Nurnburg, off the ship, on to Prague

Leaving the ship

We had bags in the corridor at 7:00 for a departure time of 8:30. Breakfast was great (again.)

We left gratuities in the slot, turned in our appraisals, said goodby to the special crew members, and boarded the bus for a 45 minute trip to Nurnburg.

The tour was past all the known buildings (the scene of the Nurnburg Trials) with a stop at the Nurmburg Castle. 60% of the castle was destroyed in the WWII bombings as was 80% of the city. We were shown pictures of the destruction from the wall of the castle and were able to visualize the destruction. It is hard to visualize what happened. The city has been rebuilt using old photos to re-create the structures that were there.

We stopped at the Zeppelin field where Hitler had massive rallies in the late 30's. The famous picture taken from behind Hitler as he addressed the 250,000 on the field and 80,000 spectators lining the field. Incredible.

We also were able to see the partially finished building that Hitler was building to have rallies every year after he conquered the world. It was being built along the lines of the Rome Coliseum, just three times larger. Our tour guide was exceptionally qualified.

We then made a stop off in the city center. Saw the Glockenspiel perform its mechanical magic, had a short lunch near the square and boarded the bus for Prague.

There was excitement during the 4 hour drive to Prague. It rained hard, to the point that we could not see the road sometimes, made a stop at a McDonalds (whoopie), and were stopped by the Czech police to have the driver's driving record checked to ensure he was not exceeding the allowed time on the road without rest.

Got to the hotel later than expected and very tired after a long day. The luggage was being delivered to the room and we went for dinner in the hotel's Bisro (another "special" service occasion.) The Prague Hilton is very nice and about 20 years old.

Bus tour of the city tomorrow.