A Full-time Life

Category: Grand European Tour

MUNICH (day 8)

Just after breakfast the Skirnr docked briefly at Straubing where guests could board buses for one of two tours — to the City of Munich (the capital of the German State of Bavaria) or to Regensburg.

We had not known before our trip that Munich would be an option, but because we'd heard a lot about it from fellow-snowbirds whose summer (and real) home is there, we jumped at the chance to visit.

BMW Welt website photo

It was rather a long bus ride into Munich. On the way, our bus made a stop at BMW Welt — a gigantic (and ultra-modern) showroom and car museum near the plant where this car is manufactured. It was more interesting than most "pit-stops" (and we had almost an hour for the usual necessities and then to look around). But I should have asked Bill to take pictures; I was a little overwhelmed by all the cars and lights and noise and modernity when I had just gotten used to seeing only historical buildings. So I didn't take even one picture. This one is from their website.

City of Munich

Once we got to Munich, most of the walking part of the guided tour was spent on Marienplatz (Our Lady's Square). It has been Munich's City Center since 1158. Both the new and old city halls are on the square … as well as the famous Munich Glockenspiel Clock Tower.

The Glockenspiel is quite wonderful in a three-ring circus kind of way. I got photographer's neck looking up at the action (in the green window in the picture on the right. .. The other pictures are zoomed and cropped.) Built in 1908, the tower chimes twice daily at 11 and noon. When it chimes, life-size figures re-enact two 16th Century stories. The top half depicts the marriage of Duke Wilhelm — the action includes a joust with visiting knights. (Bavaria wins, of course.) Meanwhile, the lower stage depicts the Cooper's Dance – there is a myth that there was a plague in 1517 and this dance somehow halted its progress…. When the show is over, the golden rooster in the top cupola crows signifying the end.

There were a lot of people in downtown Munich! Not for the first time, nor for the last, we marveled at the modern stores in the very old buildings. Not that I expect all the buildings in these cities to be turned into museums, but just amazed that the buildings have survived through so much and are still being used.

Our tour included a delicious (and huge) traditional Bavarian dinner at the Ratskeller Restuarant, also on Marianplatz. And after that we pretty much dozed on the evening bus ride back to the boat.

It really was quite a lot of time on the bus and, in hindsight, maybe we should have stayed with our original plan and visited Regensburg, which was closer to the dock point and would have given us more time to explore. There are so many historical places in and near Munich that we didn't have time to visit. But on the other hand, we are glad to have seen even a little bit of this beautiful and historic City and it will be fun to tell our friends that we at least were able to get a quick overview of their hometown.

So many things of interest, so little time … but we're always conscious of how fortunate we are to have seen as much as we have!

While we were away that day, the Skirnr had made its way along the river and we rejoined it at Kelheim just before it set sail for the next stop. They were also still serving dinner on board — but for some strange reason, that option was not quite as interesting as it usually was.

LINKING to the following, with thanks to all of the hosts: ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;    TUESDAY TREASURES ; SAY CHEESE;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY BLISS;

August 25, 2019
PASSAU, GERMANY

Morning view from our deck, Day 7

It was exciting to wake up knowing that we would dock in another country — Germany. It seemed almost impossible that less than a week ago we were still in Florida (and still finishing last-minute, closing-up-the-cottage-for-the-season-chores.) What a week!

The Skirnir docked at Lindau, at 9 that morning. By a quarter after nine, we were on a bus headed to the City of Passau and a guided walking tour. (The Viking crew handled tour arrangements efficiently at all our stops, but I was especially amazed at this one because the buses were on the road so quickly after the boat docked.)

Veste Oberhausen

Our tour guide did a good job summarizing the history as we walked through old town and directing us to points of interest.

Passau was founded by the Celts more than 2,000 years ago. In addition to its location at the border between the two countries, it is also strategically located at the confluence of three important rivers: the Inin, Ilz, and the Danube.

The Oberhausen is a fortress founded in 1219. Situated on the Germany-Austria border it overlooks the City of Passau . (click the blue links for more information.)

After the guided walking tour, we had time to explore the City on our own. Some people visited the famous glass museum or other attractions, some shopped…

… but our choice was to do as we often do in a new place …. pretend we’re not tourists* and stroll around as if we were out for a daily walk. We enjoyed the narrow streets and alleys, seeing a few 'real people' – and imagining what it would be like to live in this old, beautiful, and important city.

*except for the camera

I loved seeing the little girls playing a game on their front porch — totally unconcerned with passersby (quietly) marveling at their neighborhood. I think the sign above their doorway (top left photo is a closer view) says that it was once the home of a butcher (flefchharker), but I'd be glad of any corrections.

That's a lot of pictures of cobblestones, but I wanted to highlight (and remember) what we were walking on during much of our trip. (Maybe I should have said 'hobbled' instead of 'walked.' Bill was glad he had taken the day before to rest.) We both agreed that it was all worth it though. The stones on that one particular street were marked in red paint to show different routes.

We kept an eye on the clock as we explored because we had tickets to attend an organ concert at this beautiful church — St Stephen's Cathedral — before it was time to return to the ship.

What a sensory experience to listen to this beautiful instrument as we marveled at the glorious baroque interior at the Cathedral.

Shuttle buses back to our boat had been available all afternoon and after the concert we wended our way back to the pickup spot. It had been a lovely day and a perfect introduction to the third country of our tour.

ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; SAY CHEESE; TUESDAY TREASURES ; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY BLISS

August 10, 2019
WELCOME TO MELK

While we slept, the Skirnr traveled along the Danube from Vienna – we woke and breakfasted to views of the beautiful Wachau Valley.

The City of Durnstein on the Wachau Valley Riverbank

The Wachau is an important wine-grape growing region; we saw farmlands and cities, charming villages, castles, and cathedrals close to the shore and glimpsed ruined castles on the hilltops. Our port-of-call for the day was the city of Melk, at the Valley's base. It is located at the confluence of the Danube and Melk Rivers.

Watching the Skirnr's arrival was a different experience this time. We were glad we were up and awake to watch this adventure. Melk wasn't a big city dock –the boat pulled into the shore out in the middle of (what seemed like) nowhere:

There was only a short "T" dock, and the boat had to be tied to bollards on the bank. In the picture above, one deckhand tosses a weighted rope to another man who is standing on the rocky bank below (you can just see him on the left between the rails). The rope missed him (or he missed the rope) a couple of times before he caught it….

… First, the guy on the ground had tried to catch the line as he stood on the safer grassy bank (left picture) but that didn't work and he had to scramble down those loose rocks. We held our breaths for him! Fortunately, he did catch it and tie us off without injury to person or boat (maybe it was because a certain someone was there to supervise the efforts?)


The excursion destination for the day was the 900-year old Benedictine Abbey which overlooks the town of Melk from its hilltop location. There wasn't anyplace to park near where the boat was docked, so we had a walk through a woodsy area to the bus that would take us there.

This is the Abbey as seen from the parking area. This was kind of a throw-away zoomed-in shot as we boarded the bus, because of course I thought I'd get a better one when we arrived. (There was some kind of white tent in the corner of the parking lot that I couldn't get away from.) However, when we arrived at the top, the huge Abbey so dominated the entire hilltop it was impossible to get far enough away for a picture of the whole building.

We weren't quite at the top of the hill yet at the end of the short bus ride. We still had to climb this elegant staircase to get to the Abbey. Translated (so I'm told) the words on the steps read "Melk Abbey" and then 'Listen and You Will Arrive". That quote is part of the Benedictine Rule.

I guess it is another way of saying quiet your mind and you will eventually understand. Or maybe just shut up and pay attention (it was and still is a teaching abbey after all.)

The grounds are beautiful and the views of the city from the hill top are amazing. We were divided into small groups inside and the tour guide was excellent. Here is the article from Wiki which gives the history – reading isn't as much fun as it was hearing it from the guide, but is more interesting than it would be if I tried to repeat what we learned.

We saw the awe-inspiring library, which includes priceless medieval manuscripts. There were ornate sculptures and beautiful frescoes throughout the building, and a chastibule that contains relics of Saints. One of the chapels had an amazing tromp'l'oil painting on the ceiling that made the flat surface appear to be a dome.

Sadly, we were asked not to take pictures inside and I obeyed that request. Although it appeared that not everyone did … I think cell phones are making that a difficult rule to enforce.

Here are a few close-up examples of at least parts of the building's Baroque architecture. And an interesting factoid (not personally verified by me) — the Abbey has 365 windows, one for each day of the year. Melk Abbey was founded in 1089 and it has been in use as an Abbey for that whole time. The Abbey building of today was built over a period of years in the mid-1700s.

We had been told that while we were on the tour, the Skirnr would leave its tie-down in Melk and that we would meet the boat at a different location. That morning Bill had elected to stay on board the boat and forego the Abbey tour. Perhaps because he wanted to continue supervise those deckhands — or perhaps because he had walked miles and miles on cobblestones on the previous four days and his bad foot needed a rest.

In any case, it felt a bit surreal to board the bus at the foot of that staircase and be driven through new and different territory (a lot further than the short ride getting to the Abbey). I certainly hoped we'd meet the boat (and my traveling companion) as planned …

… and was happy when we did exactly that! The top row are views from the bus window as it traveled from the Abbey to the port at the city of Ybbs. We didn't see anything of that town except the dock, but I just loved the name and don't want to forget it, hence the pictures of the sign.

And there's the Skirnr pulling in to pick us up. My bus did beat the boat by a few minutes, which was excellent timing, because it was fun to watch it motor along the river from outside!

As soon as everyone was on board, the Skirnr departed for its journey to a new port of call. On the following day we would awaken in Germany, the next country we would be privileged to visit.

Linking this week to the following sharing opportunities. Thank you to all of the hosts.

ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; THROUGH MY LENS; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; TUESDAY TREASURES ; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; SAY CHEESE;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY BLISS;

August 4, 2019
VIENNA (part 2)

We met Jacob and Maya after breakfast on the second day that the river boat was docked in Vienna. Our fellow Viking passengers were preparing to board the usual tour buses for their day's events, but we were excited to meet our grandchildren for more of our own special time on this second day in the City. (Vienna Part One is here).

Statue of Empress Maria Theresa in front of Natural History Museum

We visited Maria Theresien Platz. A monument to the Empress is the center point of the huge plaza which includes two almost identical buildings that house the Vienna Museum of Natural History and the Art Museum. There are also four fountains, other sculptures, and lovely landscaping. Our 'guides' told us that at Christmas the whole plaza is transformed into a world-famous Christmas Market — it sounded amazing!

The Empress Maria Theresa governed Austria from 1740 to 1780. What I remembered was that she was the last of the Hapsburg line of rulers of the Austrian empire, that she led major educational reforms, and that she was the ruler in actuality rather than (as would have been expected at the time) ceding complete rule to her husband Francis,who was a royal in his own right from another line …. And I remembered that she had 16 children! I went to Wiki to check my memory, which was not wrong (but certainly not complete) — she definitely deserves to be commemorated. Here is the link to the wikipedia page.

This World Heritage monument is huge! The entire monument is over 60 feet in height; her statue alone is 19 feet. At the corners are statues of four of her Generals on horseback and carvings of other notables are around the bottom of the monument.

The upper left and lower right pictures in the collage are two of the corners of the Museum of Natural History. They were meant to represent the continents as they were imagined at the time … the one on the top left is America.



We got around the City underground — on the subway/tube ….. our private guides were experts on the system (and the language!) We had fun pretending like we were locals rather than tourists on a bus. This picture is where we're exiting the Schonbrunn Station to return to the City Center.

These pictures are of the grounds at the Schonbrunn Palace. ( (There is a picture of the Palace on the previous post.) It was hard to get pictures of the buildings without a lot of people — we were in Vienna on Ascension Thursday, a Holiday for schools and many businesses were closed. We certainly weren't the only ones who were enjoying this beautiful place.

The center photo is (the top of ) The Gloriette which was built in 1775 during the reign of the same Empress Maria Theresa and Joseph. It was meant as a place for the royals and visitors to take in the views. Now it is open to the public .. the Gloriette Cafe is housed on the lower level.

Many elaborate sculptures and garden buildings grace the grounds of the Schonbrunn, which was once the summer residence of the Hapsburg royalty. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Even with our private guides and a one-on-one tour, our one evening plus one full day gave us time for only an overview of the wonders of Vienna. But we loved every moment of it — and we learned so much. What great memories!

We are grateful to have had such a special time with our grandchildren in this beautiful city. At the end of our day, Jacob and Maya went to board a train to Slovakia, where they would visit her family before flying to Finland (where they now live). We headed back to the Skirnir in time for its departure to the next port of call — Melk, Austria.

Linking to the following:

ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; TUESDAY TREASURES ; SAY CHEESE; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;   FRIDAY BLISS; and SKYWATCH FRIDAY.

Thank you to all of the hosts.

July 26, 2019
LEAVING BUDAPEST; SEEING SLOVAKIA; ARRIVING VIENNA

Bratislava Castle (Slovakia) as seen from the boat.

Our river ship departed Budapest at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday and would arrive in Vienna at about the same time the next evening, making Wednesday one of the longer days spent aboard the boat.

We were looking forward to seeing Slovakia, the next country we'd pass by. That's where our granddaughter-in-law Maya is from — we would be getting together with her and Jacob when we reached Vienna. We'd pass through one of our first locks just before we arrived at that part of the river.

Our ship was waiting to lock through

We didn’t dock in Slovakia, but at the top of the lock, I was able to reach out from our deck and touch the ground. (I'm not totally sure the boat was actually passing Slovakia at the exact moment we exited the lock, but I really really want to believe that at least I've 'set hand' in that country.)

Slovakia from the Deck — and requisite emergency drill

We boated past Bratislava, the country's capital city and more of the Slovakian countryside – we saw the castle shown in the top photo and other castles as well, old stone fortresses, and scenic river shores.   So, whether I actually touched land there or not, we did definitely see and admire this part of Slovakia, if only from the middle of the Danube.

Wednesday was the requisite safety meeting on the top deck. We had to learn where to go in case of emergency and how to put on our life vest (some people actually did have trouble). It was funny to see every person on board wearing their "Mae Wests" while many of them continued to take pictures of the beautiful scenery. It's really hard to take your eyes off it.

The day on board went by quickly –besides the safety drill, there were program talks and of course breakfast and lunch on board — and always that scenery! The boat docked in Vienna as scheduled and we disembarked as soon as possible to meet our grandchildren.

We caught up with their busy life over a scenic walk, dinner and dessert — Sacher Torte in one of the city's classical coffeehouses. According to what we learned on board about Vienna's cafe society, coffeehouses have been a tradition in Vienna since 1683. They wouldn't have been considered complete without red velvet seating and magnificent chandeliers. Since most people lived in small crowded apartments, coffeehouses were considered to be second living rooms, where people could linger over coffee and conversation. That last part seemed to still be true today. At least it certainly was for us!

Schonbrunn Palace — the next day

The ship would be in port the whole next day … and Jacob and Maya had a hotel room just down the street. I'll show more of what these talented (brilliant and good-looking)* guides to Vienna showed us in the next post.

* I'm a grandmother — what can I say?

LINKING this week to the following, with thanks to all of the hosts:

ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; THROUGH MY LENS; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; SAY CHEESE; TUESDAY TREASURES ; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY BLISS

July 21, 2019
ON BOARD IN BUDAPEST

Budapest Hungary was the first City on our river cruise vacation.

We cleared customs at Brussels Airport and then transferred to Belgium Airlines for the final hop to Budapest. Viking had arranged a car to transfer us to our River boat, the Viking Skirnir.   It seemed like it had taken a long time from Fort Myers — we transferred at Newark before crossing the ocean to Belgium and we were a bit jet-lagged.

But we arrived at the boat mid-afternoon Sunday and had the rest of the day to get organized, check out the boat (eat and relax) — and even take a short guided walk in the fresh air.

Chain Bridge (between Buda and Pest)

On our brief walk that first day, we saw with our own eyes that the Danube River divides the two parts of this great city — Buda and Pest. The Boat would be docked here all of the next day and until evening the day after that, so we knew we'd have more time for sightseeing in this beautiful City.

The Skirnr docked in Budapest near the Bridge

(Not a great picture of the boat, but it shows how close we were to the Bridge and town. Great location for walks — but in this picture buses like the one at the left were lined up ready to take passengers on the panoramic tour of the city – the one we took on the second day .)

Back on board that first evening, there was a welcome talk , with a brief overview of what to expect on the voyage. We would be traveling along three different rivers — the Danube, the Mine, and the Rhine. The reason these rivers are relatively easy to navigate is because of the lock system. Locks work by raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels. This system makes a river more easily navigable or allows a canal to take a more direct line across a country that is not level.

We would be locking through the first of these very soon after the ship set off the next day.

This chart from an on-board book in our cabin (also sent to us as an E-Book) identifies the twelve locks through which our ship would pass between Budapest and Passau Germany. The gray bar represents the elevation at which the ships enter the lock, the red bar the height the ship would rise or lower while in the lock. In all, during the entire journey on the three rivers our ship would navigate through 68 locks.

Parliament Buildings on the Danube

The picture above and those following are from the bus and walking tour we took on the second full day. This overview tour was included without additional cost — a feature that was available at each city where we docked. Optional excursions at a cost were also available instead or in addition, depending on the length of each stop.

Castle Hill

We walked through narrow streets and shops in Old Town — many of the buildings dated from medieval times. We visited the Castle Districts and Matthias Church . We were pleased with the historical overview our guide painlessly provided. And also that we were given some time to explore on our own as well.

View as the ship left Budapest

This beautiful City was a grand start to our "Grand European Tour."

LINKING this week to the following, with thanks to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY; THROUGH MY LENS; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; SAY CHEESE;   TUESDAY TREASURES; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY BLISS;

July 14, 2019
HOME AGAIN — with memories!

Traveling from the Florida Canal Cottage to Oregon was a bit different this year. It was an amazing 'detour.' We're home now and still sorting out our memories … and our pictures from the trip. To get started while I finish that project, here are just a few favorites. There will be more later.

Budapest

We were on a Viking River Cruise for 15 days — boarding the boat in Budapest. The boat docked in a different port almost every day — we visited twelve cities in four different countries, traveling along three rivers to Amsterdam where we disembarked.

Bill in Ghent

After that, we stayed (all on our own) for two weeks — spending more time in the Netherlands and adding the countries of Belgium and Luxembourg. We had a wonderful time — the whole trip was a triumph for the travel planner (who is pictured above, in Belgium).

With Jacob and Maya at Schonbrunn Palace and also enjoying Sacher Torte in old-town Vienna

Hopping backwards to our time on the Viking — we enjoyed and learned from every one of those twelve stops … sometimes we went on the tours the ship offered and sometimes we went out on our own. The very best guided tour of all though was our own private one during our two-day stop in Vienna. Here we were met by Jacob and Maya, our European grandson and granddaughter (in-law), who flew to meet us. It was wonderful to see them and without doubt we had the best possible tour guides in the world, as Vienna is a familiar city to them.

Castles and colorful villages on the Rhine

One of the best parts of a river cruise is that there are wonderful sights to see almost every minute of daylight. These rivers aren't wide and the views from our balcony or on the top deck were amazing. The pictures in the above collage were taken from the boat on one day's travel – between Wertheim and Koblenz Germany.

Wachau Valley

Every morning of the whole trip, I woke up amazed … the boat, the cities, the food, the scenery all really were the stuff of dreams. But I think even more than anything the charming views out the window of our room enhanced the dreamlike quality.

This post barely touches the seventeen cities in six countries that we visited, not to mention the scenic points between! Needless to say, there will be more! … it was a wonderful trip and it is also wonderful to be home!

Back in the USA – Colorado

To get here, we flew from Amsterdam to Colorado where we spent a week with our son and daughter-in-law –mostly decompressing, for which we are enormously grateful. Then home to Oregon, where our daughter and son-in-law kindly retrieved us from the airport. Because I always include a picture of the first mountain sighting when we return from low-land Florida — and since we our trip was about the low countries of Europe — Colorado once again has the honors! The picture is from a walk on the greenbelt near where our family lives.

LINKING this time to: ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS ; TUESDAY TREASURES ; SAY CHEESE;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY BLISS

Thank you to all of the hosts.

July 9, 2019