Secrets of Speyer - Wed. - Sept.22

River Cruising - you should try it!  Every day presents new sights and experiences.

I was so hyped after yesterday's Rhine Gorge splendors that I had a restless night.  Woke up in the dark and sat on the bed looking out from our balcony.  The Captain had 'set sail' at 2am for Ludwigshafen.   The moon was out and it looked so neat I took a pic and posted it on my Instagram :

We weren't due into Ludwigshafen until noon, so we had the whole morning to ourselves.   Jan and I went out on the deck and watched the scenery pass by.

We came to the town of Worms, Germany and noticed an interesting building.

It was an imposing structure from our water view.  It was the Nibelungen Bridge Gatehouse, built in 1897-1900.   I showed you a similar gatehouse on the Charles Bridge in Prague, finished in the early 15th century, in my 2019 cruise blog.

I'll show you another in Speyer later in this post.

For many kilometers, along both sides of the river, there was a high concentration of industrial plants.

We arrived in Ludwigshafen on the West side of the river.  Remember we're heading upstream to France and Switzerland.

The reason Jan and I like Ama Waterways is that they offer several excursion options which are included in the price of the cruise.   Most days you choose a morning and an afternoon sight-seeing visit.   If it's at a destination not close to the river they will provide a luxury bus.   Today at our stop they offered :

A-  'Romantic Heidelberg'  .. visiting Heidelberg Castle

B-  'Heidelberg Philosophers Path Hike' .. 8-km, scenic             views hike of Heidelberg & the Neckar Valley

C-  'Secrets of Speyer' .. largest Romanesque                         Cathedral in the world, interesting small town

D-  bike tour .. Ludwigshafen to Ladenburg, 34-km

We picked :

Very impressive church.

Construction began in 1030.   Officially it's known as the Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St. Stephen, seat of the Catholic Bishop of Speyer.

Eight emperors and kings are laid to rest inside.

Lots of neat buildings in this small town.  Lots and lots of history starting with the Romans in 10 BC.

Speyer is 25-km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim.

looking down the main street of Speyer :

opposite the cathedral is the gatehouse :

Here's the Protestant church :

some main street signage :

Both Speyer and Heidelberg were spared from Allied bombing in WWII.   Instead they flattened the industrial complexes in Ludwigshafen and Mannheim.

Today, Ludwigshafen is home to the world's largest integrated chemicals complex.   Home to BASF.

As we were finished our walk down main street, we heard a beautiful sound.   It was a young lady, sitting in a chair on the edge of the street was playing the electric cello.   Oh my goodness!!   What a neat sound!  Around 60-80 people were listening as she played current tunes on her cello.   Take a minute and go to Instagram and search for ..  sia_sound  and as you scroll down thru the different posts, angelic music will play and soothe your soul.   Very talented.

Back to the cathedral .. it had massive organs at the back and the front !!

Remeber I told you that the food was .... greeaaatt !!

Well, tonight we had a special Chaine des Rotisseurs Dinner!   The Ama head chef belongs to the world's oldest international gastronomic society.   Tonight we enjoyed :

appetizer - smoked trout, horseradish, cucumber and                     maccha tea emulsion

soup - clear onion soup, cheese croutons

sorbet - 'Kir Royal'

main course - mustard crusted lamb leg, tarragon                         sauce, ratatouille, creamy artichokes,                         potato gratin

dessert - 'Crepe Suzette' : orange-cointreau, caramel,                     mango ice cream

Wow!   Soooooo delicious!!   Bon Appetit!

Tomorrow morning we get our covid test for Italy and afterwards we visit beautiful Strasbourg, France.

Bonjour !