Our cruise continues amid the possibility of either being restricted or cancelled due to the unprecented drought in Europe and low river levels. Before we left home we knew that we would be changing boats after day 7 with the possibility of spending the last two nights in hotels. Well we have the best possible We are changing boats after our visit to Regensburg and again after Miltenberg. Strangely the boat that we will be boarding in Dusseldorf will be the Scenic Pearl which should have been our original boat but as it was upstream it could not get to Budapest so we board the Scenic Jewel. When we left Budapest we sailed over a section where there was only 40 centimetres of water underneath us. We are now on the Opal. The logistics behind all of this is amazing.
This morning we are docked in Durnstein and we could walk into town for a wander around to look at this small village. Overlooking the village is the remnants of a castle where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned but we didnt climb up. We returned to the boat and watched the cyclists head off for
their ride into Melk. Our boat left 45 minutes late as we were blocked in by other boats. We set sail down the Danube through the beautiful Wachau Valley, a major wine growing region.Lots of terraced vineyards. We docked in Melk and visited the 18th century Benedictine Abbey which dominates the landscape above the town. It contains the remains of several of the house of Babenberg, Austrias first ruling dynasty. It was founded in 1089 and a monastic school was established in the 12th century. The current Abbey was built in and is renowned for its manuscript collections housed in 12 libraries. Magnificent inside and out.
Today we were on a coach to Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart. There were many references to the Sound of Music as lots of filming was done in Salzburg. Our guide told us the true and false aspects of the movie including the falsified ending. They did not flee but toured Europe performing in many cities before settling in the US. We continued on our tour of this lovely but very busy city. We were intrigued by the signs outside some shops, some of which were
over 400 years old, that indicated the goods sold in the shop. They began as most people were illiterate so pictorial signs were best. It is against the law to remove them but they can be adapted to indicate the current occupant. I have included a picture of the Golden Arches. After our visit to the city we drove to a restaurant overlooking the city where we had lunch and a musical performance dedicated to the Sound of Music, Strauss and Bavarian music and instruments. The children who performed were delightful and funny.
As we could not dock in Regensburg due to the river levels we were on the bus again. We actually drove past the part of the Danube that is the low point preventing boats to continue up or down. They need one more lock to regulate the flow but local politics has stopped it so far. We had an early lunch at a Brewhouse and then met our guide for a walking tour of the city starting at the Roman Wall. We continued to the Iron Bridge which covers the river. Close to the bridge is
a sausage kitchen which opened in 1135 to feed the workers building the bridge. it is still open today selling the famous Regensburg sausages. The old town area is UNESCO protected. The city square is dominated by the St Peters Cathedral which took 250 years and is currently under renovation.
Today we moved to our new boat, the Scenic Opal. It was a long 3 hour bus trip with a fair bit of traffic. We have a different room number and so are on the other side of the boat. A quick lunch then on the bus for our trip into Nuremberg and a city tour culminating in a tasting of their sausages in a roll and beer. The different cities all have a slightly different recipe for their sausages and all have the best. 9 out of 10 houses were destroyed here during WWII.
