Danube River Cruise - Spring 2013

Sunday, March 24:

We left Minneapolis late Saturday afternoon.  The first flight, to Amsterdam, was long but nothing unusual.  Well, wait - we discovered as we got settled in our A and B seats that the video equipment under the seats in front of us made it impossible to fit our carry-on backpacks under the seat.  We have flown in Airbuses before and never had that problem - but apparently those were not 330s.  That meant some rearranging but there was plenty of room overhead so nothing major.  We changed to a CityHopper flight in AMS - very quick to get through immigration this time - and landed in Nuremberg, Germany around 9:30 AM.   

We were very tired but glad to meet our Viking greeter!  She directed us to rest rooms and ATMs while we waited about half an hour for everyone else who was expected that morning, then we loaded into the Viking Bus and were delivered to the Prestige at the dock.   (In the picture to the right above we are approaching the docked Prestige, the left picture is the welcome sign at the dock.)

To set the context a bit, depending on when you're reading this, you may not remember that 2013 was the year we didn't have much Spring in the midwest.  It continued to be very cold and we had snowstorms right on into May,  so we were leaving nasty weather.  Unfortunately,  central Europe was having the same sort of non-spring.  Everywhere we went the locals were exclaiming about how unusual the weather was.  We checked the weather ahead of time so were prepared with warm clothes but it was still somewhat disappointing that the snow followed us!

We were pleased with the ship and with our cabin (pictured left).  They separated the halves of the Queen sized bed so we each had our own bed.  They are a little  narrower than a typical twin but were very comfortable.  Our room, on the second floor, had a French balcony, which means the large sliding window opens!  (That would have been more appreciated had the weather not been so cold.) There are 3 US outlets + (I think) 4 Europlug ones (and we had 2 adapters) so we could easily keep our electronics charged.  There was a nice sized closet, 3 drawers, several shelves, a generous cabinet in the bathroom; bedside lights on both sides – a small spotlight for personal reading as well as larger lights.  The only thing that we could call a "problem" is a design flaw in the bathroom (right): there's about 1/2" of space under the shower doors so it is impossible to keep the floor dry during a shower.  But two bath mats were provided and they were replaced with dry ones every morning so it wasn't really a serious issue for us.  

We unpacked, checked out the internet, which proved to be adequate but sometimes spotty – we usually got the best reception in the library.   We explored the ship a little and then went to lunch, which was not officially provided on embarkation day but they had a nice buffet available for those of us who arrived early - lots of sandwiches and pasta salads with pear streudel as dessert.  The view at the left was taken from the third floor at the center of the ship: the beverage center at the top of the stairs (closeup at right) was available 24/7 (several types of coffee, assorted teas, hot cocoa, water, ice and usually cookies or other snacks); behind it is the bar and lounge (where buffet lunch and information sessions are held); at the opposite end of the ship on that floor is the library; at the foot of the stairs is the main lobby and reception desk with the dining room below the lounge.  

Sunday afternoon, Viking offered several shuttles to Old Town Nuremberg (one of the tour buses pictured at left) if we wanted to see some of the area that day.  But we were so jet lagged, we elected to just settle into our cabin and catch a little nap after lunch.  At our information session late in the afternoon we met some of the key staff and were introduced to the "Viking Daily" which is a 4-page newsletter that appears in our rooms during dinner each night explaining all about the next day: where we would be, times of various activities (tours, presentations, meals, cast off), what the afternoon and/or evening entertainment would be.  It also often includes some history of the area and tips on things we might want to see or do.  

Dinner is a 2 hour, 3 or 4 course affair, usually starting at 7 PM - but dress was very casual.  We did meet some interesting people and enjoyed the conversation, but there were a couple of nights that we were so exhausted, we would have preferred grabbing something quick and going to bed early!  There were typically 3 or 4 choices of main course each evening (often highlighting local specialties) plus a selection of some basic "always available" items including roast chicken and roast beef.  That first night, I had an asparagus cream soup, roast salmon with brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes; dessert was panna cotta (a sort of custard with apricot garnish), complete with "squiggles."  

After dinner, there is entertainment in the lounge - sometimes local musicians.  I was interested at the wide range of ages on this cruise.  There were several family groups, some friends travelling together, a few solos and one couple on their honeymoon.   We met two other mother-daughter pairs and two brothers who were cruising with their mom.

Monday March 25:

I'm glad we went to bed early last night since busses were leaving at 8:15 this morning if we wanted to join the Nuremberg tour.   We got up at 6:30 AM to shower, dress, eat and be ready to leave on time.   We had a great buffet breakfast - anything you could want including cereals (hot and cold), yogurt, eggs, pancakes, fruits, pastries.  Viking is extremely organized - you turn in your room key and get a "boarding pass" for your assigned bus or tour group.  By checking the key file, they can keep track of who is missing and avoid stranding anyone!   Each day they also provided cards that had the name of the ship, its phone number and its exact docking location so we always had contact information in case of any problems. 

It was snowing this morning with the temperature right around freezing, so I guess it was good that much of this tour was on the bus.  In general, though, we much preferred walking!  We passed a number of historical sites, as well as some of the modern areas.   At left is the Palace of Justice (taken from the bus through snow) - the site of the Nuremberg War Crimes trials.  We had a brief stop at the Nazi Rally Grounds (right) - today the whole area is a war memorial.   We rode past lots of old city gates, old walls, churches and cemeteries  (more pictures are in the picture collection if you want to see additional sites).  Then we made a stop at the Imperial Castle of Nuremberg (left picture).  The earliest mention of the castle in historical documents is around 1150 AD so at least parts of it were built by then.  We didn't go inside but we did walk through the grounds and had a wonderful photo op on one of the terraces!  (See the panorama picture of old town Nuremberg below.  I love the little dusting of snow on the rooftops - it seems almost make-believe.)   Our guide added lots of comments and history as we went along.  For example, she said the moat (pictured at right) was never filled with water.  Instead they used it for game so that the King and his guests could hunt whenever he wanted to.  There were two sets of city wall: the inside, tall, one - left in the picture - was to protect the castle.  The outer, smaller, wall was just to keep people out of the moat.   Nuremberg is also well known for toys - toys were being manufactured there as long ago as the 14th century.  Early pocket watches and the earliest existing globe were also built in Nuremberg in the 15^th century when the population was about 25,000.  

After the castle stop, we were dropped off in Nuremberg's Hauptmrkt - the city center's largest market square - for about an hour of free time (we had to be back on the ship for a noon departure).   This is the home of the "Beautiful Fountain" (picture at left) - the original was built in the late 1300's and there is a legend about a ring in the latticework that will bring you luck if turned 3 times.  Since this was Easter week, there was a huge Easter Market going on in the center of the square (right).  This is like a flea market with many food items as well as arts and crafts for sale.  However, since neither of us is big on shopping, we wandered through for a few minutes but then got out of the cold by visiting the two churches nearby.

The church of St. Sebaldus, at right, is the oldest in Neuremberg.  Its organ is shown in the left photo.  The church contains relics of the saint and also a display of photos showing the extensive devastation from World War II.  Considered a Monument for Peace, each photograph contains a poem, translated into several languages.  One example:

Peace - what is peace? 
that we can go through the ruins
without fear of bombs?
That the sun warms people and stone
as if nothing had happened?
That the horror is already beginning
to belong to the past?

Frauenkirche, or the Church of Our Lady, is located right on the square and has a rather ugly history.  There was originally a synagogue at that location; King Charles IV had it torn down during a pogrom in 1349 and, in 1352, commissioned this new Gothic church built in its place.  Because of the market, it was hard to get a full view of the church - the picture at left cuts off the bottom where the market stalls were!  If you enlarge the picture, you can see Charles IV on his throne, just below the clock (installed in 1506); each day at noon, electors surrounding him come out and pay homage.  On the right is a view of the elaborately carved front doors that are missing in the left view.  On the lower left is a view of the sanctuary inside the church.  It is, indeed, quite Gothic and we'll see more examples of that style later on in the trip. 

On the way back to the ship, we passed more sites of interest, including the Mississippi Queen pictured below at the right - a riverboat restaurant on the Danube that made me laugh each time we went by it!  We were chilled when we got back and it was nice to be able to grab a mug of hot tea or cocoa at the beverage station right away.  Then we shed our coats and went to lunch.  I chose the buffet again because it was quick and the salads and pasta were very good.  We had "Forest Berry Stew" for dessert today – what I would probably call a compote.

We cast off at noon, while we were at lunch, and went through the Rhine-Main- Danube Canal this afternoon.  What an interesting experience!  Katie and I found ourselves going from the front to the back of the ship to get pictures from various positions.  I'll just share a sequence of three.  We pull into a lock (by the way, the ships are built to be as wide as possible and still fit in the locks - so there is only about two inches of space on each side) - in the left picture, you can see the water level on the sides.  At that point it has already filled more than half way up: the water keeps coming in, and raising the ship - in this lock, by about 25 feet - until it's even with the water level on the other side (center picture).  Then the gate lowers and we move out into the next segment of the river.  Each lock is just a little different but all of them were fun to watch.

 At some point this afternoon we had an emergency safety drill.  We all had to grab our life jackets and meet in the lounge to be counted.  We passed.    There were various activities going on all afternoon: a discussion about the European Union, German Easter Egg decorating, a German high tea and a language lesson.  I wandered in and out, being more interested in watching the locks and the riverside!  Some of the rural farming areas (left) looked a lot like Iowa!  I saw ducks and cormorants but nothing very exotic in the way of wildlife;  it was fun to wave to the people who were walking along the canal path.  I spent most of the afternoon in the library at the rear of the ship (it has a terrace so I could pop out whenever I wanted to for picture taking), but also walked up to the Aquavit Terrace at the front end now and then.

I did go to the presentation about the canal and locks just before dinner and it was quite interesting.   After we went up through about 4 locks and before we started back down, we were each offered a "Blue Danube" cocktail and we toasted the highest navigable point in Europe that we passed along the canal.  For dinner I had a ravioli appetizer and zucchini with other vegetables and french goat cheese plus a dessert tray that included a bit of apple streudel, a strawberry, some crème, and a scoop of fruit sorbet.

Tuesday March 26

We woke up to a very COLD Regensburg.  The tour didn't leave until 10 AM this morning so we got to stay warm under our covers a little bit longer!  We elected the extended walking tour that would include a bit more about Jewish history.  Our guide Geraldine was wonderful – she is from New Zealand but has lived in Regensburg for 20 years.  She knew loads of history and also understood how to use the great audio system that Viking provides - we all had receivers and earbuds so we could hear what she said even if we were a block behind, taking pictures, still in the church, etc.  (Eventually we decided that the main difference between an okay guide and a great guide was whether or not they made the best use of that audio system!)

The recorded history of Regensburg dates from 179 AD when it was mentioned in a document written there by Marcus Aurelius.  The picture at left, above, is a portion of the old Roman wall and the Porta Praetoria - an old gate to the Roman military camp Castra Regina.   Going up those stairs leads us to a courtyard where we can see the back of a partially completed tower on St. Peter's Cathedral - pictured at the right.   It's an old Roman tower; they had planned to remove it after the church was built but then discovered it had become an integral part of the structure and couldn't be taken down safely. The next plan was to cover it up with "new" wall - you can see that was partly done, but they ran out of money and so it remains as is.  

Regensburg remains a very medieval town. There was very little damage during WWII but there also wasn't much money allocated to the town to rebuild and so most of the historical buildings survive, many of them dating back to 1200 or earlier.  The Old Stone Bridge (shown at left, built between 1135 and 1146) made Regensburg a major commerce center because existing wooden bridges elsewhere kept getting washed out or knocked down.  The picture on the right was taken looking back from the middle of the bridge.  It shows the old Salt Barn on the left:  salt imported from Passau was stored there; it is now the home of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and houses a nice museum.   To the right of the salt barn you see an old city gate leading back into the town and an old clock tower.

While the old bridge was being built, of course lots of workers were needed.  So that they could take minimal breaks for meals, a sausage house was constructed on site.  Alte Wurstküche (Old Sausage Kitchen), pictured at left, has remained on that same site since 1135!   We did go back in the afternoon and bought some of their famous sweet mustard to bring home. 

We then walked through parts of the town, passing an Irish pub - apparently they are international since we have plenty of them here in the US, too.   We stopped at the Old Town Hall (below left) and heard more history.   The early part was built in 1250; the darker yellow building about 100 years later.  There is a small building and an archway connecting the original with the annex.   

Persecution of Jews goes way back to well before the Nazis.  During the medieval times, Christians claimed they couldn't morally charge interest so they therefore couldn't be lenders,  which meant the Jews were only ones who lent money.  This was fine until enough people owed enough money, and couldn't pay it,  or decided they didn't want to pay it.  Then the borrowers decided to run them out of town. In 1519, they were given 4 days to leave town.  After those 4 days, their homes,  the synagogue and even their cemetery was destroyed.  The vandals stole tombstones as souvenirs and used them in walls of their homes to "brag" to others about their part in the desecration.   An example of an old tombstone found in an ancient wall is shown at the right.

Shortly after that, an Evangelical Lutheran church (Neupfarrkirche) was begun on the site of the old synagogue but not completed until 1860. In the 1990's, excavation for an electrical project uncovered some of the ruins of the original synagogue, showing that the location was slightly different than what had been believed.  A white marble memorial created by Israeli sculptor Dani Karavan, depicting the foundation of the old synagogue and known as the "Meeting Place," was installed in 2005 at that site in NeupfarrPlatz.  This walk-in and sit-on sculpture seems to make a nice resting place (when it is warmer than 24°) there in front of Neupfarrkirche, both pictured at left.

The Goldener Turm (golden tower - picture on the right) was built, and grew, as rich folks tried to outdo each other on heights of towers.  The original 4 stories date back to the mid-1200's; another 4 were added around 1300.  Around 1600 courtyard arcades and a new roof were added; in 1985 it was fully restored and became a student dormitory for the university.   I can't even imagine living in something that was built 800+ years ago!

About this time we were quite frozen so we went back to the ship for lunch and warm tea. We stayed in and warmed up until about 2:00 then ventured out again.  We went back to the stone bridge and town hall to get pictures that were hard to take this morning with so many tourists around and stopped and got sweet mustard at the sausage kitchen! Katie snapped this picture of me and my duck friends while we were there. 

Then we spent some time in St. Patrick's Cathedral – it was very dark and cold but had some beautiful stained glass. A general view of the sanctuary is shown at the right. The church was begun in 1273, parts were ready for use in 1320 and it was mostly complete around 1520 but it wasn't completed until 1871 when the towers and spires were finished.  The pictures below show, from left to right, a front view of this Gothic cathedral, and a closer view of the lower left hand corner: that's how dark the whole building looked until they started restoration around 2000.   Finally, the organ and some of the windows!

   

THEN we went to hunt up Alte Kapelle around the corner.  It wasn't easy to find but Oh My!  I had read that it was ornate – it's actually rather overwhelming.  What a total contrast to St. Peter's!  The church has been through a number of incarnations since it was first mentioned in a document from 875 AD but the current presentation dates from the 18th century.  It was refurbished in Rococo style from 1747-1796 and the interior was restored again more recently, finishing in 2003.   The pictures below clearly illustrate how different Baroque is from Gothic!  As I understand it, the style is directly related to the philosophy: Gothic emphasizes simplicity on earth - you'll get your reward in heaven; Baroque is more like "God wants us to enjoy heaven on earth!" 

 

After that we felt the need for some "heaven on earth" so went to Café Princezz
(opened in 1686) and bought chocolate truffles!  We were very restrained considering how cheap they were. The fancy ones were 2.1 € but the "plain ones" were only 45 cents each.  (The posted prices were "per 100 grams" but not being able to quickly compute what that meant, I couldn't estimate it in my brain so I was pleasantly surprised that they were so affordable.)  Finally, at the left is one of the many monuments and fountains scattered throughout the city.

Back at the ship, we took hot cocoa to the evening port talk, and then had dinner.  We left Regensburg about 10:15 PM, turned out the cabin lights and enjoyed watching the town and then the farms go by until we got too tired and went to sleep.

Wednesday, March 27

We arrived at Passau this morning – we got to watch the process of going through the Kachlet lock and then there were only about 3km and a few more bridges to go under until we were parked and ready for our morning tour at 10 AM. 

Our guide this morning (Conrad) was good as far as his knowledge but he needed help on group management (like making sure that we all got across the street safely) and use of the mic (telling us where he was turning so people at the end could find the group). He didn't keep talking while walking even though we could hear him and it would have been helpful.  He also actually covered the mic at times when people asked questions instead of repeating the questions and letting us all hear the answers.  But if we kept up with him so we could see where he went, he did have a lot of good information to share.

Passau didn't retain much of its medieval presence because of fires in 1662 and 1680 that destroyed most of the town.  It was then rebuilt in a more Baroque style.  We started our walk going past St. Paul's church (the pink one in the left picture) and through the city gate (just left of the church) into the old town area. 

The streets were all very narrow, and mostly stone or brick, as we've seen in other old city areas.  The first major stop was at St. Stephen's Cathedral (right).  You can see there was restoration work going on.  I think with a church this old that's a continual process!  There has been some sort of church at this site since the 700's.  It was rebuilt from 1668-1693 in the current Baroque form after its Gothic predecessor burned in the city fires.   If you walk around the building, you'll note that some of the old stones were re-used in the current building and that there is one Gothic tower remaining (the east tower, pictured at the left) that was not destroyed. 

You can see from the pictures below that the interior is now definitely baroque rather than gothic!  The organ, with over 17,000 pipes is the largest cathedral organ in the world - unfortunately, there weren't any concerts at the time we were here; it would have been wonderful to hear!  It is actually comprised of several organs but they are all controlled from the same console.  At left is the sanctuary; the center shows the main organ and the picture at the right shows one of the remote organs set right in the center of a ceiling painting - talk about "surround sound!"  

    

After admiring the central staircase in the equally gaudy Old Bishop's Residence, we walked down to the Inn River that is one side of the Passau peninsula.   Much of the old city wall still exists and the Schaiblingsturm Stone Tower at the left was originally erected to protect the salt port.  (Remember in Regensburg they imported the salt from Passau?  Salt was of huge importance to the Passau economy in the middle ages.)  Now it is owned by the university and we were told it contains a "classroom in the round" - where the instructor teaches from the center.

Katie found this wonderful House graffiti (on the right) along the river walk.  Across the Inn River is the Mariahilf Monastery and Pilgrimage Church.  We did not have time to visit it, but the covered staircase you can see going up the hill (below, left) contains 321 steps and is called "the heavenly ladder."  Part of the pilgrimage is to climb all the stairs!  

As one might imagine of a peninsula, there have been numerous floods over the years.  On the side of the Town Hall is a record of water levels and dates, pictured at the left below.  Having been through some floods here, I have great sympathy for them!  If you click the picture to enlarge it, you can read the dates.  The highest one (the worst flood) was in 1501; the most recent (second from the bottom) was 2002.   

The center picture below is of Niedernburg Abbey where Gisela, the first Queen of Hungary, died and is buried.  It now houses a girls' school.  Finally, on the right is just a picture I snapped as we walked along a street because I liked it!  I hope it helps with litter control!

   

After our lunch buffet on board, we headed back out with two destinations in mind.  First, the Glass Museum and then to Veste Oberhaus for the views!  The Glass Museum was amazing but we probably spent too long there - it just goes on and on, like a maze.  It would make a wonderful setting for a murder mystery.   Regular admission is 7€ but they charged us only 5€ because we were from a ship.  Each case is labelled and most of them include English translations explaining about the items in that case - when and where they were made, how they got the colors, etc.  Here are a few pictures just to give you the idea - we were overwhelmed and left without seeing all of it, but it was still worth the visit!

   

Then we took the shuttle bus up to Veste Oberhaus - pictured at left - for 1.7€ each.  This is a huge fortress founded in 1219.  If you enlarge the picture (click on it) you can see the old walls around it.   Even enlarged, the picture is probably too small to see that the bottom row of "windows" are just painted on - they aren't real windows!  Now it is a museum.   During tourist season there is also a restaurant on site. We didn't really want to see the museum, we were just looking for a nice view. Unfortunately, once we got up there, we found out the footpath and the battlement (where you would typically go to look down over the city) were closed due to ice and mud.  But the kind lady in the ticket office showed us another path that took us to the Ludwigsteig viewpoint very near by, which was exactly what we were seeking!  To the right is our tourist picture of us with Passau in the background.  Below is my panorama of Passau from that point.  The Danube is in the foreground, our ship is way to the right, barely visible between the branches of the trees.  The Inn (where we were walking this morning) is the second river, behind the town; you can easily spot St. Stephen's Cathedral with its three blue-green domes.  If you look closely you'll also see Mariahilf on the hill across the Inn.  

At left, below, is a picture of the Town Hall that Katie took from our viewpoint.  You can also see it (smaller) in the front of my panorama, behind the first ship on the left.  The shuttle bus that brought us up here stops right in front of the Town Hall.  The main part of it was built between 1298 and 1408 and it somehow escaped damage in the fire.  The tower at the right was added in 1893.  We hiked back down a switchback trail and ended up going down a staircase that took us to the suspension bridge over the Danube (center picture).   At the end of the bridge is the statue pictured at the right - St. Nepomuk, the patron saint of bridges.   

   

We walked through the shopping area of town briefly but we were getting tired and cold.  We got back to the ship shortly after 5 PM so still had plenty of time before we cast off at 6:00 PM heading for Austria. We had supper tonight with a group of 6 Cuban-Americans who have been friends and vacationed together for 30+ years. One is a cardiologist, one is a teacher, another an engineer - so many interesting people on this ship! The other day we had dinner with a woman who runs a hunting lodge in Kansas, of all places! She says people come from all over the country for their deer season.  The things we learned!

After supper we again enjoyed sitting in the dark cabin with the curtains open, watching the world go by.  We will wake up in Austria so that's a new page!