River Cruise Day 4, Melk and Durnstein

     I have to say there is never a dull moment here on the River Beatrice.  Every day is chuck full of activities.  After arriving in Melk late last night we awoke early and headed out to the Melk Abbey a Benedictine monastry that is still in use today.  I did not expect it to be so massive.

We first took a tour of the gardens that surrounds the Abbey.  We didn't see all of it otherwise we would have had no time to tour the inside

Once we visted the residence hall of the Abbey we headed into the beautiful Cathedral.  Another gorgeous and impressive site. All around the Cathedral were these tombs and remains of Saints that had no name so they renamed them.  I thought it was all very confusing but I guess the Monks know what they are doing.  Here is Clemens

Mother and I headed back onto the ship while the boys jumped on some bicycles.  We sailed through Austria's wine country, while the boys pedaled through it.  Personally I think that we had the better time but when we met up again they said they really liked their bike ride.

The picture above is of Devil's rock it was named this during the crusades all around is lush greenary.  The crusaders believed that the devil had pushed all these rocks here to prevent their passage.

We then arrived in the town on Durnstein and headed over to a winery and vineyard for a tour and wine tasting.

Above is one of the barrels they age the wine in. Below is the picture of the wooden press they use to press the grapes, and they still do it by hand, it takes 24hrs of constant wheel turning.  They have a party that day and all take turns on the wheel.  

Then we tried three different white wines that they made.  All were very good.

We returned to the center of town in Durnstein.  James and I headed out for some shopping while mother went back to the ship to rest up for dinner.  

James told me that we were climbing up to this castle tonight which is where Richard the Lion Heart was once held captive.  

Tomorrow we will be in Vienna.

River Cruise Day 3, Salzburg and Linz

Today was a very long but enjoyable day.  We started out very early from Linz to take a two hour bus tour to Salzburg where The Sound of Music was filmed and the birthplace and home of Mozart.  

It was a lovely drive through the countryside of Austria and we stopped at a lake for a quick photo before heading on to Salzburg.

Once we arrived at Salzburg our group had a special concert given by Elizabeth VonTrapp the daughter of Kurt Vontrapp.  She had an amazing voice.

From here our guide brought us all along the city showing us all the sites and filling our minds withso much history about Salzburg I felt like I was back in Mr. Stankus's history class at Presentation of Mary.  It was a little overwhelming unless you really love history but good to know.

This is Mozart's home

This is Mozart's birthplace.  As a side note they have a specialized candy here called Mozart's balls. We all had one and I have to say Mozart's balls are pretty tasty.

We stopped for a photo by the famous fountain in Salzburg's square where Maria splashed the water from the horses mouth in The Sound of Music

We did a little shopping and took a picture of this famous McDonald's sign.  As you can see it doesn't resemble the typical sign or colors and that is because each sign in this square must be approved by the city. And it must have a certain look to it.

We also snapped a picture of the oldest cafe in the world

We headed over to the Do Re Mi Garden and grabbed some great photos

Here are the trees they sang in and out of

Once an ballerina always a ballerina. Of course I found and replicated this statue

There were a ton of artist set up outside painting this very picturesque scene of the city.

All in all we had a great day.

Once back in Linz James, James Jr. and myself headed out to Linz to see a few things while mother rested back in the room.

James is enjoying an Austrian donut.

An incredible gothic cathedral is situated here in Linz and can hold 18,000 people. Lots of Catholics here in Austria.

After dinner we listened to an all girl cover band who sung songs from the 40's mostly by the Andrew Sisters.

Mother's drink of choice tonight was Drambuie neat. I guess she's planning on getting a good nights sleep before we arrive in Melk!

River Cruise Day 2. Passau, Germany

     Mother and I did so much today taking a walking tour of Passau, while the boys took a bike ride along the Inn River.  I hope I can remember to include everything that we saw.  We started our tour in town with these remarkable  umbrellas decorating the streets.  They were painted by the school children and the cobble stones were painted red and white to represent the colors of the town.

From here we walked to the town hall. Marked on it's wall was the flood lines for all the years that the Danube overflowed.  The most recent was 2013 where is came up to the second story of all the buildings. 

We then walked over to the Inn River.  Across from this river is the Church of St. Mary which is a pilgrimage church comprised of 321 steps and you must say a prayer on each step as you walk up.

We then walked back through the town and stopped at the executioners house.  Luckily he wasn't home so we were safe.  Side note its now used as a night club for the younger generation

While we were enjoying the sites around Passua the boys were having fun biking along The Inn river into Austria and back again

Here they are about to cross into Austria

Our guide then brought us to St. Stephan's to listen to an organ concert.  The boys met up with us here.  It is home to the world's largest cathedral organ.

After a quick lunch we headed back out to do some shopping I had a few Euros burning a hole in my pocket.  

We made it back on the ship just in time.  They were literally bringing up the gangplank as we were walking up it, and off we went to cruise to our next port, Linz.  We enjoyed a nice blue champagne cocktail on the top deck as we cruised down the blue Danube.  FYI its more green then blue.

We went through our first lock too.  

The mermaid of the Danube is Isabel after we passed through the lock there is a small chapel erected as a memorial to people who lost their lives to the Danube and on the other side is a statue of Isabel

After a fantastic dinner on board the ship we have made it to Linz!

River Cruise aboard River Beatrice, Day 1 Arrival

     After a long day of travel that started on Saturday night my travel companions (Mother, James, and James Jr.) and I finally arrived in Passau, Germany.  The flights went without a hitch and with the help of mother we passed through the long lines with ease as she just kept going in the first class lines and then feigning senitlity.  It was great!  The only minor annoyance we encountered was our flight from London to Munich.  James and I had two very ill behaved children sitting behind us.  Going on just two hours of airline sleep and one hour of back massage thanks to the person behind me kicking my seat I finally got up and sat in the empty row next to me.  

     We had a light lunch on board the ship, unpacked, took a nap on the top sundeck, went to our saftey seminar, then dinner.  After dinner James and I took a walk around Passau.  James Jr. and Mother decided to stay in and rest.  We've got a very busy day tomorrow!

                                                        The boys getting ready for their nap

                                                   Enjoying a glass of wine on the Sundeck

                                      Don't worry I found the lifejackets

                                               The view from our room

       Heading out for our night walk around Passau

                                         The fortress lit up at night

                                           Just the top of St. Stephen's visible at night

                                                  Heading back onto the ship for the night