The Main River canal system that connects the Rhine River to the Danube River works well until you get close to Regensburg. That’s where the Danube has no dams and locks and is therefore considered “wild”.

The “wild” section has roads and buildings on both sides of the river but without the dams and locks the water level is “natural” which means it is often too low or too high to transit. When we reached the “wild section” it was too low for larger barges and cruise ships to get through. Tauck ships are newer and float about a foot higher, so our ship barely made it after unloading almost all of the passengers and the expelling all of the ballast that helps the boat remain very stable while cruising or at a dock.

To transit the “wild” section, a special river pilot took the helm through the shallow waters, and got through, although the side and bottom of our boat got scraped a bit. Most of the other river cruise ships had to wait for higher water.

It seems crazy to us that after investing in this remarkable river and canal system that goes across Europe, they leave this one section without a dam and locks which creates chaos for the whole system. Although we believe in keeping some rivers “wild” we think that makes the most sense where the river runs through a national park or “wild” lands, not where there are roads and buildings all along the so-called “wild” section.

Because we had to leave the ship while it traveled slowly down the “wild” Danube, we were off the boat for over 12 hours. We left early in the morning on the bus and had lots of time to kill before meeting up with the bus on the other side of the “wild” river. That being said, we really liked Regensburg.

Our local walking guide had a lovely voice and narrative style as we walked across the famous 1,000-year-old stone bridge into town. He pointed out the “stumbling stones” as we walked by.

“Stumbling stones” are a Europe-wide project by artist Guter Demnig, commemorating victims of the Nazi regime by installing small copper plaques on the street in front of homes where the Nazis arrested local Jews, gays, protestors and other “undesirables” showing the date of the arrest (the Nazis kept very good records of such things). Students and others do the research on local victims and then volunteers install the plaques. We passed two of these in Regensburg and when we rendezvoused with the ship in Vilshofen later and walked around we spotted more.

After connecting with fellow passengers we went looking for and found the modern Synagogue in Regensburg, which is only a few blocks from the original Jewish area where about 500 Jews lived until the early 1500’s, when all of the Jews were forced to leave the town with only 4 days notice, and their entire community, including the small temple, was razed to the ground, creating a new “plaza.” A church was eventually built a few hundred years later in about a quarter of the plaza. Very recently archeologists discovered the foundation of the old little synagogue, and now there is little sculpture park there, where visitors can rest and contemplate what happened long ago and what is still happening around the world today.

We also visited the Thurn and Taxis Palace which is still in use today. The family made its money originally by coming up with a pony express type system for delivering mail throughout Europe. But this modern royal family seems to have all the “drama” issues that plague so many other modern royals. That said, their palace has lots of nice things and the Venetian Chandelier in particular was amazing. This picture below doesn’t do it justice. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside but we got this from a gift store brochure.

After the tour we had quite a bit of free time and I was a bit droopy after getting the cold that Jim got on our first day on the boat and that has been circulating among all of the passengers, crew and townspeople we have visited. As we were looking for a nice place to eat lunch we passed a pho restaurant and that called out to me. The perfectly spiced curry soup soothed my cold and gave us both the energy we needed to explore some more. We did a little shopping and stopped for what turned out to be the perfect chocolate ganache cake (with ice cream for Jim of course!). We were looking for a place that had a nice bathroom and a sweet treat. The “Alex” brand restaurant was just what we were looking for.

After we got back on the bus to leave Regensburg we headed to a strange place called Vallhalla. Created in the early 1800’s to house busts of important German speaking people, it is a “modern” version of a Greek temple on a hill overlooking the Danube with spectacular views. There are only names on the busts without any additional information in either text or audio, and only 3 women (Mother Theresa, another nun, and Sophie Scholl who protested against the Nazis as part of the “White Rose” non-violent resistance movement in Germany. After she was caught distributing anti-Nazi pamphlets at the University of Munich, she was arrested and executed by guillotine. She was 21 years old.

The view from the building is wonderful and I still had the energy to walk down and up the steps.

Once we were back on the bus we heard that the ship was delayed even more than expected so we were going to have to kill even more time in Vilshofen. By this time it was almost 6 and we were all ready to be done. In Tauck fashion our guides offered to get us a snack at a nearby restaurant to help pass the time waiting for our ship to arrive from its “wild river” transit.

The next day, we skipped the walking tour of Passau and slept in. After we got up, we strolled around a bit and met up with our group before the organ concert in the remarkable St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Half of the organ is under repair so the sound was less than amazing but still dramatic and the baroque cathedral is spectacular.

Now we are under way again as we make our way to Melk Abbey. The sun is shining and Jim and I did our yoga and are watching the world slowly go by as we cruise down the Danube.

Melk Abbey and a truly peaceful afternoon.

It’s hard to pick a favorite day on this trip, but our visit to Melk Abbey and then cruising down the Danube through the Wachau Valley has been our favorite so far.

We’ve visited many palaces and churches but Melk Abbey and the town of Melk was special. Some of the palaces were more oppulent. But this place was alive. It is home to a middle and high school, an active monastery, remarkable library, and the sounds of children’s laughter fill the beautiful garden.

Our guide was a former student and described the school as a Latin Hogwarts. She guided us through the new museum creatively curated with a mixture of modern design displaying the history and treasures of the building illustrating the history of the building.

After the tour we strolled through the quaint town of Melk and tasted and purchased some Apricot Gin. This will sustain us after we leave the ship as we explore Budapest and beyond.

From Melk the ship cruised slowly to Vienna. Our weather finally shifted to some rain, but Jim and I headed up to the hot tub and soaked through the slow rain and sun. We drank and munched and totally relaxed. Those of you who know me well know that I don’t chill often. But this time I did and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon.

Because we rested during the day we had the energy to stay up in the lounge and enjoy singing and dancing with our shipmates.

Vienna (Wien)

Yesterday, we were in Vienna for one day and one remarkable evening. This was not enough in anyway. Jim and I just didn’t know what to expect in Vienna. Our guide was wonderful but I was overwhelmed with the lack of time versus what I wanted to explore. Obviously, we will have to return to Vienna.

We did a quick bus tour, then a walking tour and we chose the tour of “Sissy” Palace. It was crowded, but interesting. Empress Elizabeth’s story is tragic. She was married at 16, and although Emperor Franz-Joseph loved her, she was totally unprepared for the demands of a “royal” life and lived a tragic and depressing life until she was mistakenly assassinated while traveling in Italy at age 64. Her rose garden, however, was in full bloom and quite beautiful.

After the palace tour we got a quick overview of the old city, including a quick glimpse of the Lipizzaner stallions. I loved this view of the horse getting red light therapy after a workout. Our physical therapist has suggested that Jim try red light therapy. If it works for the Lipizzaners I think it will work for my stallion!

The highlight of our visit to Vienna is the extremely special Palais Pallavicini dinner and entertainment. We all dressed up in our finest clothes and rode our coach to the (exclusive to Tauck and other special state visitors) event. We walked up the beautiful entrance and wide stairway and entered the second story ballroom where we were served a lovely meal, lots of wine and were entertained by musicians, dancers and opera singers.

As I write this we are again in the forward lounge cruising to Bratislava in Slovakia. Behind the iron curtain. Bratislava and Vienna are the closest capitals in Europe. They are an hour apart by car and only 4 hours by boat.

We are both looking forward to the history lecture before the tour.

Dovidonia