Vienna

City street with black plague monument (left) and Roman ruins on the right.

Hofburg Imperial Palace


This morning we were in Vienna and had a VERY full day ahead. Our included tour started at 8:30 am with a trip into Vienna around the “Ring Road”. There are so many sights to see that we really just glossed over many along the bus ride. After a brief overview of the city we arrived at the statue of Maria-Theresa, wife of Franz Joseph I. Since most people know about Vienna I will not go into all of this history of the city. We could see that the Christmas Market was set up and opened at 11 am. We started our walk to the Hofburg Imperial Palace which was the winter home of the Habsburg family. We did not go inside, but rather walked through the courtyards and looked at the gorgeous architecture. We also saw where the current President’s offices are located and noted that he is in the country since the flag was flying. We went by the Spanish Riding School where the Lipizzaner horses are trained. I didn’t have time to see them practicing, so perhaps on another trip. We did get a glimpse of one or two of the horses. From there we went on into the city and even saw some Roman ruins that were discovered as they were building the metro system. Two things I discovered about Vienna, there are a ton of cathedral spires and LOTS of green domes. It makes it a bit difficult when using those as landmarks when trying to get back to a location (as I found out later). We made our way to St. Stephen’s Cathedral, again not going inside, but observing the very Gothic architecture and noting where the second spire was not completed, but merely capped off. We then made our way to where

Mozart lived for two years and where he composed his Figaro. This concluded our guided tour and we were on our own. I went with Rena to the Spanish Riding school, but decided we really didn’t have enough time to go and see the rehearsal. I left her and went over to the small Christmas market that we had seen earlier. They were just opening so I wandered through there looking at all of the different vendors. I bought a really neat etching from the artist – I just love it! I decided to not catch the bus back, but spend some more time in the city. I ran in to Rod and Dawn (friends from the ship) and they mentioned that there is a much larger market across town. I finally made my way over there and walked around for a while and had their version of a hot dog (brat) and some Gluhwine.

Time was running out since I had to go to Schönbrunn Palace. Needless to say, I got a bit lost trying to find the U-Bahn stop I needed. I finally realized that I went most of the way around the ring (a mile or two), but finally managed to get on the U-Bahn, and get back to the ship at 1:20, just in time to get on the bus to the palace. I was exhausted. We took the 30 minute trip across town to Schönbrunn Palace, the summer residence of the Habsburg family. Maria-Theresa made major changes to the palace during her time. It is very reminiscent of Versailles and certainly as ornate.

We couldn’t take pictures inside, but the rooms are truly beautiful, but certainly “over the top” in terms of decoration. We spent free time in the gardens which have been winterized already. I hiked up the hill to the Gloriette, but only made it part of the way since I needed to get back to the bus. I made it, but was the last one on. After getting back to the ship it was time for an early dinner of Weiner Schnitzel and some more yummy desserts. We boarded the bus for the concert at 7:30 and went back into town.

The concert was at the Koursalon, where Strauss played his first concert. I have never had and hour and a half of music go by so quickly. They also had singers and dancers accompany some of the pieces. There was a brief intermission with champagne then the final portion of the concert. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the concert. When we arrive back at the ship they had Goulash and more sausages waiting for us. I have yet to be hungry! I decided to call the folks from the cell since service will be way too expensive once we get into Slovakia. It was great to talk to mom, but unfortunately dad was not home. Tomorrow we depart Vienna and sail to Bratislava. Looking forward to sleeping in because I am beyond exhausted!

Wachau Valley and Dürnstein

There was a huge spread for lunch today on board the ship, but I opted for a cheeseburger. I think all of the rich food is getting to me. We left Melk and cruised the Wachau Valley. It is a very narrow portion of the Danube with very steep hills up either side where the grape vines are ubiquitous. It reminded me a lot of the trip along the Rhine, but the leaves weren’t as pretty this time of year. We also passed a number of small towns and castles along the way. It was a pretty short trip down to Dürnstein. It is a very small town with only 1002 inhabitants. There are the ruins where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned back in 1192. I would have really liked to hike up to he ruins, but I had signed up for the wine tour (I guess I’ll have to check out the ruins on the next trip). There is also a monastery here that looks like it’s done in Jasparware.

We took the “train” up through the vineyards to Domäne Wachau where we toured the small castle and the winery. It is a cooperative so grapes come in from all different vineyards along the valley. The cellar was extremely aromatic since they have just harvested the grapes and they are working. The walls are covered in a type of mold that is actually quite beautiful – it’s extremely cool and humid down in the cellar. We eventually made it to the tasting room where we tried 4 different white wines. They were all very good. I hope to find some of them back home since I really didn’t want to put any in the suitcase (as if I had room!). We returned to the ship through town on the little train and it had already cooled off quite a bit.

I wish we had more time here, but it was time to leave. It doesn’t help that the sun sets just after 4 pm. I came back and tried to get on the internet, but no luck. We had our daily “port talk” about 6:45 and I was just tired hearing about all we have going on tomorrow. It’s going to be non-stop from 8:30 am – 10:30 pm. I met a couple from Atlanta and we ended up having dinner together. We also sat with a couple from Tasmania Australia. We had a fascinating conversation about the island of Nauru and their involvement with the refugee camps there. I want to do more research about that one. It’s a crazy story. We had a really great dinner tonight with pork and sweet and sour cabbage followed by a delicious melting chocolate cake. At 9:00 pm, they had a Christmas market set up in the lounge with more sweets and gluwine (hot, spiced wine). I managed to refrain from buying anything since I don’t know what I’ll find in Vienna tomorrow and I’ve already bought a few items. Internet is very slow tonight and I have a lot of pictures to upload. The captain just passed by and asked me to pass on “greetings to all of the folks at home”. We are going through our second lock of the evening. Gute nacht.

Melk

Clip from the Organ concert...

This morning we arrived in Melk and went up to Melk Abbey, a Benedictine abbey which has been in use continuously since it's founding in 1089. Here are some pictures from this morning's outing. We are traveling down through the Wachau Valley, so I thought I would go ahead and upload some photos. We will arrive in Durstein at about 2:30 then it's off to a winery! Good times.

View from Melk Abbey and pictures of the courtyards and gardens.

Salzburg

Photos from Saltzburg - will write later. Had to upload while at a Cafe in town!

Salzburg

Today we woke up and were docked in Linz. There was heavy fog, but you could see that there was blue sky behind it. Considering they were calling for rain again today, this was a wonderful surprise. I managed to get up about 7:15 and head down to breakfast. The buses were departing at 8:30, so we had to get going. We had a 1 ½ hour trip down to Salzburg through some beautiful country. Along the way we stopped for a “convenience break” that overlooked “Moon Lake”. This is where the wedding in the Sound of Music took place. After this brief stop we arrived in the town of Salzburg which literally means Salt City. Here we met our guides who took us on a 2 hour walking tour of the city.

We started in the Mirabellgaten, another site from the Sound of Music. It is a beautifully kept garden with statues and a fountain. We then walked across the river into the old part of town. The fortress atop the mountain is very impressive as you approach it. I call it a mountain, but here it’s only a foothill. As we entered into town we saw the birthplace of Mozart (it’s the yellow building in the picture). He was born there in 1756 and it’s called the Geburtshaus. There are large areas of the city that are only open to pedestrian traffic. We walked through to an area called Old Town which is similar to a farmers market. Vendors come there with their vegetables and the most amazing flowers and arrangements. I wish I could have bought one of the wreaths I saw there, but I’m afraid it wouldn’t make it through customs! From there we went into St. Peter’s cemetery, a very old and unusual cemetery – it’s hard to describe, but is very elaborate and many headstones are behind gates (like in the Sound of Music at the end when they’re escaping). There is also a monastery located near the center of town. From there we went to St. Peter’s Cathedral.

It is the first Baroque church North of the Alps. Since it is the first of it’s style in this region it is very unique – you do not find the gold leaf that adorns many Baroque-style churches, rather they have painted black behind the carvings to make the white stand out. The church was originally built in 774 but has had a long history including being bombed during WWII and had to be restored. The oldest/longest running restaurant is also located in Salzburg. It was started in 813, and though the building where it is now wasn’t built until the 15th century, it was continually run in this location until today. The Christmas markets are being set up, but will not open until Friday – very sad! They are also getting ready to film a movie with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, so they have this huge square blocked off. I saw a pile of snow leftover from a week or so ago, so I made a snowball! At the conclusion of the tour we were given free time to visit the fortress, shop, have lunch, etc. I managed to find wifi, so I spent an hour uploading some photos. The videos were taking forever, so I might have to do that another time. It was almost two, so I went by a sandwich shop and grabbed a quick bite. I did a little shopping and it was almost time to leave. I had to go and try a Mozartkugel which is a chocolate and praline truffle, quite good. I also grabbed this apple pastry before heading back to the bus. It was going to be a long trip back! We did get stuck in traffic, so we arrived back at the ship about 6pm. We had our “port talk” about 6:45 discussing tomorrow’s trip to Melk Abbey and the optional tour to the Krems Vineyard. We had dinner, more beef for me! I wasn’t a big fan of the lemon tart, so I only had one bite of that. Very strange for me. They have a Dixie style band up in the lounge right now. I guess I will hear some of it when I go up to post this to the blog (okay, so I’m up here and they are singing Dixie, but with an Austrian accent – it is quite amusing, but they are really good!). We will arrive in Melk tomorrow at 7 am, tour at 8:45, then we sail through the Wachau Valley and arrive in Dürestein around 2:30 then off to the winery. It’s going to be another long, but fun-filled day. I have met a bunch of really interesting people. I guess one of the benefits of traveling alone is that it forces you to extend yourself and meet new people! Until tomorrow…

Passau

Note the height off the ground of the door in the middle. I thought it was because of the flood waters, but it's actually because they used to arrive in carriages and it was a better height.

I managed to wake up (assisted by an alarm) at 7:30 this morning and get down to the dining room for breakfast. They had an amazing spread and lots of really crispy bacon. My aunt Rena was already down there so I joined her for breakfast. We had a leisurely meal and met some folks from Australia. We had to meet our guides at 9:15, so we didn’t have too long to chat. It turned out that Rena was in my tour group, so we headed out into the cold drizzle. We started out by walking into the old section of town and St. Paul’s church which is very pink in color and can’t be missed. It was our main landmark in case we got lost. We walked further into town to St. Stephen’s cathedral for which Passau is most noted. The city is very old, dating back about 5000 years. The main cathedral burned back in 1662, but has been rebuilt. The original cathedral was in the gothic style, and some of it remained, so they rebuilt onto it. However, the style of that time was Baroque, so it is a mixture of Gothic and Baroque on the outside, but all Baroque on the interior. It is truly stunning inside – stone carvings, architecture, paintings, etc. It really takes your breath away. The other man feature f the cathedral is that it has the largest church pipe organ in the world. It has over 17700 pipes and is in 5 separate pieces. We moved on from there over all of the cobblestone streets and saw where the bishop used to live as well as his current residence.

Since Passau is at the convergence of 3 rivers (Danube, Ilz, and Inn) they have had may floods over the years. The flood heights are marked on the city hall down by the Danube.

The most recent was in 2002 and quite significant. It’s also why Passau is called “Little Venice”. The tour brought us back to the ship after about 2 hours. We arrived and had some hot tea and of course it was time for lunch. Today’s theme was Barvaria (for obvious reasons) and we had some sausages, potato & onion cakes with applesauce and some other items I couldn’t pronounce. I decided to venture back out after lunch to some of the shops and to get some post cards. There must be about 50 shoe stores around here, but not many “touristy” type shops. I was walking down to the point where all three rivers converge when it really began raining. Supposedly you can see all 3 rivers because they are different colors, but I guess the rain kept me from seeing it. I didn’t realize how far I was from the ship until I started walking back. It must have been almost a mile! Needless to say I was very wet and cold by the time I got back to the ship. Good news is that it was tea time, so I was able to warm up to a cup of tea. I had hoped to post this earlier, but the internet was down. I had to settle for reading my book. It was time to get ready for dinner. While I was getting ready we left the dock, about 6:00 pm. We are moving quickly down the Danube. Tonight was the Captain’s Welcome reception followed by a more “formal’ dinner. I was invited to dine at the Captain’s table, but that also mean having a special table at the cocktail hour. I actually had a lot of fun - there was one couple from Connecticut who had just gotten married and another who were celebrating their 50th anniversary and this was their first cruise. We had a wonderful dinner with the Captain, who is from the Netherlands. I think dinner was 5 courses, some of which I’m not sure what I was eating. However, veal was the entrée and very good and of course we had crème bruleé for dessert, so I knew what that was. I came up to the lounge to see if internet was back up and as I walked in they were playing “Lara’s theme” so that made me laugh out loud. I was also able to talk to mom via instant messenger which was great. Tomorrow is a very early (and long) day. We have to drive about 2 hours into Salzburg, so it is truly an all day affair that starts at 8:30 am. With that being said, I best get some sleep.

Munich and Arrival in Passau

The overnight flight from Chicago was a full one, but actually quite pleasant. I had dinner in the airport, so I was able to board the flight and get ready for some sleep. I was amazed to find that I slept from about take off until 4 am EST. I managed to wake up in time for a hot towel and a light breakfast. I tried to watch part of a movie, but we were too close to Munich. Next thing I knew we were on the ground a full 30 minutes ahead of schedule. We deplaned and then walked what seemed to be a mile to passport control. Then we had the wait for luggage, another 40 minutes. The Uniworld representative was waiting for me outside of customs and took me to the minibus. We had a few other people to pick up and then we were on our way. It was a solid 1 ½ hours from Munich to the boat in Passau. We arrived about 3:15 local. I was taken directly to my room, which is small, but beautiful. The small room size is hard to get accustomed to on these river boats, but this time I have it all to myself. I hadn’t eaten anything since the very light breakfast on the plane so I went down to the lounge where they were serving tea. I managed to get a light sandwich and some tea cakes and of course some caffeine! I picked up a book before I left, so I have been reading that every moment I’ve had since leaving. I had finished tea and was getting ready to head to my room when I heard someone call my name. My aunt Rena was also having tea. It was great to see a familiar face. She and her husband had arrived from JFK a few hours before me. We sat and chatted for a good bit. I then went to my room and managed to get everything unpacked (Mom – it’s amazing how much more drawer space I have when it’s just me!!!). I decided to take a shower – what a good idea. I felt a hundred times better after that. They have one of those rain shower heads and I didn’t want to get out! It was time for the welcome session and safety announcements by the crew. We found out everything there was to know about the ship and more. We will meet tomorrow at 9 am for the tour of Passau. They have a glass museum and factory here, so I’m looking forward to seeing that after the tour of the cathedral. I went to dinner shortly after 7 pm. I ended up being seated with 2 sisters who were on the shuttle with me and another younger couple, who were a couple of years younger than I. The sisters were from LA and Phoenix while the young couple was from Toronto. Turns out that the young girl and one of the sisters works for the same company and had even talked on the phone a number of times. It was really one of those “small world” scenarios. The ship is definitely not sold out – there were a number of tables that were not set for dinner. It seems that there might be just over 100 people on board. The food at dinner was very good. I had a salad, horseradish soup (I would love the recipe for this – it was tremendous), followed by roast beef with a side of pumpkin soufflé and some sort of chocolate ice cream with orange coulis and pineapple meringue (who thinks up these things??). Best part of the day came when I found out that they have wifi onboard for 15€ unlimited for the whole trip!!! It’s not the fastest, but it gets the job done. I am sitting in the lounge listening to the piano player while I type this up (Mom – it’s the same guy from last year on the Rhine – Time to Say Goodbye???). Hunter will be on his way to the airport in a bit, so I’m hoping to talk to him at that time and then it will be about time to head to bed so I will be ready for tomorrow. The weather is cool and cloudy, but not too bad. Here’s hoping the sun will be out tomorrow. No pictures to show for tomorrow, but we should have some after tomorrow morning’s tour.

On my way!

On the way to GSO - flying through ORD to Munich. Exciting trip ahead!

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