In Vienna!

Vienna from the Ferris Wheel at the Prater.

We arrived at Vienna overnight. After breakfast we joined our excursion. The tour we chose included riding the U-Bahn into the old town. As it turned out, only one other couple had chosen this tour! The others had taken a tour which used a bus. I was glad we took this one, the guide was very good and I enjoyed traveling using the Metro.

As I said, our guide, Karl, was very good and as a bonus, he was up on "Third Man" minutiae, too! At one point during our walk, he pointed out an area that was used in the movie!

One of the places seen in "The Third Man"!

We walked through various parts of the old city, at one point we passed the Stables of the famous Lipizzaner Stallions; we could just see them in their stalls.

The Albertina Museum

At the conclusion of our tour we returned to the boat and had lunch on board. After lunch we walked over to the Prater, an amusement park which features a 100 year old Ferris wheel which figured prominently in The Third Man. The Prater was only about a mile from our boat so we decided to return the next day.

The next morning, we walked along the waterfront looking for a clothing store. I picked up a wicking T-shirt and a couple of pairs of shorts at a discount shop, preparing for a bout of hot weather which was forecast.  While walking along, we noticed an inordinate number of little bunnies on the verges!

A Viennese bunny! 

We then walked to the Prater and rode the Wheel, taking lots of pictures. After the ride we stopped at a cafe and had a bier, (a Stiegl, of course!).

Enjoying a beer on the grounds of the Prater.

We returned to the boat for lunch. That afternoon I attended a tour of the Pilothouse which was pretty interesting. The entire structure can retract to allow for low clearances. Late in the afternoon, we set sail for Budapest!

Vienna Pictures here:  Vienna pictures

Melk, Krems, and the Wachau Valley

 

The Abbey at Melk.

We started the day with a sort cruise to Melk. This town is the home of a sprawling Abbey, dating back to the 11th century. Besides it's extensive galleries and library, it also boasts a large garden area.

After touring the Abbey and it's gardens, we returned to the boat for lunch. I still had some energy after lunch so I convinced Shelly to go on a little hike though the nearby woods. After wandering around we eventually found our way back to the boat, just in time to sail on to Krems!

Spotted in the woods while hiking!

The way to Krems took us through the Dachau Valley, an area with lovely castles and churches and vineyards

In the Wachau Valley.

We arrived in Krems in the late afternoon. A nice little village, but we didn't really do anything noteworthy there!

Selfie in Krems!

Late that evening, the Lofn set off; the next stop is Vienna!

Pictures here:  Melk, Krems and the Wachau Valley.

Nuremburg, Passau and Wesenufer!

At Nuremberg

This was the end of the line for our ride on the Viking Lif. High water levels would prevent it from continuing down the Main/Danube canal; there was not enough clearance below bridges! Viking had a number of other boats on the Danube below the canal so we were to be bused to one on the other side of the canal. This entailed having to transport our luggage as well, so we had to pack our bags the night before and have them ready to go.

The next morning we had breakfast and boarded buses to drive into Nuremburg. It was a good tour of the city and included a lunch at a local restaurant which wasn't too bad.

After lunch we boarded the buses and made the 6 hour drive to Linz. I must have dozed off because I remember virtually nothing about the drive! We arrived in Linz and boarded our new home, the Viking Lofn. We were greeted by the crew with champagne. The Lofn is identical to our old boat, so there was no problem getting situated on the vessel.

Our new home.

After we boarded, the Lofn sailed upriver to a point a little closer to our next planned stop at Regensburg. The next morning we bused into Regensburg. There is a very impressive cathedral here. Had lunch at a nice out-of-the-way cafe and picked up a few souvenirs. 

Regensburg

I definitely have a cold, dozed off on the bus ride back to the boat!

The next day we docked at a tiny place called Wesenufer and then bused into Passau. That town is still recovering from the recent flooding, although judging by the marks of historical floods, they got by easy this year!

A short history of Passau's flooding!

While strolling through Passau we picked up some cold medication, then back to the boat for lunch.

That afternoon we walked through Wesenufer and discovered a sculpture park on the sculptor's farm! Fun visit. On our way back to the boat we stopped at the local cafe and had a bier and a crepe.

Links for pictures:

Wurzburg, Nuremburg to Passau

European Tour, Part 2, Koblenz to Nuremburg.

 

A winery along the Rhine.

We departed Koblenz in the late morning, sadly missing the start of a local bier fest. We did enjoy a scenic stretch of the river though. 

Along the Rhine.

On the Rhine, notice how the water has gone over it's banks.

Eventually, we came to the confluence of the Rhine and the Main rivers, at Mainz. We must have reached that point overnight for we never saw that city. 

We passed through a series of locks as we continued to cruise. We had a local glassblower visit and give a demonstration. He had an interesting program which touched on the history of glassblowing in the region. In the afternoon we arrived at Freudenburg and took a bus back to visit the little village of Mitlenberg.

Mitlenberg.

While at Mitlenberg, we were surprised to find a marker for the Camino de Santiago on town!

A waymarker for the Camino!

The next morning we continued to cruise the Main. We pulled into Wurzburg at midday and did an excursion to the Bishops' Residenz. A pretty impressive palace which was damaged during WWII but has been largely rebuilt. 

The Residenz at Wurzburg.

A nice custom when in Wurzburg is to enjoy a local wine on the bridge. This I did and the wine and the bridge are both quite nice!

Nice wine!

Unfortunately, that evening I was starting to feel a little under the weather, a slight cold so I wasn't very good company for Shelly nor our dinner companions that evening.

Due to the high rivers, we had been told to expect to have to switch boats soon.

Next morning we had an interesting lecture on Bavarian history. After lunch we were able to walk through Bamberg.  This was an interesting little town to walk through. It also offers a Rauchbier, a beer with a distinct smokey flavor. Of course, I had to try it and it was pretty good! It tasted like a stout to me. Not too bad.

In Bamberg.

Bamberg waterfront.

Most importantly for us, Bamberg is the northern starting point of the Main-Danube canal. Because of this years abnormally high river levels, we will be forced to bus from our stop tomorrow at Nuremburg to another Viking ship waiting for us at Linz.

The next morning we arrived at Nuremburg. We had to pack our suitcases the night before and have them ready for transfer to our new boat! We left the Lif for our excursion through town and would then be bused to our new boat, the Lofn at Linz.

Nuremburg skyline.

Castle complex in Nuremburg.

Our new home, the Viking Lofn. It's a duplicate of our previous boat.

Here are a few more pictures:

Koblenz and scenic sailing

Wurzburg to Nuremburg

Our European tour of 2024, part 1: Amsterdam to Koblenz!

 

On the Rhine.

We have been wanting to do another European trip for some time. The "European Sojourn" offered by Viking seemed like what we wanted. It would include a bit of what we had encountered on our "Rhine Getaway", (see: Exploring the Rhine ) which we did way back in 2018!! 

It's been too long since we had a nice long trip. We decided to book the trip and add a few free days to both ends of the itinerary. This would allow us to check out Amsterdam before the cruise, and possibly go visit Istanbul after the end of the cruise.

For Amsterdam, we simply booked a centrally located hotel through Booking.com. But for Istanbul, we ultimately decided just to book Viking's excursion, a three day visit which included guided tours of Istanbul's primary attractions. It was a little more expensive but in the end proved to be the best option.

This first part of my chronical will cover the initial part of our cruise which went through the same area we had visited in 2018, only in reverse order!

We departed SMF on Saturday morning, making our connection at SFO after a lengthy delay due to some sort of issue with the tow bar attachment at Sacramento!

After the 10+ hour flight, we deplaned in Amsterdam. There was a slight delay in getting to our cab but we eventually hooked up and were on our way. The Sunday traffic was quite heavy. Along the way we noticed a lot of very modern-looking buildings.

An example of weird architecture in Amsterdam.

Eventually we came to our lodging, a Motel One located near the old city and near the port as well. It's a very nice Hotel, (not really what I would call a motel, but that's just semantics).  After check in we went for a short walk and found a nice cafe for a light dinner. 

Bad shot of our room.

The view from our window.

The Motel has a very good breakfast bar so we enjoyed our breakfasts there. We walked to the port and tried to figure out where the Viking boat would be. this day we got an email from Viking stating that our cruise's itinerary would likely be affected by high water levels! This is most ironic since we planned this trip for late spring on order to be sure that the river levels would not be too low!!

We weren't far from Amsterdam's famous "Red Light" District, although it seems more of a tourist spot now than anything else...

Still some interesting sites to be seen.

The next day we took a tour of the Heineken Brewery, which also included a canal cruise. The Brewery is no longer operational but is a museum. Reminded me of Stiegl's in Salzburg. The cruise was fun and pretty interesting. Amsterdam has a lot of canals!

People live on these boats, which don't seem to have been sailed for a long time. The mooring slots are expensive and hard to get.

A drawbridge across one canal.

We passed this while on our canal tour. There are seven bridges in this view!

Of course, this town has a lot of bikes too. And the famous Dutch infrastructure including bike lanes and bike stands. For all that I have to admit that I would be a little intimidated to ride on that town. Riders are of all ages and sexes and are aggressive. Not sure I could keep up!

A pretty typical sight in town. Bikes everywhere.

A subtle example of bike infrastructure. That tray on the right of the steps is to allow a cyclist to roll his bike down the steps!

I saw several examples of this type. I thought it was a pretty nice city bike with the integrated lights in the frame and the dynamo hub.

Anyway, after the cruise we walked to the hotel, stopping for fish and chips at an Australian themed cafe.

The next morning I went back to the port alone to check on boarding. I found our boat had arrived and got the details for embarkation. Went back to check out and collect the luggage and Shelly! We were able to walk to the port, even with our luggage as it wasn't all that far.

On the walk to the port.

After that we went to visit the Van Gough Museum. Great! Lots of stuff to see there.

Had lunch at a cafe on our walk back to the boat where we were able to check in! Dinner on the boat was nice as usual! 

Soon we were underway. After breakfast the next morning, we were in Kinderdijk. Even though we had done the tour back in 2018, we decided to go on it again, and I'm glad we did.

Kinderdijk!

The next day found us in Cologne. Viking had to moor in their winter harbor. We had decided to skip the tour of Cologne since we had already see it and Shelly's foot was a little sensitive today. We did walk into town to purchase a few toiletries but that was it.

The next day we arrived in Koblenz, at the confluence of the Rhine and the Moselle rivers. We had a nice stroll through town but had to get back on board for the afternoon scenic cruise of the Rhine. The Rhine was indeed at a very high level.

At Koblenz, that's the Main River behind Shelly.

On the scenic Rhine!

A view of the high water level overflowing to the path.

This brought us to the end of this cruise's stretch on the Rhine, we were now to turn off the Rhine and enter the Main River to go eastward! From now on we were see new sites!

Here are some links to more photos:  Amsterdam to Koblenz

                                                           Koblenz and Scenic Sailing on the Rhine

Our European Vacation, Part 4; Exploring the Rhine!

Heidlberg

After almost three weeks in the U.K, it was time to fly to Switzerland to begin our river cruise on the Rhine. We walked from our hotel to Paddington Station and caught the train for Heathrowe in the early morning. We found a pretty long line at airport security but made it to our plane on time. Then, we sat on the tarmac for some time while we waited for the weather to clear on the continent.

We took off after an hours delay and arrived in Munich with less than 20 minutes to get to our connection! We dashed across the airport to get to our gate, which seemed like it was on the other side of town! Upon arriving at the gate with only one or two minutes to go, we found the area deserted! Turns out there was a time change that wasn't accounted for in our itinerary, we were in fact an hour early!

The Viking Cruise proved to be wonderful! Normally, the boat would cruise at night and be dock by the morning. The stateroom was very comfortable, and we had the cheap seats! A river cruise is less regimented then ocean cruises, we could sit wherever we pleased at meal time and the food was generally very good. I would do another, and probably will someday.

Our cruise started in Basel, Switzerland and followed the Rhine up to the Dutch border. We stopped at Breisach and took an excursion by bus to the Black Forest in the morning. In the afternoon we strolled through the town of Breisach.

Basel, Switzerland.

Our ship, the Viking Idi

Our stateroom.

The view out of our stateroom's window. Our floor was below the waterline!

Ferry across the Rhine in Basel.

Day tripping to the Black Forest.

On a little hike.

Old Breisach

A walkway runs along the old city wall.

Then next day found us outside Strasbourg, where we toured the old city and it's magnificent Cathedral. In the afternoon Shelly rested in the stateroom and I took a walk through the German city of Kehl, where our boat was actually docked.

Strassbourg

The cathedral in Strassbourg really dominates the old city.

Here's a peek inside.

Another view.

The town of Kehl, on the German side of the river.

After Kehl/Strasbourg, we disembarked at Mannheim and took a bus to Heidelberg, visiting the old castle there.

Heidleburg

Looking up at the Heidleburg  castle.

There is also the world's largest wine barrel.

Another look at the castle.

After Heidelberg, we returned to the ship at Mannheim and cruised up to Rudesheim, where we stayed the evening then cast off for Koblenz. while at Rudesheim, we strolled through town and came to a very nice square where a lot of local folks were relaxing. There was a small kiosk selling the local wine, (a nice white), which we enjoyed while relaxing in the square.

Back on the river.

At Rudesheim, a nice public square afforded us a chance to sample the local wine.

Next morning was a change from the routine, we were cruising during the daylight hours today in order to see the variety of castles strung along the Rhine, roughly from Wiesbaden to Koblenz. Unfortunately the weather had changed to cool and cloudy so our views weren't as great as they had been up to now. Still, it is an impressive sight and we enjoyed it. We were glad we brought our down jackets!

Castles...

Many are undergoing preservation and renovation.

A big one!

Loreley Rock.

By early afternoon we had reached Koblenz. Here we took a bus to Marksburg Castle. Shelly, (nee Marks), was especially eager to see this castle. It is a fine example, over 700 years old. It is probably one of the most complete examples of a Rhine Castle in existence.

Heading to Marksburg Castle

Quite the view from the castle walls.

The King's bed doesn't look too great!

The next day we arrived at Cologne in the morning. We had an interesting tour of the city, Viking always provided excellent guides for our tours. I learned all about Kolsch, a favorite beer in this region. In the afternoon we were free to stroll through town. That night we cast off for Holland.

Last stop in Germany, Cologne.

Cologne's twin-spired cathedral

Remarkably well preserved tile floor from the Roman period, found next to the Cologne Cathedral.

On a Cologne bridge, lovers' locks.

We arrived at Kinderdijk at midday and were soon on a tour of the World Heritage site. There are quite a few of the old mills intact here, in various states of repair. All the real work is done by more modern means now, but there is an effort to keep these old machines going, and they are an impressive looking lot.

Kinderdijk World Heritage site.

Shelly and the windmill!

Lots of windmills!

That night a number of us came on deck to watch the ship pass through the final lock of our trip. It's really a tight fit!

On deck the last night of the cruise to watch our final passage through a lock.

That just about concluded our trip. Our ride to the airport in Amsterdam departed at 4:30 in the morning so we didn't get to see Amsterdam at all. We didn't realize that we could have booked a layover of a couple of days after our cruise. Oh well, maybe next time!

Click for (more) Rhine Cruise Pictures.

Overall, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the cruise experience. I think a lot of it has to do with this being a river cruise. It is more relaxed than an Ocean cruise and we had plenty of time to explore the ports on our own. We both thought the Viking facilities and services were excellent. We will probably try another some day.

This brought an end to our month long holiday which included London, Hadrian's Wall, Scotland, Bath and the cruise. It went by fast!