Today is the end of daylight saving so we are delighted to see to daylight when, at 7.30am, we swing open the curtains of our cabin. Don’t know about you, but Rob and I are not having breakfast today. We ate too much last night at Porto Bello and we do enjoy the delightful wines the crew serves with meals.
We will be arriving at Bamberg at around lunch time. In the meantime there is plenty to do. Cruise director Tim will be holding an information session today to tell us all about the Rhein-Main-Danube Rivers.
In the meantime we are off to do a few laps of the upper deck. Eight times around is one kilometre and the scenery is forever changing so we have no time to get bored.
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That's eight times around the back end of the boat. That area behind the Wheelhouse. (Can you see it?) |
Tim’s session is very interesting and informative though we do wish he would not talk in such a sing-song manner. He speaks so properly when we are talking to him one on one but when he gets behind a microphone, his whole persona seems to change.
Anyway, among other things, we learn that as we travel the three rivers, our boat will essentially climb a stairway until we get to the Danube (409 metres) then climb down the other side. I think I mentioned earlier that we do this by passing through 68 locks that either raise us up to the next level or lower us, depending on which side of the mountain we are travelling on.
After a light lunch we arrive at Bamberg and are bussed into the old town for a look around. Like so many other places we call into, it is truly lovely. In this instance, much of the city is heritage listed. Fantastic, because the history of Europe is one of the reasons we have come here.
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Cathedral of Saints Peter and George |
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Little Venice & Regnitz River |
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Cheers |
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On the Main Danube Canal |
Happy hour starts at 5.45pm. No, after eight and a half years of happy hours on the road, we can’t miss it on the boat. It gives us the opportunity of unwinding from what some might find, very full days. Also, it helps us to prepare for Tim’s daily briefing at 6.45pm. That takes us up to 7.00pm, dinner time.
After dinner tonight there is a music quiz run by Tim and resident musician, Metodi. The night continues with non-stop music till 10.30pm; time for a late night snack. For those not able to kick on (that's us), bed is next. Our days are full.
When we open the curtain in the morning we are docked in Nuremberg. Good old Captain Heinz, or his deputy. One or both has got us there, all tied up, without waking us. There is a bus tour of the city organised but Rob and I (or should I say Rob and Rob on my behalf) decide to go for a bike ride along the shore of the canal. There are 20 bikes on board and guests are encouraged to use them whenever the opportunity permits. This is one such time as the dock is directly next to a walking/bike riding track that follows the canal for much of its length.
Haven’t been on a bike for many years but some things you never forget. It’s just like riding a bike.
We manage a ride of around 10kms without a spill. How good is that!
We can’t miss out on the afternoon tour to the Documentation Centre. It is situated in the buildings occupied by Hitler and the members of the Nazi Party during WW11. They sit beside the massive parade ground where many of the Nazi rallies were held. Hitler actually turned the whole place into a shrine to himself, mimicking the actions of many of the ancient Roman Emperors and Popes.
As the tide of the war turned and the allies started taking the upper hand, the city was devastated by their bombs. At the end of the war, trials of many of the surviving war criminals were held there and, if found guilty, they were hanged.
The place absolutely fascinates me, for it is the place I have seen in so many wartime newsreel footings.
I am standing on the parade ground and, in my mind’s eye, can see and hear a seemingly endless parade of artillery and soldiers crashing their jackboots on the concrete amphitheatre. They are frog-marching past their hero, an insignificant looking little man with a funny moustache. I see the raised arm salute and hear the troops hailing their leader, “Heil Nero”, for he imagines he is the reincarnation of the great Roman Emperor.
Later, as I stand on the portico where he would stand waving to the multitudes, I am overwhelmed by the futility of it all. How much good could the man have achieved if he had set his mind to it. As it is quite often correctly stated, the margin between genius and insanity is a hair’s breadth.
Time flies by as I wander through the halls of “ Hitler's Palace”. I am haunted in the knowledge that it is also where plans were hatched to exterminate millions of Jews and to slaughter hundreds of thousands of troops and others opposed to the Nazi regime.
Regrettably we must go; the bus is about to return to the boat.
I guess my overall understanding is that it is not only a significantly historical museum but one where the German people search for forgiveness and understanding. Many did not support either Hitler or the Nazis but, so evil were they and so vicious were they towards those that opposed their philosophies, they were left with no alternative but to be submissive.
I feel exhausted as the bus pulls away.
What better way to end such an emotional day but to attend the Chef’s Dinner, one of the few formal occasions aboard the boat. In the meantime however, we continue along the canal towards Regensberg.
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24 metre deep lock |
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Looking up from our balcony |
Once we are safely inside the lock, the massive doors close and we are locked in. Suddenly there is a silent rush of water. It is being pumped from three large ponds adjacent to the lock. In no time at all we rise to the top, the gates at the other end open, and we sail out.
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The gates are open and we're on our way again. |
Our boat is in dire straits. We are running dangerously short of wine and the sister ship has a great surplus. While the captains struggle to maintain their respective positions, the staff form a long human chain, passing the surplus to us. Of course, everything comes at a price so we willing give them our surplus fresh food supplies. We have plenty to spare.
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Manoeuvring into position |
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Handle it carefully fellas! |
Next day and we arrive at Regensberg about noon. After lunch there is a walking tour into town. It too is a beautiful heritage listed place. It boasts a 12th century stone bridge that is still in use today; one of the oldest of its kind in the world.
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12th century stone bridge |
There is a big turnout of passengers and crew for the quest and Rob sings Danny Boy with a little help from another passenger. He ultimately got the gong for his presentation. The gong; that’s a silly expression isn’t it? It could mean that he was gonged out of the competition or it could mean, as in this case, he won.
By morning we are in Passeau and are forced to make a decision. Not easy after spending our days having only to decide which wines to have with lunch and then decide if we have the same, or another, for dinner. The decision today is whether to go on a bus tour to Salzburg or to Cesky Krumlov.
We know Salzburg as the home of A Sound of Music so we decide on it. It is great seeing many of the places where the movie was filmed and the magnificent countryside along the way. One of the places we stopped in at was Oberdorf. In the little village church the very popular Christmas hymn, Silent Night was composed There is a little museum in the village to commemorate the event.
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The original score of Silent Night |
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An ancient building adornment with a hint of today. Would you like fries with that? |
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Archbishop's Castle |
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Original car (carriage) wash. Drive in drive out. Keep to the left please. |
However, the Cesky Krumlov people assert they were the winners. They have come back to the ship raving about the place and more particularly about a little duty free shop that is situated in the former “No Man’s Land”. It's a strip of land between Austria and the former Czech Republic. Some came back with great buys.
While we have all been away touring, the ship has taken off without us so we catch up with it at Linz where we arrive just on dinner time.
We have decided an early night and at 10.00pm the ship sets sail for Melk.
We’re going on an excursion today to Stift Melk, an active Benedictine Monastery and school that sits high up on the hill close to the river. It only takes a short time for the bus to get us up there.
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Stift Melk |
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A room with a view |
We cannot go into the school or residential areas but still there is still plenty to see. First we walk the Imperial Corridor that is 200 metres long. Part way along its length, a magnificent staircase leads upwards to the Imperial Rooms. We enter one room, a museum, that records much of the secular and spiritual history of the Abbey. Many dignitaries have lived in this section of the building. In the 18th century Maria Theresa called it home for a while.
Next we move into the Marble Hall that is decorated with magnificent ornaments and ceiling paintings. One thing that is starting to attract our attention is the amount of gold leaf decoration.
From there we move to the library, again richly decorated with gold leaf sculptures, fresco paintings, etc. but also containing some 100,000 precious books and1800 odd manuscripts. It is quite awe inspiring. Finally we reach the chapel.
If gold leaf ornaments abounded before, the chapel is something else again.
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The chapel |
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The organ |
At the end of the short presentation we make our way back to the bus for the trip back to the boat. We could walk back but we are about to set out on a far greater adventure. We are going for a 30 kilometre bike ride that Rob very thoughtfully arranged for both of us.