Nov. 7-Wednesday-Frankfort

This is the last of the 'regular' itinerary day as the river level going to Amdterdam is far too low for us to traverse.

We tied up in Ofenbach, took a bus ride to Heidelburg to visit the town while the ship sailed to Frankfort. At the end of the day, we were bused to Frankfort to rejoin the ship. We will be on the ship for Wednesday and Thursday night and on Friday we will visit Cologne and then bus to Amsterdam, a full day early. There will be two nights in Amsterdam (Friday and Saturday instead of just Saturday) then leave Sunday morning for the States or, in our case, Bruges, Belgium.

At the bus parking spot, we took off for a walking tour of the central square of Heidelburg. Very visible high above the city was the Castle. It was started in 1200 and mostly destroyed in 1692 by the French as they left the country.

Heidelburg rooftops
After lots of 'free time' (funny how that always being in a tourist/shopping environment), we met for lunch at a really old tavern. How 100 tourists all got fed and watered in a short time always amazes me.

The lunch bunch

And more....
Cobblestones everywhere.
Bridge across the Taube River
And a bit of whimsy
On the hill


Castle interior
The Heidelburg College had a 'student prison' for those caught breaking a myriad of rules in the 1500-1700 time frame. This prison sentence of a day or a week was actually a mark of honor for the students to show their friends they were rebels. Over time, the 'rebels' decorated their 'cells'.



Climbing the stairs in the prison
The bus trip back to the ship in Frankfort was a nightmare of traffic jams. Cars, buses, trucks everywhere.

Tomorrow will be a bus ride to Koblenz, a wine tasting tour, and back to the ship.

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