The Beauty and Infamy of Nuremberg

Until the Second World War, Nuremberg was considered one of the finest medieval cities in Germany with streets full of typical timber-framed houses adorned with beautifully embellished gables. In some commentaries I’ve read, it was described as a “large fairy-tale city” prior to the 1930’s. Starting in 1933, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party held their annual…

The Rhine-Main-Danube Canal

The Rhine-Main-Danube Canal (RMD Canal), connects the Main and Danube rivers between Kelheim and Bamberg, Germany, and runs through Nuremberg, our destination for Wednesday July 10th. Without the RMD, a river cruise like the one we embarked on in Budapest, would not be possible. The canal connects the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean to the…

Walhalla

During our bus ride from Deggendorf to Regensburg on Tuesday July 9th, our driver told us to look off in the distance and we would see the famous Walhalla Memorial. He of course pronounced the “W” in Walhalla as a “V”, and I must confess that I was a bit confused as Valhalla to me…

We Are Good To Go!

We awoke on Tuesday July 9th, to the knowledge that our ship had sailed up the Danube until just around midnight, where it had docked at Deggendorf, rather than traveling all the way to Regensburg. The night before, we’d been told that the Lif along with every other ship heading west, had been ordered to…

Regensburg – A Unesco World Heritage City

When we originally signed up for Viking’s European river cruise, the big-ticket items like Amsterdam, Vienna and Budapest were the main attractions for us, followed closely by the cities of Cologne and Nuremburg. Along the way, we were going to be stopping at a number of smaller towns and cities that frankly we had never…

Day trip to Salzburg

The overnight delay at one of the locks on the Danube had unfortunately eaten into our day’s excursion to Salzburg and at most we’d have just 3½ hours (versus the expected 5) to visit a city we’d been really looking forward to seeing. As we pulled onto the autobahn en route to Salzburg, Austria, our…

Passau – The City Of Three Rivers

It’s Monday July 8th, and there is a chance of rain in the forecast today for Salzburg, our destination after docking at Passau.  This is also the first day where there has been an issue with our tour/travel agenda, as we awoke to the news that we were going to be at least an hour…

Whats Up, Lock?

In my very first post about this trip, I mentioned how surprised and intrigued we were to learn that we would be passing through 68 locks during our journey from Budapest to Amsterdam. We knew that we would be sailing on three different rivers, the Danube, the Main, and the Rhine, but I think we…

Melk Abbey

The town of Melk lies at the confluence of three rivers; the Danube, the Melk, and the Pielach, and the magnificent complex that is Melk Abbey seems to look down protectively on the city below. To reach the Abbey, we had to board a motor coach that would take us up a long and winding…

A Scenic Cruise Through the Wachau Valley

The Viking Lif set sail from Vienna just before midnight on Saturday July 6th. When we awoke, we were well on our way (westbound) toward the city of Melk, where we would be making a midday stop to visit Melk Abbey – a 900 year old Benedictine abbey that overlooks the town and the Danube…

Vienna Waits for You

Vienna Waits For You is of course the title of a 1977 Billy Joel song. When he was about 8 years old, Billy Joel’s father left him. In 1971, when Billy was 22 years old , he tracked his father down and went to visit him in Vienna, Austria.  That visit was the source of…

Vienna – City of Waltzes

When you mention Vienna to people, it is often a combination of the music and the image of fabulously dressed people waltzing in 18th century ballrooms that comes to mind for many.  Knowing that Vienna was a major stop on our cruise, I myself had conjured up visions of glorious palaces like the one below…