Würzburg; Sunday, 11 December, 2022

I had another late breakfast and then checked out of the hotel before heading into the neighbouring parklands and gardens built on the site of the lower fortifications of the Marienberg Fortress. The former bastions have been repurposed for a number of different functions and the former defensive ditches have been turned into walking routes and gardens, with a bulk of the work being done in 1990 for a state garden show.

It make the walk up to the fortress much more pleasant as the route has been planned to meander up gently rather than a stiff climb right up the side of the hill, though it did mean it took nearly 45 minutes to get to the fortress at the top.

I had a long wander around the fortifications and the grounds of the castle itself – though much of the site is only accessible during summer months, I was still able to look round the chapel where many of the Prince-Bishops are buried, along with being able to take in the views over the city from the fortifications directly on the river side of the hill that the fortress sits on.

After a good couple of hours wandering around the fortress I headed back down using a different route through many more of the lower fortifications, bastions and gateways before ending up at a conveniently located tramstop on the edge of the gardens.

I caught the tram round a couple of stops into the city centre and had a final wander around the Christmas Market, picking up a final couple of gifts and having a very late lunch before it was time to head back to the hotel, grab my bags and head back to the station.

My journey back to Frankfurt was uneventful and a short while later I arrived at my hotel for the evening, checked in and was planning what to do for the evening when I got an email to say that my flight the following morning had been cancelled, with no alterative option available.

I spent a good couple of hours on the phone, email and twitter DMs before I finally managed to get hold of someone at BA to be able to rebook my flight, albeit to first thing on Tuesday morning, meaning I then had to head down to reception and hope they had availability for one extra night. Thankfully they did and slightly mentally exhausted I decided I’d better just turn in for the night.