A diet of worms

This should be entitled welcome to Worms, and I would be able to trot out all my carefully prepared jokes on the subject. For example, we could discuss the dietary preferences of the Holy Rome Emperor Charles V, and how following a bout of indigestion in 1521, he issued an edict declaring Martin Luther a heretic, thus precipitating the Reformation.

But we aren’t at Worms: we set off this morning with high hopes and in pleasant weather, taking a last atmospheric look at Heidelberg.

The run back down to the Rhine was easy – the current seemed a little stronger, perhaps because of the thundery rain we had last night. We skirted the great city of Mannheim once again – the photo shows what at least some locals think about it:

Then it was down river to Worms, but unfortunately the mooring close to the centre was inaccessible, and we found ourselves in an industrial backwater at least 45 minutes’ walk from town. After lunch and some reflection – and research online – we realized that the RAF/USAF had visited the town before us, and there is really not a lot left to see. Perhaps just this tower, probably the main gate at the end of the original bridge over the Rhine.

So we headed on downstream, meeting many enormous barges, which set up most uncomfortable waves, finally arriving here at Oppenheim in a thunder storm. Oppenheim is next to Nierstein, of Niersteiner wine fame, and the hillsides are starting to be covered in vines.

By the way, people have commented positively on the photos, and I should clarify that Diana takes credit for all of them. Fortunately the memory card from her camera slots into my laptop, making the task of inserting them in the blog far from technologically challenging.