I departed my home on June 22, 2009 flying into Atlanta, GA to spend a few days with my sisters and rest up for the long flight into Nuremberg.
On Thursday June 25th my sisters dropped me off at the Atlanta Airport where I met up with my friend Amy who is sharing a cabin with me on the Romantic Danube River Cruise. We flew 8.5 hours to Amsterdam, Holland where we changed planes for our one hour flight into Nuremberg where we arrived in the morning of Friday June 26th.
After going through customs we took a taxi to our hotel Nestor (cost of taxi 11, 20 Euros $18.48 USD). Centrally located we were able to walk to Old town in about 20 minutes. Our room was clean and comfortable on the 3rd floor overlooking an outdoor patio. We found two problems with our room (1) the closet was 1 foot square and (2) the shower was very small. A large person would have trouble getting in and out of the shower. We are not large by any means and we had problems getting in and out of the shower stall.
The hotel staff was friendly and helpful. We purchased wireless internet access for 12 Euros ($19.80 USD) a day. The cost of the double room was reasonable at around $120.00 USD per day. After we settled in we walked to Old Town.
We had lunch at one of the many sidewalk cafés. Our choice of food was pork shoulder with a dumpling the size of a baseball and consistency of polenta without the taste and a side dish of sauerkraut. It was very bland and we were unable to eat most of it due to lack of taste. Once we paid our bill we were off on foot to explore the market place.
Old Town is completed walled in with beautiful medieval buildings. The Cathedrals’ are magnificent. There are several water features within the walled city with massive sculptures, some are interesting and some are very opulent. Some had bronze statues and some were made of concrete.
Today after breakfast we took the train to the main train station and walked to the Natural History Museum where we saw war memorabilia (cannons, armor used by knights, 17th Century Bone China, Golden Goblets, hand carved wooden chests, passenger sleighs, paintings, long bows and other medieval instruments and 17th Century clothing.
We walked to the market place for lunch at a local bakery where we shared foccacia bread with melted cheese and salami, hot chocolate, coke and a berry pastry. Once we finished our lunch we strolled over to St. Michaels Cathedral to listen to an organ recital. It was such a nice day we stopped on our way at a Krastad grocery store for an ice cream, mine was chocolate.
We purchased some wine and cheese for dinner and caught the #9 train back to our hotel where we were up until 2 AM. We also purchased the Nuremberg Card to use on all public transportation and for discounts into Museums for 20.00 Euros ($33.00 USD)but we did not get to use them.
Today we spent half the day at the Nuremberg Airport waiting for flights to arrive so that we could load onto a motor coach for a 45 minute ride to our Viking Pride Cruise Ship on the Danube River in Nuremberg for lunch while our ship the Viking Europe sailed to Reisenberg. We were supposed to board the ship in Nuremberg, however due to high water 14 River Ships were stranded in Vienna until the water receded low enough for them to pass under the bridges.
Our cabin is a little larger than a deep water cruise ship, however we have a large picture window and storage space combined with a writing desk in the center that runs ¾’s of the length of our cabin. The beds are high enough that our suit cases feet nicely underneath.
There aren’t any inside cabins on a river cruise ship so every cabin has a view. The two upper decks have large windows (some that open) and the lowest deck has port holes that are larger than on a cruise ship and are slightly above the water level.
Our cabin shower is large enough for one person; the entire bathroom is slightly larger than on a cruise ship. Our beds are very comfortable, clean and warm. The cabin stewards clean the cabins 3 times a day. They are very helpful and friendly.
We walked 1 meter uphill to see the ruins of one of the three castles located in Reisenberg. Once we were at the top we took several pictures of the beautiful view then returned to the ship after we stopped for water and ice cream on the way back.
We were proud that we made the hike, however we missed the port talk for the next day. Dinner tonight is Fish or Breading stuffed Turkey Roll with vegetables and dessert.
Today we had a pleasant breakfast after which we took a city tour of Nuremberg visiting the Nazi Headquarters, the Old Town Kaiserberg Imperial Castle and the Market Place.
We returned to our ship at 3 pm for lunch and a lecture on the European Union about when and why different countries joined with Europe to create a super power, however not all of the countries is not willing to combine their economies and armies such as Switzerland. Tonight we are having Fish and Duck for dinner in the dining room.
Up early showered and dressed for the day. The weather this morning is sunny and warm around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. For breakfast we can choose to eat from the buffet including fresh fruit, pastries, breads, cheeses, yogurt, dry cereals, milk, soy milk, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, hash brown potatoes or we can order from the menu fresh omelets to our liking, French toast or pancakes.
Our city tour today departs at 10 am so I took my book to the top deck and read for a while. We walked along the river to the Historic District of Regensburg to St. Peter’s Cathedral, then the Jewish Synagogue. Our guide told us about the history of Hitler’s invading the city and killing the Jewish people that were not able to flee undetected.
We saw pictures of the churches being destroyed and learned about the rebuilding process.
Amy and I left the tour early to see more of the town and to have some sausages with hot mustard we have heard so much about. I walked back to ship due to swollen ankles, Amy continued to shop. The weather turned rainy again and cooler, Amy came back to the ship soaked to the bone.
Tea and pastries are served every day onboard at 3:30 pm so we joined in then returned to our cabin to check our emails. We had wireless internet onboard every day included in the price of the cruise. This is a great benefit for those who need to stay in touch during their vacations.
Lunches on board are buffet style with fresh soup, finger sandwiches of ham or salami, salads and dressings, pastries, coffee, tea or milk.
Dinners include one red meat choice or fish, rolls, vegetables’ and two choices of deserts usually ice cream or pastry.
Today we are in Passau. After breakfast we did a walking city tour and attended an organ recital at St Thomas Cathedral. We had lunch on the ship then walked up to the castle. There are 7 museums within the castle. We need to be back at the ship by 3:30 pm for our NACTA/Travel Planners meeting since this is a working vacation for us.
The picture of the door above is where the citizens of Passau were taken when they had the black plague. Their food was passed through the bars on the door. Amy and I walked up the hill to the castle above then through the 7 museums within. We were a few minutes late for our meeting but it was well worth it.
Today we are in Melk. It is a beautiful small village; unfortunately we are only here a few hours. We would have like to spend the night here so we could explore the small town. Our tour today is through the 900 year old baroque Melk Abbey. It is still a working school and monastery. We took many pictures of the Abbey and the small village. We would have liked to have taken a tour of the Wachau Valley, the heart of Austria's wine country but we were not in Melk long enough for that.
We returned to the ship for lunch and an afternoon of scenic cruising on our way to Vienna. We had an early dinner on board then departed for an optional concert tour. It was fabulous. We heard music by Mozart and Strauss and preformed by the Viennese orchestra. We also had the pleasure of hearing two opera singers perform. I am hoping to get a copy of the performance sent to me on CD. The cost of this optional tour is 57 Euros ($94.00 USD). Well worth the price!
We spent the night in Vienna. After breakfast we set off on our ½ day tour of one of Europe’s most passionate and graceful cities. We did a walking tour or Ringstrasse to see many palaces and impressive homes. We saw Hofburg Palace, St. Stephan’s cathedral and the extraordinary State Opera House. We also did a narrated walking tour of the baroque Belvedere Palace. Our guide did get a little discursive about the meaning of several paintings according to Sigmund Fraud. We would have like to spend at least two full days in Vienna.
We enjoyed our captains’ farewell dinner this evening and the wait staff dressed in period dress.
Budapest, Hungary is where we arrived this morning at 7 am. We are docked on the Pest side of the city between the Elizabeth Bridge and the Chain Bridge.
After breakfast we departed for a coach tour starting on the Pest side of the city riding along the Andrassy Ut past the Opera House to our first stop at Hero’s Square. Our guide told us about all the statues in the square and what they symbolize.
Next we drive by the Parliament building before crossing the bridge to the Buda side where we drive up to the hilltop to see the castle complex and Matthias church.
Tonight our ship’s crew celebrated our Independence Day by decorating the dining room in red, white, and blue. They served us a US Flag cake with sparklers on top. It was fun and very thoughtful.
We spent the night in Budapest and after breakfast our new friends and other guests departed for their post cruise stay in Budapest or to the airport for their flights home. Amy and I spent two more days in Budapest. We saw everything there was to see on our first day so we went back to Hero’s Square to one of the Museums and took the “Hop On Hop Off” tour pass for 4,000 Ft ($20.00 USD) per person to go back to places we wanted to visit. We did not know at the time that the Museums are all closed on Mondays so we spent the day walking around different shops and retiring early since we had an early flight home. We departed our hotel at 4 am for the 1 ½ hour drive to the airport. I had four legs on my journey home flying from Budapest to Amsterdam, from Amsterdam to Detroit, from Detroit to Atlanta and from Atlanta to San Diego home. I also lost my suitcase in Atlanta and they are still looking for it six days later. I hope they find it because I cannot remember everything I packed in it. I did fax over a lost baggage claim but left 6 items off of it. They informed me that it may take up to 7 weeks to receive compensation for my lost baggage.
To see more pictures of our Viking River Cruise “Romantic Blue Danube” click on the link below.
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