It is not everyday one awakes to see a glass blower demonstration on a ship. How cool! Well, yes, jokes about a hot topic come to mind. Or maybe about working under a fire sprinkler. Dieter Schrade used a giant Bic lighter to heat the glass. He also brought lots of glass wares to sell. He is best known for his patented Crystal Pyramids. Now that is kewl!
Today we took a tour of the town (it’s really more like a village) of Wertheim. The town has its own leaning tower. However, it looks a lot more stable than the one in Pisa, Italy. There is a castle above the town and many of those on our ship chose to go up a steep incline to reach it. Having seen lots of castles, we chose to treat ourselves to some ice cream instead. An interesting choice was one we have not seen before. It is called spaghetti ice cream. Yes, it really comes out that way. Check out that picture.
Jews lived for many centuries in Wertheim but few are there now. Nazi’s, during the War (they refer to World War II as such), destroyed lives and property belonging to them. We’ve heard of the diarist Ann Frank. This town has Lina Klaus. Although she did not write, people knew and loved her. As a memorial, her house is decorated with the things she loved. Music was one of those things.
On the street in front of her house are metal squares named Stumbling Blocks to in honor the martyred members of the family. Each plate gives the name, birthdate and where they were sent to die. We are told that this is now something found throughout Europe.
Today we also went to a house visit. We were greeted by Yuli who shared her cake and coffee with us as we chatted about our different worlds. It turns out that we are all pretty much the same…looking for safe, warm shelter and love.
Back on the ship we directed ourselves to the lounge for the cocktail hour. Captain Car took the time to introduce us to his entire crews and to toast everybody. It looks as if we’re in good and capable hands.