Day 13 Thursday 27th June Mainz & Heidelberg

Day 13 Thursday 27^th June Mainz & Heidelberg

I painstakingly loaded 25 pictures on and somehow managed to wipe half of them off again!!!  Not bothering to do them all again so what I have here will have to do

We started the day with usual buffet breakfast and then went on a walking tour of Mainz It was raining but that didn’t dampen our spirits as we walked through yet another walled town.  It was situated on the banks of the Rhine but the town had been raised 2 metres so the Rhine was only half its original width.  If it hadn’t been raised the recent floods in Europe would have flooded the town.  We then went to the Gutenberg Museum and saw handwritten books 1,000 years old which had taken 18 months to handwrite one book.  Gutenberg invented a printing press which enabled books to be produced much more quickly. It was extremely interesting, amazing actually.

Back on board for lunch then we sailed to Gernsheim where we boarded buses for a tour of Heidelberg.  Rain again but it eventually stopped.  We toured the Heidelberg Castle set on a hill top (all castles are on hilltops) and then had some time to stroll through the town. At night the crew put on an excellent talent show

Ruins of Heidelberg castle

Heidelberg Castle

View of Heidelberg from the castle

Relaxing with friends from England

Taken from ship showing how full the Rhine is and damage from storm

Pauls fish meal