Day 7 - Sailing the Rhine and Speyer Germamy

A family of 5 that lived on that spot,.who were taken to the concentration camps 

https://www.stolpersteine-berlin.de/en

No sunrise pictures, since I didn't wake up until almost 8:00 a.m.  Today we had a very quiet start. Last night's dinner in Rudesheim brought us back onto the ship at about 10:00 p.m.  The ship sailed at midnight taking us today to Speyer Germany. 

Today's excursion didn't leave the ship until 2:30 p.m. so we've had all morning to just relax, sit in the lounge, and watch the river go by. 

There are quite a number of groups of women traveling together, unlike the few other trips I've been on. Beth and I sat down to play cards with two other women this morning and had an enjoyable few hours

For my card loving folks at home, we played hand and foot. But it was a version, their rules, that were different from ours. All good fun.

Lunch is over now and I'm waiting to disembark on my walking tour of Speyer Germany.  

The schedule shows a 3-hour walking tour.  Beth decided to enjoy the day on the ship and not go into Speyer. So I went alone but with a group that have become friends during this cruise. 

I hope they give us some time to do a little bit of shopping. So far this trip we have not had any real time to explore on our own whether it be shopping or sitting in a cafe and just watching the people and the culture of the town. We must be back on board by 6:45 p.m. as the ship sales with or without us for Strasbourg, France. More on that tomorrow.

Tonight we have a Viking explorer private cocktail party for those who have traveled on Viking previously. And at 9:00 pm, if I'm awake, they'll be a trivia quiz night in the lounge.  Nite, I didn't make it to the quiz!

Now to my walking tour.  We walked off the ship and straight into Speyer, pronounced SCHepeyer.  Our ship was docked right in town.

The huge Romanesque cathedral, Speyer Cathedral, was built in 1030 and was consecrated in 1061. The church was built for Conrad II, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. 

His wife, Gisela, was queen of Germany from 1024 to 1039 and empress of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 to 1039 by her third marriage with Emperor Conrad II. 

This is them, Conrad II and Gisela

"The Mount of Olives" is next to the cathedral. It is a stone group of figures that represents the biblical events on the Jerusalem Mount of Olives. The monument dates from the 16th century.

If you look closely, it looks like a dog toward the top of the statute. Infact it's a snake, but the artist didn't know what a snake looked like.

As a Romanesque cathedral it's not as ornate as a gothic cathedral might be. The walls are pretty simple block and while there are quite a number of towers and carved statutes, the inside is not fancy either. The ceilings are plain, there is no stained glass and the only little bit of art is the fresco's on the column walls.

From there we walked to Maximilian Street where our guide showed us another church, Dreifaltigkeitskirche, a Lutheran Church.

Speyer is part of a "Camino de Santiago".

A lot of pilgrims passed by on their pilgrimage through Germany or Europe.

As an homage to the countless pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago, this statue was donated to the city of Speyer. 

We were also shown the Old Jewish quarter where the walls of synagogue remain.  The story of the stumbling stones was related to us.  A brass plaque is placed at the last known residence of individuals who were taken to concentration camps.  

Many of these are prevalent on the streets of Speyer.

The old clocktower.  Wayne is right. If you sail with Viking, you'll see the 4"C's".  Churches, Cathedrals, castles, and clock towers. Notice the clock tower top clock face only shows the hour. The second clock face below only shows the quarter hour. It's this way on all four sides.

I finally got to see my own Maypole, and not one in Wayne's pictures.

Our guide left us to explore Speyer on our own. I finally got to do a little window shopping and managed to find something to buy before making my way back to the ship. The mast was my landmark to know I was on the correct path back to the ship.

Views of the Rhine and our ship

Tonight at dinner, our Chief Officer of the boat was embarrassed into wearing these lighted headpiece.  We all clapped.  He definitely didn't think it was dignified but was a great sport.