Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Sunday, 4 June (continued) .By the time we finished lunch, we were approaching Mainz. The city was the Roman capitol of Upper Germany, and today is the capitol of the German state (Land) of Rhineland-Palatinate. St, Boniface was the archbishop here (746), and Gutenberg was born here ©. 1400). Like Köln and Koblenz, central Mainz was largely destroyed in World War II and has since been rebuilt. 
Buildings on Cathedral Square |
Our walking tour with a local guide began at 14:15. The ship was docked in an excellent location, right in front of Rathaus Platz, and it was a short walk to Cathedral Square. Unfortunately, the local guide had no sense of time and tended to keep us at each site long after all the other guides had moved on. We were last to reach the Cathedral (completed 1239), and he kept us outside for 15 minutes while he talked about the “original 11th century” bronze doors. By then it was too late (because of an upcoming Sunday service) for him to take us inside. (Of course, he could have taken us inside first, then shown us the doors later.) So we visited the cloister instead, and it was beautiful.
Mainz Cathedral | 
Original Cathedral door | 
Cloister |
The guide next took us to a picturesque little square called the Kirschgarten (Cherry Orchard), where again he droned on endlessly. Fortunately, we had a set time to be at our next stop, the Gutenberg Museum. It was normally closed on Sunday, but the manger had agreed to open it for one hour just for our ship. Our guide put on a wonderful exhibition of Gutenberg’s printing press, even casting one of the type letters in lead. But then, as we were trying to look at the several original Gutenberg bibles on display, he just babbled on and on. When he finally moved on to another room, the manager asked him to hurry. As the guide babbled again, the manager began to shout for him to finish, but with little success. Our one hour visit lasted nearly 90 minutes. I doubt the museum manager will open for GCT on a Sunday again. 
The Kirschgarten | 
Gutenberg Museum | 
Gutenberg printing press |
Inside the Cathedral |
Walking back to the Cathedral |
When we finally left the museum, the guide was suddenly in a frantic hurry. Many of us wanted to go back to the Cathedral, just a block away, and thought he would accompany us. But he took off toward the ship so fast that we couldn’t even catch him to give him a tip. So a few of us walked back to the Cathedral on our own for a quick look at the interior. We were back at the ship before 17:00. 
Rudesheim from our ship (earlier) |
The bus left at 17:45 for our optional visit to Rüdesheim, crossing the Rhine into Wiesbaden and following the right bank. We stopped off at Geisenheim for a wine-tasting and tour of the Weingut Peter Ohlig. We bought a couple bottles of wine there.
Entrance to the wine cellar | 
Jane taps a wine barrel | 
Us tasting a Riesling |
We got to Rüdesheim about 20:00 and walked up the Drosselgasse, a narrow lane lined with wine bars and restaurants. Our first stop was the Hotel Lindenwirt which has placed six large wine casks on its front porch and converted them into cosy little rooms, complete with a bathroom larger than the bedroom. Then we went to the Lindenwirt Restaurant. It was loaded with atmosphere, including stained glass windows. There was a good German band, and Jane and I even danced for the first time in years, including one polka. 
Walking up the Drosselgasse | 
Ein prosit ! | 
Wine-barrel rooms |
I feel I must explain the picture where I’m holding a beer glass in one hand and a wine glass in the other. Everyone got a half-liter carafe of wine with dinner. Jane and I took one red and one white. But I didn’t feel like drinking more wine after having two glasses at the wine tasting, so I ordered a beer. I tried a little of the red wine out of curiosity because I’d never tasted a red from the Rheingau region. Neither of us touched the white, and eventually we passed it to the two couples on our right at the table. Our group was supposed to leave the restaurant at 21:45, but it was 22:30 before we headed for the bus. It was well after 23:00 when we got to the ship. Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 |
