Switzerland to Paris - October 3

Thursday, October 3

After World War II Germany was divided into two distinct countries, East and West Germany.  During the late 1980’s and early 1990’s Germany was once again united into one country.  This became official on October 3, 1990 and this day is known as Unification Day.  The good part of this is that this day is a national holiday in Germany.  The bad part, if you are a tourist, is that all shops are closed except for places that serve food.  Our day in Mainz was spent looking at a couple of large churches and a visit to the Gutenberg museum.

The Gutenberg museum was dedicated to Johannes Gutenberg, who invented the moveable type printing press.  Until his printing press was invented all books were printed by hand.  This made them very expensive, thus not everyone could afford to have books.  His most famous printing was the Gutenberg Bible, of which less than five exist.  The museum had a couple of them on display, but you were not allowed to take pictures of them.  This is to preserve the books by not exposing them to excessive light.  The guide at the museum was able to demonstrate how the printing press worked.  Outside the museum we found a bronze chair sculpted from books.  It was a cold seat.

The first cathedral was the largest of the two.  It, like others, was magnificent in its interior.  There were a number of Bishops of the church that were buried inside the church, a practice that was not uncommon for the time.

The second church had beautiful windows that were created by an artist named Chagall.  Each of them were different but all of them were a beautiful blue color.

Since everything in town was closed we then made our way back to the ship and relaxed for the rest of the day.  Tomorrow we will cruise the Mainz river where a number of castles can be seen from the ship.  Afterward we arrive in Koblenz, Germany.

Tomorrow will be another adventure.