ausjackaroo sailing: Magdeburg, Wittenberg and Meissen 23rd to 25th May

DH and I decided not to join the ship's tour of Magedeburg in the afternoon. Instead we walked into town to try our luck in finding a bank to convert our Aussie Dollars into Euros. Firstly after lining up at a service desk at one of the bank's for a good 20 minutes, (yes, it is not only in Australia where one has to line up for ages to be served in a bank!) we were informed they would only exchange overseas currency for their bank customers only.....bummer. I found that there happened to be an exchange counter at the railway staion where I could change our AUD. After leaving DH to sit comfortably while I headed off into the confused direction of where the station was, I managed to return hot and bothered, leg sore but at least armed with more Euros. I suppose I could say we had an interesting day in Madgeburg.

The following day I joined our Aussie travelling companions on a self guided tour of Wittenberg. DH was exhusted from our adventure into Madgeburg the previous day, so stayed on board. There are only the six of us on board the ship who has English as a first language, though several passengers have a reasonable smattering of English understanding. We are labelled the 'Aussies' and I think initially surprised a few passengers to know 6 of us had travelled so far to cruise on this ship. Our walk around Wittenberg would rate as one of the best tours, because we did it at our own pace with an audio guide to listen to at various spots of interest. It gets a bit tiresome standing around, listening to extended versions of the tour in French, sometimes German as well then a shortened spill in English.

Wittenberg is the home to Dr. Martin Luther, the founder of the Lutherian Church. It is considered to be the cradle of the Reformation. We somehow managed to get inside the Castle Church, unaware it was only open for booked tours. The orginal door to this church was were Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door. This was where he gave his sermons in the church and is now buried under the pulpit. An interesting and pretty town.

The next day we then toured the porcelain factory in Meissen. A very expensive hand crafted product, apparently a 300 year old famous craft. No purchases in the factory shop or even the 'reduced price section' either. After visiting the factory we then travelled by bus to the funicular at the base of the casle hill where we rode to the top to see the cathedral and castle of Meissen. Once at the top we then wandered down through the narrow stairways and roads past the Renaissance-style buildings to the market square. In this square is a 'Frauenkirche tower' which chimes its porcelain carillon every 15 minutes. Well, we waited and heard this tinkle. I can only say at least we heard it! A let down really! Over-all a quaint, lovely hill town. It is a pity we can't spend more time in these places, it would be pleasant to linger longer to soak up the atmosphere. However we must keep moving on as time is our task master.