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…
Sailing through Bratislava
The phone rang in our room just after 5:30 AM on Friday July 5th, and upon answering it, I heard our Program Director Leonard say, “I’m sorry to disturb you David, but you asked me for a wake-up call so you could come and watch us enter our first lock on the Danube. We’ll be…
Setting Sail on the Danube
Back on board the Viking Lif after a final walk about Budapest, we took a few moments to read about the Danube River, before setting sail for Vienna. We knew the Danube was an expansive body of water, but we were frankly astounded to learn that it is 1,775 miles long (2,857 km), and is…
Stanger Adventures 