OMG We have our own entrance and our own C keys Amanda looked around The comfortable room with a large side window overlooked the peaceful canal and emerald green banks And look at that great view This is going to be an amazing trip We'll get to see all kinds of things for the first time I'm so glad your parents agreed to it Leah grabbed Amanda around the waist and did a little dance I'm super excited too Amanda said when she caught her breath I just wonder who’s hiding in the storage room Do you think he's
hat evening after a delicious meal of wiener schnitzel roasted potatoes and a dessert of plum cake called pflaum kuchen everyone moved to the lounge for the entertainment Young men in lederho sen leather shorts with decorated suspenders and young women in dirndls colourful dresses with poofy sleeves and aprons finished off with a pretty bow performed a vigorous dance called the Schuhplattler Amanda enjoyed the lively music and the dancers who slapped their knees thighs and soles of their feet while hopping around in a circle Next a man in a tuxedo with a violin tucked under his chin appeared Amanda closed her eyes while he played a calm peaceful tune She imagined a deep blue slow moving river as it passed by green pastures and quiet villages She looked beside her and noticed tears in her mother's eyes as she held her father's hand Amanda sighed It made her happy to see her parents relaxed and content together instead of rushing off to work or meetings Michael the young man they met earlier stood in
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
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
