Bamberg has so many historically significant buildings it has been designated as a UNESCO world heritage site. Unlike towns like Frankfurt and Nuremberg, it wasn’t bombed flat in the war. So there was some honour between the combatants. Unlike the recent destruction of Petra, but that’s another story. Anyway, you can read all about Bamberg…
I mentioned before that the size of these river boats is very much dictated by the locks. There are 68 locks between Budapest and Amsterdam. Going from Budapest, the locks raise the boat. The lowest rise is 8.4 metres, but in the Main-Danube canal three of the locks EACH take the ship down 27.4m. That…
This morning we made it to Regensburg. And that meant the worries over the height (or lack thereof) of the river were over. However, the vagaries of the Main-Danube lay ahead, with a very different problem. Instead of water under the keel, the captain had to make sure the ship didn’t ride too high. Some…
We were off to visit Salzburg! But not by boat, or even by bus. We’re back to Imperial opulence. The President of the USA has Airforce 1: Emperor Franz Joseph had the Majestic Imperator, a special train for carrying him and his entourage. The train has been restored (read all about it here), and we…
Here’s the link to part 1 if you missed it. MS Amavenita pushed off at 12:45 headed through the Wachau Valley for the town and historic monastery at Melk. We were blessed with another beautiful day and quite a few of us perched on the sundeck to drink in the scenery. I’d hoped for some…
The captain dropped the moorings in Vienna just before midnight and the following dawn saw the vessel safely tied up at the lovely little village of Durnstein. I was up early and watched the sunlight redden the rocks on the hillside, then the walls of the ruined castle above the town. Remember the story of…
For our second day at Vienna we were offered three choices: A visit to the Schoenbrunn palace A visit to the stables of the Spanish Riding School’s winter quarters A visit to Bratislava I was pretty much over extravagant palaces before we started this tour. All that glitter, all that money spent on trinkets, baubles…
MS Amavenita cruised up the Danube overnight and we woke to a cold, misty morning that nevertheless gave notice of another lovely day. After cruising through countryside for a few more hours we tied up at our next destination. Vienna. Capital of the Austro Hungarian Empire from 1806 until 1918. Born in war, and died…
The Amavenita is the latest of APT’s river ships. Our cabin turned out to be smaller than it looked in the brochures, but it was more than adequate, with glass doors out onto a tiny balcony where you can watch the river go by. We had a bed, side tables, a wardrobe and a large…
We woke up to a frosty Helsinki morning* and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the Hilton before venturing out to the airport for the flight to Budapest. The moon, just past the full, was setting in the western sky and a few planes were being de-iced on the tarmac. It wasn’t even November yet. What…