We were advised that, due to the long dry summer in Europe, river levels are low, affecting boat traffic. Thus, our cruise start has been changed from Nurnberg to Passau; today we take a 2.5 hour bus trip to the new embarkation site. Yesterday, we spent most of the day on the move from Zakopane to Nurnberg. We had a bus trip to the Kraków airport. Dawn & I played ping pong in the airport recreation area while waiting for our flight. Then we had a scare when our flight to Warsaw was delayed. Finally got to our hotel in Nurnberg at 7:30pm.
This will be our first river cruise. Plenty of storage space in our cabin, and the cruise is all-inclusive which should make it very relaxing. Today we toured Regensburg in the morning and toured a BMW factory in the afternoon. Regensburg has a typical old town center with structures over 1000+ years old, including a huge cathedral which is in a constant state of repair due to weathering of its stone exterior. A Roman fortress was originally located here. A stop at the Straubing brewery was included as a separate excursion. Samples of many different beers were included. It was explained that beer was very important in previous times because it is sterile while the drinking water was usually contaminated.
A side channel of the Danube at Regensburg. We parked here and crossed a walking bridge to get to the old town center.
We rode bicycles along the river from Passau and made a stop to take pictures of our riverboat as it passed by us on the Danube; then rejoined it at the next stop.
Our riverboat is in the lower left corner of the photo; note how low the river level is. We are docked at Spitz.
The BMW factory is extremely modern and efficient, producing a vehicle every 57 seconds. At many stages of production, robots do the entire assembly, welding & painting. Humans get more involved when installing the interior. They produce many different models from the same assembly line. Each frame has a computer module attached which specifies all options to be included. All cameras and cell phones had to be placed in lockers prior to beginning the BMW factory tour; pictures verboten!
We really enjoyed the small town of Spitz: beautiful wine country. We walked the town, the vineyards, and then hiked up a steep ridge overlooking the entire area.
The ruins of a castle at Spitz. The Danube river is to the left.
Seasonal weather has finally arrived: overcast with a high of 50 degrees; but that is good weather for hiking or biking. We did a 17-mile bike ride along the Danube Saturday; meeting with our riverboat at its next stop. Sunday morning we hiked all around the Austrian village of Spitz, a wine region. A steep ridge overlooks the village, the river, and the remains of an old castle.
Vienna was the big disappointment of our trip. The weather there was very foggy and cold; we only made a brief trip into the city. We walked from Schwedenplatz to the Stadt park, visited the grand cathedral at Stephensplatz, then returned to our starting point. The cathedral is surrounded closely by other large buildings; thus, it is difficult to stand back and frame a picture of the entire cathedral. I am sure Vienna has many beautiful features (I can see them on the city map), but we didn't want to see it looking out the windows on a long bus tour, and the weather was poor for extensive walking and sightseeing.
The weather was still warm enough in this river valley for flowers to be blooming.
The cathedral at Stephansplatz, Vienna. The city was busy with people everywhere despite the foggy, cool weather.
This will be our first river cruise. Plenty of storage space in our cabin, and the cruise is all-inclusive which should make it very relaxing. Today we toured Regensburg in the morning and toured a BMW factory in the afternoon. Regensburg has a typical old town center with structures over 1000+ years old, including a huge cathedral which is in a constant state of repair due to weathering of its stone exterior. A Roman fortress was originally located here. A stop at the Straubing brewery was included as a separate excursion. Samples of many different beers were included. It was explained that beer was very important in previous times because it is sterile while the drinking water was usually contaminated.
The BMW factory is extremely modern and efficient, producing a vehicle every 57 seconds. At many stages of production, robots do the entire assembly, welding & painting. Humans get more involved when installing the interior. They produce many different models from the same assembly line. Each frame has a computer module attached which specifies all options to be included. All cameras and cell phones had to be placed in lockers prior to beginning the BMW factory tour; pictures verboten!
Seasonal weather has finally arrived: overcast with a high of 50 degrees; but that is good weather for hiking or biking. We did a 17-mile bike ride along the Danube Saturday; meeting with our riverboat at its next stop. Sunday morning we hiked all around the Austrian village of Spitz, a wine region. A steep ridge overlooks the village, the river, and the remains of an old castle.
Vienna was the big disappointment of our trip. The weather there was very foggy and cold; we only made a brief trip into the city. We walked from Schwedenplatz to the Stadt park, visited the grand cathedral at Stephensplatz, then returned to our starting point. The cathedral is surrounded closely by other large buildings; thus, it is difficult to stand back and frame a picture of the entire cathedral. I am sure Vienna has many beautiful features (I can see them on the city map), but we didn't want to see it looking out the windows on a long bus tour, and the weather was poor for extensive walking and sightseeing.
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