The River Main is a tributary of the Rhine and is navigable for 386 km to Bamburg which is our destination in 3 days. The river has been canalised and there are 34 locks along the way, most of these are 3.5 to 5.0 metres high. So they are similar in height to these that we navigated on the Canal du Midi in France. So Homealone could run up the lock steps and Allthego could have thrown ropes up to her. But we were not asked. The locks are also much longer and a bit wider because they have to take the Amabella and the other cargo ships on the River. Most of them we go through at night. And we are still going uphill.

We  pass through numerous small towns on the Main including Miltenberg, Wurzberg and Kitzingen. We stop at each of these for walks around the towns. Miltenberg suffered no damage during WW2 and has preserved many of its buildings and houses from the 17th and 18th centuries.

MIltenberg

Miltenberg gate

In Wurzberg we visit the magnificent Prince-Bishop’s Residence.  The Prince -Bishop ran the town, both religiously and with secular power from the emperor. The internals of this building were mostly destroyed in WW2 but they have since been reconstructed. One enormous ceiling fresco painted in 1753 was protected though and is quite spectacular in its display of the understanding of the world  at the time. The 4 continents (their peoples and animals) are represented on each side of the ceiling, too hard to describe further……..

Prince-Bishop’s Residence in Wurzberg

The Prince-Bishop’s old Residence on the hill. They moved into the flasher place later.

This is one of 4 lions at each end and side of a bridge over the River at Wurzberg. Two face the Catholic Church and the other two look to the Protestant Church, in so doing show their backsides to the Catholics! Or so the story goes.

In Kitzingen we enjoy a German wine tasting in an old underground cellar surrounded by enormous wine barrels. Allthego had his picture taken with the season’s Wine Queen.

We now continue down the Main to its junction at Bamberg with the Main-Danube Canal, which links us to the Danube River.