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Day 18 of our European trip and day 10 aboard thr River Queen finds us docking in Speyer this morning. Speyer was in ancient times a Celtic settlement, then re-settled by the Romans, then destroyed in 450 A.D. by the Huns. From the 13-18th century it enjoyed leadership as one of the seven free Imperial Cities in the Holy Roman Empire.
We took a walking tour of the city and had a retired history teacher for a tour guide. He was very informative and personable. First we went to the cathedral and he told us how each time a man became king he had a need to show his power so he would try to build a bigger cathedral. The one in Speyer is very large. BTW, we learned that ABC can stand for one of two things depending on your perspective. It is either Another Beautiful Cathedral or Another Bloody Cathedral. Anyway, back to the tour.
Our next stop was the ruins of the Jewish Synagogue and the Jewish baths where we heard the history of the Jews in Speyer. Our third stop was the Lutheran church where we heard the history of the Reformation in Germany and how the followers of Martin Luther were causing some worry for the Emperor who was afraid of disruptions to the peace of the land. In 1529 the Holy Emperor, Charles V, held a conference here in hopes he could reach a compromise with the Lutheran nobility. The Lutherans came to the Emperor and told him that they would serve in the army and pay their taxes but they felt that the Emperor should stay out of the religious preferences of the people. This was a protest to the Emperor, so they became known as 'Protestants'. Thus, all non-Catholic Christians were known as Protestants. Something we didn't know.
After the tour we broused the shops. We have been impressed with the great looking clothes and shoes in Germany. Speyer is a bustling river port and industrial manufacturing community where they have several factories producing shoes, chemicals and textiles. In fact we wandered into a shoe store that must have been the largest shoe store we've ever seen. But Speyer is also known for the production of Germany's most popular drink: beer, and of course, pretzels.
The weather today was rainy and a cold 55 degrees with a light wind, but it didn't stop us tourists. After the tour we were glad to drop into a small cafe for a pretzel and hot chocolate. After the warm up, we continued on our own till lunch back on board.
After lunch and a short rest, we went back into town (2:30 pm) and the sun came out - yea! To help with the economy, Bill had seen a shirt earlier and decided to buy it, but they did not have his size. Karen felt so bad, she bought a pair of shoes!
Before returning to the ship for our 5:45 pm departure, we made one more stop for a pastry and pretzel. Pretzels can be purchased from little booths along the sidewalk for .50 €. Such a deal.
CORRECTION: total crew size is 38. Two captains, one engineer, 3 Navy seamen and 32 hotel staff servicing 116 passengers.
Our next stop was the ruins of the Jewish Synagogue and the Jewish baths where we heard the history of the Jews in Speyer. Our third stop was the Lutheran church where we heard the history of the Reformation in Germany and how the followers of Martin Luther were causing some worry for the Emperor who was afraid of disruptions to the peace of the land. In 1529 the Holy Emperor, Charles V, held a conference here in hopes he could reach a compromise with the Lutheran nobility. The Lutherans came to the Emperor and told him that they would serve in the army and pay their taxes but they felt that the Emperor should stay out of the religious preferences of the people. This was a protest to the Emperor, so they became known as 'Protestants'. Thus, all non-Catholic Christians were known as Protestants. Something we didn't know.
After the tour we broused the shops. We have been impressed with the great looking clothes and shoes in Germany. Speyer is a bustling river port and industrial manufacturing community where they have several factories producing shoes, chemicals and textiles. In fact we wandered into a shoe store that must have been the largest shoe store we've ever seen. But Speyer is also known for the production of Germany's most popular drink: beer, and of course, pretzels.
The weather today was rainy and a cold 55 degrees with a light wind, but it didn't stop us tourists. After the tour we were glad to drop into a small cafe for a pretzel and hot chocolate. After the warm up, we continued on our own till lunch back on board.
After lunch and a short rest, we went back into town (2:30 pm) and the sun came out - yea! To help with the economy, Bill had seen a shirt earlier and decided to buy it, but they did not have his size. Karen felt so bad, she bought a pair of shoes!
Before returning to the ship for our 5:45 pm departure, we made one more stop for a pastry and pretzel. Pretzels can be purchased from little booths along the sidewalk for .50 €. Such a deal.
CORRECTION: total crew size is 38. Two captains, one engineer, 3 Navy seamen and 32 hotel staff servicing 116 passengers.
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