We departed Linz, Austria after dinner last night and sailed overnight into Germany, docking at the confluence of three rivers in Passau. We were on shore by 9:30am to start our three hour tour where we met our guide Sebastiano. He wasn't German, but was from Rome, but married a German girl and now they live here. His narration and stories were so animated, and he used the guests to make his stories more personalized.....for those of you who knew me in my classroom days, he reminded me in his approach of the way I told stories to my kids.....he was far and away THE BEST guide of the trip. We walked the town, including up and down several inclines as we piled on the steps. Viking provided us with a free mug of gluhwein and the souvenir mug - thanks! and after a short tour of the Christmas Market we hooked up with our new-found pals Nancy & Amy and went for pizza. It was funny, in a way, that we were all four very specific with our orders but the waiter brought us delicious pizzas that were not at all what we ordered! LOL. He was overly apologetic, but we were more interested in just having pizza and sharing an experience together. Was a great way to end the final excursion. Spent the afternoon packing (bags out at 4:50am tomorrow - depart the ship at 5:50am). And a final dinner with our girls before wrapping up the adventure. Here's the final set of photos......
Turret & Arch in the bend in the river
May not look but much, but this is such a story.....the turret was placed here to force the river to bend, which slowed it down. This allowed for the salt ships to dock & unload here. In medieval times salt was a precious as gold and in fact was called "the white gold." The Latin for salt is "Sal" and so when workers were paid in salt it was "sal-ary" - fun fact for the day!
The Bishop's Palace on the hill
The cathedral - the left section is original, built in 1407
The cathedral from the front
Gingerbread making demonstration
Wreath-making demonstration
The giant advent wreath (24 candles - one for each day of Dec leading up to Christmas)
One of the many passageways of Passau - note the Christmas lights and the graffiti on only the right wall.....because the left wall is a Church!
The Passau Christmas Market
Last shot of gluhwein and souvenir mugs - thank you Viking!
Another view of the Passau Christmas Market
Examples of the Christmas booths (note the Gluhwein booth!)
A pizza lunch with "our girls"
Those who know me know how much I enjoy being on our porch - but it's hard to beat this "office" for working on my travel journals.....will miss this until our next trip in June
Finally....many thanks to those of you who've followed along - over 1,200 social media hits through yesterday's postings. I so enjoy traveling and sharing it with everyone who follows us virtually!
Today was a long day but it was an excellent day in many ways! We were out the door by 8:15am and it was pretty chilly on the five minute walk to the bus. AND our stateroom girl had told me we were supposed to get snow in Český Krumlov I'd doubled checked the weather and it said that it was supposed to start snowing 40 minutes from when we left. BUT the entire trip up and upon arrival it was clear skies and sunshine. We walked up a very good incline from the parking lot to the castle level and enjoyed spectacular views of the medieval town and then began working our way through the sky way bridges between the five courtyards as we descended down to the village level. Once there we toured around for about an hour including seeing the castle from river level as we stood on the river bank. As those who follow our adventures know, I like to get socks on each trip and something to remember the trip by. And if you really know me, you know that I have always been a big Disney, and especially Mickey Mouse fan. So we walk by this one store and there is this "Little Mole" cartoon character and our guide explains that all Czech children grow up with this Disney-like character and his cartoons. The light bulb goes off that he'd be the ideal item to buy to set on my bookshelf as a remembrance of the trip. After the tour we enjoyed a wonderful trip, courtesy of Viking. As we left I asked our guide about places to find socks and she had some general suggestions. But as we were heading back towards the shops we'd targeted for some souvenirs, we passed a small store with socks. And lo and behold there were some socks that were.....wait for it........The Little Mole. Had to do it :) We had way too much free time and despite wandering around (to the tune of nearly 5 miles of walking) we were back early by over 35 minutes. But it was a great day, and Khloe even said it was her FAVORITE day :) We went to the disembarkation meeting - we leave the ship at 5:50am on Sunday - and then had dinner with our pals Nancy & Amy. We agreed tomorrow to meet in the Christmas market and find a pizza place for lunch. It was a long day, we're tired, but it was a wonderful day. We'll be back to the ship tomorrow early afternoon which will give us a chance to do all our packing for the long travel day home Sunday.
Český Krumlov Panoramic from the castle
The photo-op of the day
The tower & the palace - the oldest buildings of the castle complex
The walkway between the residential area and the castle complex
Inside (left) is one of only two baroque theatres (all wood) in Europe - the connecting passage way to the rest of the castle above the first of five courtyards
Original frescos from the 1600's & 1700's on the courtyard walls
Close-up of the frescos
Carved above entry to residential area, 3 devil heads to ward off evil spirits....and YET the castle is haunted by the "lady in white!"
One last panoramic from above before descending down into town
Streets of Český Krumlov
View of the castle from river level in Český Krumlov
The Christmas Market
The Christmas Tree in the market
Another view of the market
One of the booths - note the nutcrackers....our friend Colleen had been looking at every market for these - but she didn't come to Český Krumlov today :(
Showing off my gluhwein mug, souvenir socks & "trinket" Got a miniature "Little Mole" and socks featuring this cartoon character which apparently to the Czechs is like our Mickey Mouse!
Today was a much more leisurely day, but it was activity filled. When I first got up and left the room our room attendant said, "It's a beautiful sunrise" so I went on top and took this photo above and the one below of the local parish church. We had a later start today, as we left at 9:30 for the Gottweig Abbey which was a short drive away.
TheGottweigAbbey
Once we arrived, as we got off the bus our program Director announced, "Does anyone know what time it is.....It's WINE o'clock!" And so as we first entered the abbey we were given a small glass of their locally produced wine to enjoy while watching a ten minute video about the history of the abbey, hosted by Viking CEO and "my good friend" Karien Hagen (because you may recall I chatted with here after filming my first Viking TV video!). We then went outside and met our guide who gave us an hour long tour of the grounds, the church, the chapel, and the imperial staircase. We concluded the visit with another wine tasting - of three locally produced wines - and then had free time to kill until the busses arrived.
"Wine O'Clock" - it's how you start the day in Europe!
Scenic overview from the abbey grounds
The Church
The interior of the church
The crypt - where the monks say their evening prayers
The chapel - oldest building on the grounds, built in 1070
The Imperial Stair Case looking up
The Imperial Staircase from the top. NOTE: All the paint is the original and has NOT had to be refurbished since the 1700's!
More wine tasting :) - it IS close to noon now
Shooting my video recap - look how the fog has settled in :O
WachauValleyScenicSailing
We arrived back at the ship very shortly before lunch and Khloe and I ate with a couple we've talked with several times who are from Orlando. I got a chance to talk to my sweet wife who's still bravely working through recovery of her double knee surgery, and shortly there after we arrived at the start of the scenic Wachau Valley. I always love the sailing and this is one of my favorite sections of European rivers to sail through - second only to the Rhine River Valley. I enjoyed today's scenic sailing where it was a chilly, "Christmas-like" 43 degrees on the top deck, but I was disappointed that we didn't have even a dusting of snow. Certainly was spoiled from our 2018 trip through this valley when it was like being in a Christmas snow globe all day long. Still, seeing the vineyards, the quaint European villages with their towering churches, and especially the castle ruins made for a very enjoyable afternoon. After dinner tonight we have a Christmas tree trimming ceremony (where we get to create customized, personal ornaments for the tree in the lounge....and then take them home following the voyage). Tomorrow is our next to the last day and it's the LONGEST day of the itinerary. We'll depart the ship in the morning and cross the border into the Czech Republic to visit Český Krumlov. I'm nearly certain that the castle and small village there - as well as the scenery along the drive - will NOT be snow-covered like it was in 2018. But I'm glad it won't be as cold, because on that day six years ago it was in the teens all day and we were frozen solid by the time we returned to the bus!
The Viking Elmba - our home for the week
Heading down the Danube
The iconic blue baroque monastery tower marking the entrance to the Wachau Valley
Castle ruins on the hillside
The castle up close
The most fortified church on the Danube
One of the M-A-N-Y hillsides covered with vineyards
