Day 11: Cruise - Melk, Wachau Valley &. Durnstein

We awoke to find the ship in Melk Austria.  This town features an impressive Abbey with Benedictine monastery on a hill overlooking the river.  The plan for today is a tour of the Abbey and the town of Melk, a cruise down the Wachau Valley and some time in "The Pearl of the Danube", Durnstein.

We began our day visiting the Melk Abbey.  Viking hired busses to drive us to the top of the hill. They really know their demographic by removing obstacles for the passengers who are elderly, or who have physical challenges.  Our guide, Sabina, met us in the courtyard and explained how every Abbey in Austria has an Imperial wing to accommodate the Hapsburgs when they traveled.  The royal entourage would be about 300 and each Abbey was expected to house and feed everyone!  The Hapsburgs would not pay, but rather, would donate a gold religious artifact to the Abbey.

The gate into Melk Abbey

The courtyard with Imperial wing on the left

View of Melk from the Abbey

The Melk Abbey's twin bell towers

Marilyn outside the Abbey

Exterior corridor

Fisheye view of Melk Abbey library ceiling

Fisheye view of Melk Abbey ceiling

Dwight & Marilyn in the Abbey courtyard

Sabina took us through a series of rooms explaining the history of the Abbey and the Benedictine order.  The order's motto is "listen, pray & read".   The Abbey is 900 years old and was originally a fortress for the Babenberg family.  They donated it to the order in the 13th century.  The Austrians call it the Stift Melk since the German word for donate is stift.  In the 1600's the Abbey was renovated to include a dome (cupola) and Baroque styling.  The interior is breathtakingly beautiful.  Their most prized possession is the 1000 year old Melk cross that is studded with jewels and has a splinter from the cross of Christ.  No photos were allowed but I have some pictures of pictures that I will post when I get some good WiFi.

We walked down the hill and though the town of Melk.  There was a small farmer's market and shops selling products made from Apricots which grow in the area.  We sampled Apricot beverages, jams and Apricot Brandy.  We stopped for a local beer and coffee in the main town square just so we could see the action.  Many people cycle along the Danube so the square was a mixture of cyclists, tourists and townspeople.  (Didnt get to see my friends Rod and Anne from Orangeville)

The path down from the Abbey

I had hoped to meet my friends Rod and Anne here for a coffee but our itineraries didn't mesh.

Melk Abbey peeks out above the town

Melk's main square

Marilyn enjoys a break with a cappucino

The Melk Abbey viewed from the river

Are they sunglasses or a park bench?

Back on the ship for lunch we cast off to cruise downstream to Durnstein through the Wachau (pronounced Vaca) Valley.  The valley is another UNESCO site that features castles, small villages and lots of vineyards on the steep hillsides.  David, the program director, provided commentary.  We sat on the sun deck, took pictures and sipped Kaiser spritzers which are made from a local white wine, sparking wine, elderberry syrup and mint leaves.  Very refreshing!

Castles along the Danube

The robber baron's castle

Vineyards in the Wachau Valley

Church with rabbits on the roof

Status commemorating where Ricard the Lionhearted was captured

The castles along the route have an interesting history.  One castle housed a robber baron who placed a chain across the river and demanded ransom from every passing ship.  If you didn't pay you were chained outside his castle to starve.  At the castle in Durnstein, Richard the Lionheart, king of England, was held captive for insulting King Leopold.  Richard was returning from a Crusade to the Holy Land.  He was released after a ransom was paid.

In late afternoon we docked at Durnstein, a small town with a beautiful blue church overloooking the river.  Another stroll through a quaint town ended with a walk past the vineyards that are ready to be harvested.

Durnstein from the river

Marilyn professes her feelings for the Danube

Marilyn photobombs Richard and Cheryl

Durnstein street views

Lovely garden in hotel

Church viewed from path along the river

Dinner was a taste of Austria with two local musicians playing an accordion and guitar.  The menu featured pretzels, local cheeses & meats and a beer made in a local monastery to start.  The main course featured pork knuckles, two types of dumplings, saurkraut and, of course, schnitzel.  We even got to sing Ein Prosit to some Apricot Brandy.  Scrumptuous!

The evening ended with David and Peter, the lounge pianist, providing a concert in the lounge.  What a great day!  Tomorrow we visit Vienna.  I hope to find an Viennese coffee house to upload some pictures so you too can see the beauty of Austria.

Day 10: Cruise - Linz & Cesky Krumlov

Today, Marilyn and I took different excursions while docked in Linz Austria.  I opted for the all day trip to Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic and she choose the morning only Linz walking tour.

I joined Richard, Cheryl and Warren on my excursion while Carl choose the walking tour with Marilyn.  We set off by coach for the 1.5 hour drive.  Our guide Sharka lives in Cesky Krumlov with her family so she had knowledge and tips only a hometown person could have.  During the drive she provided some history of the Czech Republic.

They're has been occupied and ruled by many different groups.  It was part of the Astro-Hungarian empire prior to World War I.  At the end of the war in 1918, Czechoslovakia was formed by joining them with the Slovaks.  Hitler and the Nazis occupied the country and settled Germans along the borders with Germany and Austria displacing many Czechs.  The Nazis referred to this land as the Sudetenland.  Following World War II, the Iron Curtain ran along the border with Austria and the Communists.  The communists moved all the Germans out of the border areas and left an empty zone in order to patrol the border.  In 1989 the Velvet Revolution brought the end of the communist rule and the area is now mostly nature areas.  Finally, in 1993 the Czechs and Slovaks decided to split and form separate countries.

We arrived at Cesky Krumlov which is a UNESCO heritage site that has been restored since the end of communism.  We began our tour at the castle which was built in the 12th century and had many additions over the next 3 centuries.  The first owners of the castle were the Rosenbergs who did not manage their wealth very well and had to sell in 1601 to a member of the Hapsburg family.  A unique feature of the castle are the two bear pits by the main gate with live bears in them still today.  The Rosenbergs believed they were related to the rich Italian Orsini family and since the Italian word for bear is Orso they had bears put in.

The first view of Cesky Krumlov

The gardens of the castle

Colourful fall flowers

A view of the old town from the castle

A view of the Vltava river flowing around the old town

The castle courtyard has colourful murals

The tower has original 17th century murals

Courtyard fountain

One of the two bears guarding the castle

The old town below the castle is surrounded by an almost circular loop of the Vltava river.  The buildings have all been restored to shops and restaurants with terraces overloooking the river.  We enjoyed some lunch and good Czech beer at a patio on the main town square.  The beer was a Budweiser, a local brand made for hundreds of years.  Its much better than the more famous brand whose name was stolen by Annhieser Busch.

Alley showing local art works

A river view

Richard, Warren and Cheryl enjoy lunch on the patio

The "original" Budweiser

Roof tops of Cesky Krumlov

Fountain in town square

Warren, Cheryl & Richard in the old town

Sharka, our guide met us at 3:00 for the bus ride back to the ship.  It was a quiet ride with only the sound of the occasional snorer.  Marilyn, Cheryl and I went into Linz before to dinner to sample the Linz torte she discovered.  Delicious!   

Marilyn savors the Liz Torte

The group at dinner sharing stories of the day

Statue in the main square of Linz

Linz street night views

Dinner saw the two groups sharing stories about what they saw.  Marilyn and I took a night stroll through Linz while the rest of the group went back to their cabins.

Day 8: Train to Passau & Board Cruise

Today is a travel day.  It begins with packing, a quick breakfast of coffee and a pastry and checking out of the Hotel Demas-Garni in Unterhaching.  On our final Munich S-Bahn trip we only had one wrinkle - all the escalators at the Hauptbanhof station S-Bahn platform were coming down, none we going up.  A frantic search found an elevator but it wouldn't operate.  So, we had to lug heavy suitcases up.  We needed to ask directions to the street level where all the trains were but our train was right at the top of the escalator.  Some good luck after the bad luck downstairs.

The group on the S-Ban train downtown

We found an area for our luggage and seats nearby that faced each other.  German trains are punctual and the train left exactly on time but no announcement was made on the PA.  The journey took us through mostly farmland with only a few stops at small towns.  The final part of the journey followed the Danube river and we saw a variety of vessels: both commercial and pleasure.

Arriving at the Passau station we had to wait for a cab to take us to the pier.  A short ride later we boarded the Viking Legend.  A porter took our luggage.  The receptionist gave us our keys and another porter took us to our cabin and showed us the features.  The luggage arrived and we unpacked.  This whole process took only 10 minutes!

A light lunch was available in the lounge, including free beer.  Germans and Czechs have one of the highest per capita beer consumption in the world.  On this trip, our group - especially Richard- has been helping keep those consumption figures up!

Marilyn relaxes in the cabin on the Viking Legend

A view outside the cabin

The late afternoon was spent exploring the ship and sunning on the sun deck.  An orientation session was held just before dinner.  In the dining room, we met some of the waiters and waitresses who seemed eager to please (or eager for good tips a the end of the cruise). The dinner has three courses with many options for each course.  Free local wines are served as well and Mary Jane seemed to top up my glass after every sip I took.  Great service!

The sun deck

An after dinner reception was held in the lounge allowing us to meet our fellow passengers who are about 90% American.  (Oh well).  I think I will like the slower pace the cruise will offer this next week.