Nuremberg is the second largest city in the German state of Bavaria and has a population of 500,000. It is said "Merchants and craftsmen made the city wealthy". It was the biggest city of the 'Middle Ages'. Munich is the largest city in Bavaria and Bavaria is the largest of the states of Germany.

Our main guide today was Ilka. Lovely young woman with red hair. We did have Michael for the first part of the tour as we had the 'Gentle Walking Group' on the bus with us. It is a nice name for the group that are struggling with walking on all the cobblestones. Michael stayed on the bus with that group, when we got up to the castle.

As we drove in from where the AmaRiena had docked, our guide Michael told us we were travelling through what is known as the 'Garden City' of Nuremberg. In this part of the city homes can only be rented. The gardens are small and cared for by authorities. People wanting to live in this area have to put their name on a 'waiting list' and it can be a long time before their name comes up for a rental. The rent is cheap. I guess something like our State Housing.

The city first appears in the records of 1050 and during the 13^th century, as one of Europe's greatest trade towns. Part of the tour took us to 'Hitler’s Party Rally Grounds’. Nuremburg was officially designated the ‘City of the Reichsparteitage – Nazi Party Rallies’. This created a link between the Nazi movement and the great past of the Imperial City of Nuremburg, a city associated with the splendour of past emperors. The Nazi Rule was from 1923 until 1945.

The Nazi Party Rallies were held every year in September, up until 1938. They lasted for a week and drew as many as 1 million people to Nuremberg from all over Germany. There were a number of structures started in Nuremburg during the 'Nazi Rule' but not all were completed. The first building we drove past was completed and used as barracks during the war. Now it is used as accommodation for refugee's. The Congress Building was the biggest structure, but was never completed. One could ask "Why Nuremburg was chosen for these buildings and the Nazi Rallies"? It is in the centre of Germany, had a good railway system and was a large and prominent medieval city. The march each September was a 'Symbolic March' from the medieval city to the Nazi Rally grounds, which we visited and actually got off the bus to view. At these marches 100,000 people would march and 60,000 would be seated on the stands. Today the area is put to good use as Michael said "For racing car events and rock concerts".

Ilka told us her Aunty had told her stories of these Nazi rallies. She said “It could be likened to the Beatles coming to town. Everyone was screaming and shouting when Hitler drove down the street”. Ilka finished by saying her Aunty had said "He was a wonderful man. He was the man that would lead them to a good future". The city became the famous location for the ‘Nuremberg Trials’ after WW2. 21 men went on trial and 12 were hung and then cremated. 200,000 Jews live in the city today.

From there we drove on and through the main gate to the Congress Hall. The Hall was to be 70 metres high, but they only managed to construct 40 metres of the intended height. 42 million red bricks were used and some the the exterior has been covered with granite. The design was similar to the Colosseum and it was proposed that it would be 1.5 times bigger. It was planned to hold 60,000 members at rallies. 200,000 people visit the incomplete Congress Hall each year. Ilka said "The Germans like tourists visiting and for them it is a way of saying the German's do not want this to happen again". The 1960's was a time when the city particularly put out the message 'that they wanted to move on and did not want to reflect on the socialist times.

The bus then took us up to the castle where the wall has been reconstructed around the medieval town of 1316. There were lots of tour groups up at the castle and who should we see again but Mike Burrows and his partner Barbara. I said to Peter "That I knew Barbara's face, but I just couldn't put her into the Geraldton picture"! After we finished the tour we found somewhere to have a coffee and discussed the fact that we had seen Mike and Barbara again. We couldn't actually remember Barbara's name at this stage of the story! We left the Cafe and ran into them both! By then I had attempted to convince Peter that Barbara had worked at Bankwest. Yeah! I was right! Turns out when Mike introduced us and I quizzed Barbara "As to whether she had worked at Bankwest"? She replied "That she once knew as much about our account as we did"! We talked with them both until it was time to meet Ilka. We enjoyed eating some of Barbara's cherries, that she had purchased from the market square. They were delicious.

Once back on the ship we enjoyed a warm drink and a piece of 'Nuremberg Gingerbread'! It was not gingerbread as we know it! The eating of gingerbread is a tradition that is significant as the summer draws to a close. The fame and tradition of Nuremberg Gingerbread is mainly due to this old city's favourable position along the ancient trading and spice routes. The gingerbread is made from a number of spices, honey, almonds and other nuts can be added.

After lunch we enjoyed an afternoon of going through the three biggest locks on the RMD canal. It is truly amazing infrastructure. Lots of photos taken and I will leave them to tell the story. The names of the locks were Leerstetten, Eckersmuhlen and Hilpoltstein. We went up 24.7 metres in each of these three locks. The following is a little from the web:

When ships are finally able to sail into the lock, they move into position and idle their engines. The doors to the lock are shut electronically, and for a period of time, it seems as if nothing will happen. Slowly, the turbulence increases as water is either admitted into or pumped out of the lock chamber. Floating guides on tracks run within the concrete walls of the lock, guiding the ship up and down, and squealing in protest as the volume of water in the lock changes. Depending on the height and volume of water, ships can spend as much as half an hour in-transit within a lock.

Just before dinner we crossed the 'Continental Divide'. We were up on the front deck for this memorable experience! Nothing to see, but a large piece of concrete on one side of the river and a smaller piece on the other side, and one has to draw the imaginary line between the two, across the river. It was fun though and Cherie said we had to turn around three times and kiss the person closest to us. Good thing Pete was there. Haven't seen anyone else I particularly want to kiss after crossing the 'Continental Divide'.

We had an interesting discussion at dinner with another Pam about what the 'Continental Divide' is? The other Pam said she had googled it and it had said 'It was the divide between Europe and Asia and she couldn't see how it could be that"! I said "That I thought it was all about rivers flowing a different way either side of the divide", but she wasn't convinced. I think I was right and in actual fact what she had googled was also the right info, when you think it through!

Tonight was a free night and I think passengers were as happy as us to enjoy an earlier night. For me though it was an opportunity to attempt to catch up on blogging. It is a painfully slow process though. The internet service on the canal varies so much. Just when you think you have a service, you don't! Very frustrating!