I have been back for almost two weeks now and realised that I still haven’t posted the final instalment of my Danube adventure. Since I got back I have been somewhat distracted with medical stuff and the shambolic situation of the management here at Flete House (home).

We docked on the outskirts of Vienna and were taken on a coach tour which deposited us in the City centre and some “free time” to explore.

The Christmas market was already surrounding the cathedral but I headed inside to explore its gobsmacking interior

Went down into the catacombs (no photos I’m afraid) – lots of bones, sarcophagus’s and urns jars full of organs and entrails. An essential component of the embalming process apparently.

Up to the gallery at the top of one of the spires with great views over the city

Then a long walk around the surrounding area – lots of spectacular buildings and baroque churches. I had forgotten what an amazing city Vienna was and even made a pilgrimage to the Sacher hotel (home of the famous Sachertorte) for the best and most expensive chocolate cake in the world.

A visit to Palace Lichtenstein for a private performance of Strauss & Mozart’s greatest hits.

Off to the Schönbrunner Palace the next morning for full baroque OTT immersion before heading back to the ship and setting off for Budapest

Budapest

Headed downstream to Budapest where we moored just next to the Chain Bridge. I opted to do the walking/hiking excursion which entailed us being dropped off at the square below Buda Hill. Large Cathedral which it being Sunday was not open for tourists. Many of the old ruined buildings were being rebuilt at huge expense. Not popular with the locals who think that the money could be better spent elsewhere !!

We then hiked up to the top of the hill and spectacular views down over the city. Down that hill and up the next with views down to the river and the Chain Bridge.

Budapest has some fabulous buildings but still carries the shadow of having been under communist rule until 1989/90. The current Prime Minister – Victor Orban – who is not too popular and one of the main reasons that Hungary is still not in the EU is building himself a new palace complex.

Hiked down the hill and past one of the Thermal Baths that are numerous and extremely popular in Budapest. Some of my fellow travellers opted for baths rather than hike. Very sumptuous apparently!!

Back to the ship and lunch after which I went for a long walk across the bridge to Pest which is definitely the poor relative of Buda. A “last supper” then a night time cruise past the splendid parliament building and back to our mooring. I should mention that the temperature although sunny (at last!) had dropped to minus 3 by the time we huddled in duvets on the deck.

Turfed off the ship at dawn as is their wont. They have a whole new bunch other passengers arriving at noon for the trip back to Amsterdam. British Airways performed reasonably well until they landed at Heathrow and taxied across to Terminal 3 when I and my car were expecting Terminal 5!! Major sense of humour failure – best laid plans and all that…….

Made it back to Flete by about 8 pm. Collected Max the following afternoon. A very happy chap as was I. Complete managerial carnage here. But that’s a story for another day…….

Some people seem to have dropped off my follower list. So if any of you get to end of this adventure please send me a comment so that I know that you are still there.

Until the next one…… Nothing planned yet as I need to get my medical shit sorted out. However I intend to head south and sunshine in the new year.

Meanwhile the world is in a right old mess and seems hellbent on self destruction !!!

R xx

Melk Abbey and the Wachau Gorges

Moored below the very impressive Melk Abbey which is a very impressive Benedictine Abbey high on the hill overlooking the town and river.

More baroque extravagance and ceiling frescos. Only 8 monks still in residence but now home to some sort of school/college. Also a library containing one of Europes largest collection of ancient texts, book & manuscripts – no photos allowed.

Back on board as we cruise through the Wachau valley and gorges, a major wine growing area, with many castles and ruins on either side. A tad murky but you will get the idea..

Durnstein

Next stop Durstein – a small town most famous for its ruined castle perched high above it and where Richard 1st (Lionheart) was imprisoned on his way back from the crusades until, after several years, he was ransomed at vast expense and returned to England.

Having spent the whole day yesterday on board, I needed some exercise so set off for the climb up to the castle. Lots of steps and quite a lot of clambering but the views from the top were quite spectacular. A few other intrepid passengers along the made it to the top. Much huffing and puffing and by the time I made it back down the old legs were screaming!! A wander around the town on the way back to the ship. Past a history marker of flood levels. The brass plaque on the left was 2020 which must have been pretty disastrous especially for the village and community on the other bank!

Next stop will be Vienna for two days and then onto Budapest.

I have visited Nuremberg many times back in my touring days with several shows staged in the Zeppelin Field which is where Adolf Hitler and Albert Speer used to stage their infamous rally’s.

A huge amphitheater that can easily hold 150,000 people. The podium from which Adolf used to rant is still there though rather fittingly has now been converted into the public WCs!

The Stage is customarily built to face out from the tribune. However I have an enduring memory of supplying sound for Bob Dylan in the 70s where Herr Zimmerman insisted that (once we had everything set up of course!) he wanted to play towards the podium which of course we reluctantly obliged. Pink Floyd shows in the 80s & 90s and various others. So had never explored the town.

Some of my fellow cruisers chose the WW2 tour which included a visit to the infamous courtrooms. However I elected to walk around the old fortress, castle and Cathedral with lunch in the old Bratwurst restaurant and sitting in the sun.

Next stop was Rothenberg…

Rothenberg

Another old Medieval town dating way back to Roman days. Beer, Bratwurst on offer everywhere.

A very spectacular cathedral and some other Baroque churches.

We departed early evening, crossed the “continental divide” at which point we started cruising through a series of locks that take us down several hundred metres to the easterly flowing Danube.

Today spent on board while the majority went on lengthy full day excursions to Strasbourg or some quaint town in the Czech Republic. 6 hours with this lot on a bus not for me !

Awoke this morning to the news of Trump’s victory. FFS and God help us all !!!!!

After leaving Cologne we headed through the Rhine Gorge which is flanked by a multitude of Castles on either side and quite spectacular. The only problem was lousy weather and poor visibility. Managed to photograph a few

However there is a better selection from my 2021 Rhine cruise (scroll down a ways !) when the weather was considerably better.

Arrived in Rüdesheim where we headed off to Siegfried’s Mechanical Musical Instrument Museum which actually turned out to be a fascinating collection of fully restored and amazingly functional music boxes some of which were mini orchestras.

The dawn of computing with the paper and wax storage & recording systems. The first phonogram (record player) when, those of you of a certain age will remember, operated at 78 rpm .

Back to the ship via a “pit stop” for a Rudesheim coffee (rocket fuelled cappuccino) and some apfelstrudel. Headed downstream to Miltenberg, Wertheim and onto Würzburg.

We are now visiting various medieval cities along the Rhine that were almost all totally destroyed by the Allied bombing campaign at the end of WW2. Some raids that were ruthlessly carried out with clockwork precision and were comparable to what was done to Dresden. A staggering 95% of buildings were flattened with severe civilian casualties. An amazing programme of reconstruction and restoration has taken place with most now boasting the inevitable World Heritage status

All a bit of a Baroque blur but highlights include:

Wurzburg

At one point the HQ of the Holy Roman Empire whose bishops built their equivalent of Versailles. Baroque and stucco overkill ..

The obligatory Chinese couple getting married

A photo after the RAF paid them a visit in 1945….

After lunch a serious clamber up the hill to the Fortress where the Bishops were based before they built the palace.

A view down to the Palace and Scenic Crystal

Bamberg

Bamberg is another medieval town that miraculously avoided the WW2 bombing raids and survived pretty much intact.

A plaque commemorating General von Stauffenberg – executed by the Nazis for masterminding the plot to assassinate Hitler with bomb in the briefcase at the Wolf’s Lair in July 1944.

Next stop Nuremberg. Will post this now as we are just heading into some mega locks to lift us up to the Danube.