we had wasn’t to our liking, so we decided to just do our own thing. We eventually found ourselves on the little tourist train that goes around the city center. Sometimes you just gotta do your own thing.
Passau was our next docking point and another walking tour of the city center. After the tour, we went to the midday organ concert at St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The organ is the largest in the world and has 17,794 pipes. We grabbed some lunch in town and then decided we hadn’t been walking enough.
We walked up to the monastery and the 321 steps. Then it was back down and around the point where the 3 rivers meet. Passau is where the Danube, the Inn and the Ilz Rivers all meet. This is also why Passau floods quite often. In the downtown area there’s a certain area where you aren’t allowed to live on the ground floor. These are relegated to commercial spaces only because of the flooding concern. And finally, we climbed up to the Veste Oberhaus to take in some city views from the other side of the Danube.
Passau was also our last town in Germany. We made it to Austria. Melk, Austria to be more specific. They say that the Danube creates a lot of fog in the fall. And true to form, we expereienced moring fog both in Passau and again in Melk.
Our included tour this time was a tour of the Melk Abbey. They say the views from the Abbey are sensational. Guess I will have to take their word on that because we weren’t able to distinguish much through the fog. The inside of the Abbey is incredible. You will have to take my word on that as we weren’t allowed any pictures inside. (Or you can Google it, there are some nice pictures you can find.) They also have a very impressive library which boasts a collection of well over 100,000 volumes.
That afternoon those of us that were on board had another scenic sailing opportunity as we sailed through the Wachau Valley. The fog lifted just in time to allow us some beautiful views of the valley famous for its apricot orchards.
Low Bridge 
We had to pick up others from various other excursions in Krems, Austria. So, that gave us a chance to check out the little town on our own.
