We woke up this morning to brighter skies just outside Würzburg. Still plenty of cloud around but patches of blue sky and sunshine periodically peeking through. Once again we were driven into the centre of town on buses, but this time we were taken directly to the fabulous Residence, a vast palace originally constructed in the mid 1770s to house the powerful Prince-Bishops that ruled the city.
This shows about a third of the main frontage!
Unfortunately we were not allowed to use cameras inside the palace so you will just have to take my word for the magnificence of the main staircase with its fresco ceiling and the series of beautiful rooms, many of which were decorated for the visit of the Empress Maria Theresa. Most of the furnishings and tapestries were original as they had been protected during the war but many of the walls and main structure had been rebuilt.
The gardens at the end of the South Wing
After the tour we had time in the gardens before being taken on a short guided tour of the main city, past several churches. Having been ruled by Bishops the city is very well endowed with churches!
The Marienkappele
When the tour concluded I asked our guide, Wolfgang , which of the church interiors we should see and he kindly offered to take Neil and I for a private tour of the lovely Wurzburger Dom. He explained that most of the city churches have a mix of ancient and contemporary art and design elements. The Dom has a gorgeous Baroque end over the high altar but there are gothic arches and modern paintings.
Afterwards we wandered up to the Markt Platz and drooled over the fresh market stalls. The “Spargel” , or white asparagus, is only in season now for a short time and we’ve enjoyed it a couple of times for dinner.
We popped in to see the interior of the Marienkappelle , a tall skinny gothic church which has a very striking modern stained glass window behind the altar.
The bus was collecting people near the town centre but we decided to walk back to the boat instead. It had moved closer to town to the Old Port area. To get there we crossed the Main Bridge with its series of statues and a fine view up to the Marienberg Fortress which towers over the city. We could also see the lovely Kappele ( Little Chapel) on a neighbouring hill.
On the Main Bridge looking up to Marienberg Fortress
The Kappele
Walking back along the river
The boat was waiting for us in the not particularly pretty Old Port. We ate lunch for the first time in the main restaurant instead of the lounge. I certainly wouldn’t want to eat there everyday as I couldn’t resist the temptation of the extensive buffet, my waistline benefits from the lighter options in the lounge!
The Emerald Sun docked in the Old Port
At 4 pm I joined the girls for a short tour of the galley. It was interesting to see how they manage in such a small area.
Around 4pm we cruised through the lock under the Main Bridge and had our final view of Wurzburg.
The lock is under the right hand arch of the bridge.
We’ve enjoyed a lazy few hours of blogging and snoozing in the sun watching little towns and the river slide by our window.
Our stock of bubbly is expanding after we joined the crowd in the lounge for the “Evening with the Stars”, another trivia competition about all things Hollywood. In the first section we had to name the famous star by listening to a short sound clip of their voice. Morgan Freeman was a giveaway but we stumbled on Tina Turner! In The second section we had to name the movie after listening to a little of the soundtrack, another mix of difficulties with the one. I don’t think anyone in the lounge missed Jaws but not everyone knew Schindlers List 😊 I said to Neil afterwards that our annual family Christmas Quiz was very good practise 😂
A score of 17/20 put our team into the “Finals” with three other teams. Neil was voted our representative and had to stand with his competitors right at the end of the room. They then played a series of ten short movie quotes and the first one to run to the Csaba ( our cruise director) with the correct answer won the point. The finalist was also allowed to run to his team for help , so a lively session of jogging and yelling followed . After Neil won six in a row he slowed down, it was getting a little embarrassing! We all drank the prize bubbly but donated the other prize to the team that came second, it was a voucher to use as a discount on a second cruise with Evergreen within the next year.
Another fun evening