Wertheim

Day 6 - Wurtheim (September 4)

Up at 5:45 AM, I dressed and went to the lounge to get on the internet and check email. I was joined a little later by the ladies and we went downstairs for breakfast. The ship was still under weigh to our next destination, Wertheim, on the banks of the Main River. We arrived around noon and rolled out the gangplank.

Wertheim, once seat of the counts of Wertheim, is located on the confluence of the rivers Tauber and Main, and is known for its wine, castle and medieval town centre. Since it wasn’t raining but was likely later, we decided to skip the walking tour and headed out on our own for the hike up to the castle. We followed several small lanes through the north side of town and started up the hill on a series of paved switchback service roads. With several stops along the way we eventually made it to the top of the hill and entered a massive wooden door.

From below, Wertheim Castle looked like it was one single building complex, but our exploration of it found that the word 'complex' was more accurate. In reality, it was a triple-structure -- an outer wall, an inner palace, and a separate outer series of bastions separated by a six-meter deep moat. We didn't get an appreciation of this until we were inside and following the pathway that took us through the bottom of the moat -- surrounded on both sides by tall rocky cliffs separating the structures, accessible only by stairways.

After walking around the ruins we were about to head back downtown when I saw some people ascending a set of wooden stairs so I announced my intention to follow to see where it went. After going up and up and up, I reached the base of the last remaining tower and found a circular wooden stairway inside. Naturally I had to follow it up. Reaching the top, I came out onto a small square, surrounded by a short crenelated wall overlooking the city and river - it was beautiful!! Eventually, I had to go back down and hope to catch up with the girls. I found Shanda waiting for me with Tina and Denise not far away. By now it was starting to rain so we continued down a series of stone stairs into town past many residences, finally ending up next to the old church, not far from the Glassmuseum.

The Glasmuseum celebrates Wertheim's history in the glass industry, from the medieval production of glassware and bead jewelry to the industrial forms of glass (fiberglas and optic fiber) of the 20th century. The most intriguing part of the museum was watching a young glassmaker entertaining several youngsters as he molded molten glass with his open-flame torch.

From there we wandered around town eventually coming to the central platz and a fountain called Engelsbrunnen (1547) named after the two angels who held Wertheim's municipal coat of arms in their hands. We spent a couple of hours wandering around town, shopping and looking before heading back to the ship and dinner.