Bamberg Sunday May 8, 2011

Today we visited Bamberg, a very charming city with lots of history. We had a 1.5 hour tour then and hour or so to wander around town by ourselves. Unfortunately, all the shops in Germany are closed on Sunday so we didn't do any shopping. I did find one little gift shop open and managed to get a spoon for my collection!

Dollar Store :)

The tours on this ship are divided up into three or four groups. They use these little radio transmitters with ear phones. Each passenger gets a set which is tuned in to your guide.That way, you can always hear what your guide is saying, even if you are not standing near them. It's a great system.

mmmm pretzels!

After the tour I got a famous German pretzel from a street vendor and joined a group of other ladies traveling alone at an outdoor cafe. We ordered drinks and visited for a bit. 

The Aussies, the Canadians and me having coffee and enjoying the weather. 

Turns out they were having a huge marathon in town so many of the streets were blocked off, which lots of police everywhere directing traffic. The marathon had a children's race and an adult race. As it turned out, the children's race occurred while we were sitting in the outdoor cafe and the route went right past where we were sitting. It was very exciting to see the little kids, probably about 4-6 years old, racing by and all the adults cheering them on. We all took pictures, clapped and yelled encouragement to them. That was the excitement for today!

We returned to the ship for lunch and then I went up to the sun deck and took some pictures of the shoreline and of the ship going through the lock. After that, it was time for a nap! It felt good to lie down and rest.

Campers

Now, I am sitting in the Library trying for the umteenth time to access the internet. They say the Captain has to lower the satelite because the bridges in this area are too low to pass under, and supposedly that's why the internet isn't good. We'll see... she tells me tomorrow morning while we are docked in Wurzburg it will be better. Only problem is, we dock at 8:30 and we leave at 9 am for our tour.

Tonight is the Captain's Welcome Dinner. The first of two more formal dinners, which is supposed to be quite fancy. It will be fun, I plan to bring my camera.