Danube River Cruise - 5/4/14

I was up at 6:00 and out on deck at 6:30 to watch us dock at Regensburg.  A busy day ahead for our intrepid band of travelers.  After breakfast, we launched into a walking tour of the City of Regensburg.

Our young guide led us throughout the old town, adjacent to the dock. A walled city, controlled by free merchants and not beholden to any other than the Holy Roman Emperor. The oldest bridge on the Danube is in Regensburg, built around 1050, and connecting with Bavaria.  The architecture is Gothic and not so much baroque as appears in other cities.  this is due mostly to the point that economic troubles hit the city in the early 16th century, and they could not afford to modernize the buildings. Therefore the structures remained the same, fortunate now, but disconcerting then.

We ended the walk and then a group of us stopped at the famous sausage restaurant at the foot of the bridge.  Legend has it that this restaurant served sausage to the workers who built the bridge.  All they serve is sausages (small ones) a sweet flavored sauerkraut, bread rolls, and homemade sweet mustard.  All washed down with local beer. The lunch was delicious.

We then rushed back to the ship to catch the afternoon tour bus to the Weltenburg benedictine monastery and a trip down the gorge of the Danube via ferry.  The monastery church was very plain looking on the outside, but inside it was a true treasure.  We had an American guide, who married a German woman, take us through the church and then explain each allegorical element of the decoration and architecture of the church.  Most interesting.

The gorge boat ride was fun and restful although one of our band took a dive up some steps and will definitely show some bruising.  Beer and ice cream on board the ferry.  Then back to the bus for the ride to the Liberation Monument, created in 1850 by King Leopold I to commemorate the victories over Napoleon and unification of Germany. Then, back on the bus and to the ship, arriving at 6:30, just in time for the evening lecture and dinner.

Dinner was very good, with lamb, St. Pierre fish (John Dory) or a vegan meal.  Afterwards to the lounge for a quartet of close harmony singers.  Deb bought the CD and Mark, Don and Ann closed the bar at 11:30.  A long day and overnight sail to arrive at Passau on Monday.

Danube River Cruise - 5/3/14

Nice night's sleep. I am up at 6:00. Showered and up to the lounge deck for coffee. Deb and I meet for breakfast in the dining room at 8:00, before leaving for the Nuremberg medieval tour at 9:30.

The tour was led by a woman from Saginaw, MI, who has married a German citizen and now lives in Nuremberg. She graduated with a degree in European History and was the smoothest and most knowledgable tour guide I have ever heard.  The City of Nuremberg was a major industrial power in the medieval era (1050 - 1550) and was a walled city of approximately 40,000 people.  The original walls are mostly still intact and the castle hill was very well defended.  We walked for an hour and one-half, covered a lot of ground, and returned to the ship at 12:15.  We departed port at precisely 12:30, being the first in a line of seven cruise ships to take off, and therefore the first to begin the series of locks leading to the continental divide. It was an enjoyable day of cruising, capped by a decent, but non-memorable meal. 

We were back in cabin by 9:30, I to sleep, and Deb to read, although she may have stayed up a little late.  We sailed all night, docking in Regensburg, DE on Sunday morning at 6:30 AM.