Amanda on the Danube: The Sounds of Music

Amanda on the Danube: The Sounds of Music — page 7 — the centre of the lounge and spoke into a micro phone Thank you Jozsef for that lovely rendition of The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II Tomorrow after a tour of the city of Nuremberg we will leave this canal and head out onto the Danube Is that not what you came for Everyone clapped and cheered Amanda stayed up late chatting with Leah They had so much to talk about since they last saw each other It's hard when your BFF lives in England and you live in Canada Amanda was so excited she could hardly sleep that night Sometime in the early hours of the morning Amanda woke up to the strains of The Blue Danube Who would be playing a violin at this hour she thought and fell back to sleep After breakfast they boarded a tour bus that took them around the city of Nuremberg Elsa the tour guide explained the difference between berg and burg A berg is a hill or mountain So if a name of a place ends in berg like Nuremberg it usually means it was built on a hill A burg is a fortified town If a name of a place ends in burg it has or used to have a wall around it Amanda loved little pieces of information like

Amanda on the Danube: The Sounds of Music — page 8 — that Writing it down in a notebook she planned to share it with her teacher and classmates back home in Canada The bus passed a colourful cemetery with more flowers than graves Oh my goodness What a beautiful graveyard I wish we could get off the bus and look more closely at Amanda those tombstones exclaimed Leah shook her head I just don't get your weird fascination with graveyards The knowledgeable Elsa provided interesting information about the history of the city including its part in World War II Amanda paid close attention because in school they were learning about twenti eth century wars Elsa was also funny and shared some amusing stories and jokes Amanda liked her and thought being a tour guide would be a fun job The bus stopped in front of The Beautiful Foun tain situated in the town square Elsa called the Hauptmarkt Amanda happy to get off the bus stretched and looked around The fountain was indeed beautiful It looked like a tall three tiered wedding cake decorated with many colourful figures Elsa explained that if you spun the two brass rings on the fence surrounding the foun tain and made a wish your wish would come true One young woman wished that her boyfriend would ask her to marry him and the next day he did So I guess it works Elsa flashed a generous

Amanda on the Danube: The Sounds of Music — page 9 — Amanda and Leah each took a turn spinning the brass rings while silently making a wish They were interrupted when they heard a commotion on the other side of the fountain A young boy with curly blond hair ran out from behind the fountain and through the market square Two crew members from the boat chased after him The boy darted in between stacks of hats on display Crash One of the piles tumbled to the ground Hats spilled over the path like spiders escaping from a jar The crew members dodged feathered alpine hats and tripped over Deutschland baseball caps with the black red and yellow German flag They lost sight of the boy shook their heads and returned to the group Elsa explained You have time to have lunch shop and look around on your own Remember to be back at the boat by two o clock as that is when we will depart Be sure to watch the metallic clock and glockenspiel on the top of the Church of Our Lady at noon Noon is only ten minutes from now I don't want to miss it Amanda noted the church at the end of the market square The girls stopped to help the merchant pick up his hats In return he let them try some on Leah put on a hat that looked like an upside down cone with a gigantic feather on the side Amanda giggled and took a

Amanda on the Danube: The Sounds of Music — page 10 — The vendor pointed to the church and said The glockenspiel Watch Bing Bong Bing Bong The huge blue and gold mechanical clock with a sun painted in the middle chimed twelve times A large figurine wearing a gold robe and a crown sat in an alcove below the clock Seven smaller medieval figures in red robes trimmed in fur came out of a side door They slowly circled around the larger fig ure bowing and then leaving through a door on the other side Throughout the performance the sound of bells played a pleasant tune That was totally awesome remarked Amanda It's like a giant music box It says under the figure 1509 That is so incredibly old I'm so glad we got to see it The figure in the middle is the Holy Roman Emperor Karl IV The seven electors come out to pay homage to him every day at noon explained the hat seller with a strong German accent Out of the corner of her eye Amanda thought she saw someone with curly blond hair sneak around the side of the church I wonder why they were chasing that boy Who knows Leah looked across the square Lebkuchen Haus We must get some gingerbread I absolutely love gingerbread Beside the Gingerbread House a younger boy in a flat cap played a violin Amanda threw a coin in his

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