Mercure Erlangen 3m

... We walked down the Weissgepbergasse (with the oldest remaining buildings in the city), we passed the former home of painter Albrecht Durer, we drank some Mokarabia, climbed the castle, found a traditional Bavarian coat for Pam, and then, since Germany is full of Turkish immigrants, I finally had some Turkish street food. After shooting off an email to some extended family in Frankfurt with some initial plans ...

... t get to talk to family or friends much so I have no idea what is going on back home.

But it really helps when I get postcards and emails from home. Even small comments on my blog (thank you Mitch) help. I want to take this time to thank those of you who have sent me cards or postcards in the mail, they are making my walls, as well as my smile, so much brighter. Also, thank you to those that send me emails, those always help and put a smile on my face. But enough of this ...

... The New Palace contained a huge rose garden and had a great view of the city. During our free time Jack, Suzanne and I wandered around town admiring the architecture. We stopped at a snack shop where I had a large soft pretzel and Coke for only 1.69 euros. Cheapest purchase I’ve made yet. Usually a Coke costs at least 2 euros ($3).
We were back on ship for a late lunch and passed time watching the countryside slide by and going through locks.

Today, right after breakfast, we crossed the European Continental Divide. We went into a lock that dropped us down 81 ft. At the bottom it was, as our tour guide said, like being a spider in a bathtub with concrete walls rising up just inches from the sides of the ship.
We docked at ...

... the correct spot and we got on.

We arrived in Bamberg in time to get a bus out to our hostel but only part way there, we would have to wait another hour for the other bus. So, we didn't want wait after wasting so much time at the train station earlier. Instead we took the first bus and walked a good 30 minutes with our bags to the hostel, but it was right on the river so it was worth it. We walked into town that night - at ...

... sadly…I lost a flipflop….poor flip flop! I loved those comfy flippyfloppys and gone forever!

Well once we got to Nuremburg it was all about the hockey game! A little backstory…Chris spent a year playing NHL09 (Playstation) online with his friend Danny. At first they changed their jerseys quite often but they eventually stuck with the Sinupret Icetigers (due to the lime green ...

... The cheering was intense and we could hear it all from the campsite…pretty fun! The campsite was very nice except for the fact that it was surrounded by acorn trees and we were constantly in fear of our lives! Lol…well just getting a bump on the head! We did get a few nice donks on the camper but it survived. One thing we did notice…no squirrels…very odd!

We explored the ...

... windows amongst the huge stone pillars.

Back down in the Christmas madness (right about now it starts seeming like madness) we get ourselves some Nurnberger Bratwursts. They are very different from the Thuringer variety, and in my opinion not nearly as good (of course I am also biased to the local delicacy.) Instead of a huge brat that hangs out either end of the bread roll, they give you three little sausages that fit in the roll. We wash ...

Made it to Erlangen from the Nurnberg Flughafen (airport). Rented a nice little Audi A3 - fun 20 minute drive to town. Dumped my stuff at the hotel and took a long walk. You can see from the photos that it was cloudy and cool, perfect walking weather. A small market was happening in the main city square, the Schlossplatz, with vendors selling all sorts of housewares from pots and pans to ...

... here and there about the country. They asked about Australia and we asked about Polland and how it coped during the war. They spoke English quite well actually. After hours of chatting we left to go down to the internet to book accomidation for the following night in Munich as we currently had no where to stay. We booked Munich and Prague so we wouldn't have to worry about accomidation for a while. We finally got some sleep and the next morning our new ...