Rolling on the river...

Rolling down hill now as we've crossed the European watershed.  I tried to take a photo of the monument that marks the spot but I must have blinked and missed it.

Several more pleasant days have included all the staples of European holidays - castles, cathedrals and beer.  Our visit to Regensburg included a wander through the cobblestone streets and lanes and we also visited the gothic cathedral where the medieval stained glass windows were a highlight.  They were removed during the war years and stored elsewhere.

As you can see the photo belongs to A.N.Other.

 As we set sail I thought that Mr Strauss had clearly been at the absinthe or picking the "special" mushrooms in the forest!  The confluence of the Inn, Ilz, and the Danube Rivers shows how different the colours are.  None of them even remotely blue.

The brown water is the Danube, the greeny brown is the Inn.

We skipped the optional (ie give us all your money) Saltzburg day trip for what turned out to be a private tour to Engelszell Abbey - and we have now ticked off the only Austrian Trappist Brewery from Matt's To Do list. It would have been silly not to as we were moored in Passau, only 30 km away.  We were welcomed so warmly by Jenny (the brewery office manager) who showed us over the brewery and had a long discussion with Matt about their favourite Brews.  We also took time to visit the church which was incredibly ornate.  In glass coffins were the remains of four saints, dressed in gold and jewels.  Sadly we could see that some areas of the church were in desperate need of repair so I made sure I bought a candle for their restoration fund.  Matt made sure he bought some beer!  He said he'd drink it before we disembark so we didn't have to carry it.  A truly noble gesture.  Interior church photos stolen from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engelszell_Abbey  

Dead people wrapped up in gold and jewels

Matt contemplates Engelszell Abbey as we sail past, wondering why his beer with lunch wasn't as tasty as that made by monks.

The next stops were more medieval towns and abbeys - Melk and Dürnstein. We've seen a number of towns which were dominated by bishop-princes in the medieval era and several of us discussed over lunch how they were beautiful but enraged us at the same time.

Waiting to be admitted to Melk Abbey.

Despite the vulgar display of wealth I would quite like one of these rooms...

The conspicuous flaunting of obscene wealth while keeping the illiterate peasants firmly in their places (and hard at work) goes a long way to explaining why Lutheranism was a political as well as religious movement!  Our Vienna guide yesterday told us that still the Catholic Church in Austria demands all Catholics (not just regular church-goers) over 18 tithe a portion of their income - you actually have to resign from being a member of the church in order to be exempted.  Despite the hefty entrance fee we paid to tour Melk there were donation boxes everywhere.  Shame a few of those euros couldn't be shared with little Engelszell just down the river which had obvious programs in place to help the less privileged and really needed some restoration work!

We cruised on to Durnstein, a tiny and picturesque town famous for once hosting King Richard the Lionhearted.  Well, the castle dungeon did.

They've run out of space to bury local people at Durnstein so the bodies have been dug up (and the bones are stored in a crypt just out of shot) while new bodies are interred in the family plot

Up there on the hill is the castle Richard the Lionhearted was imprisoned in.  I'm ashamed at Matt forgetting his legends, he asked me why the inn was called The Blonde Singer.  See https://historyandsoon.wordpress.com/2015/10/25/music-for-a-captured-king-richard-the-lionheart-and-blondel/ for the details

Not a Blue Castle, but a Blue Tower.

A morning exploring Vienna meant a coach trip and a walk around the most famous sights of the old city.  The highlight was a visit (with food and wine tastings) to the naschmarket.

Two views of the stunning art nouveau Secession Building (aka The Golden Cabbage) where Klimt's Beethoven Frieze is on display.  Just another thing we need to come back for.

We also saw a blue rabbit.  The things that help you find your way...

We also took time out from being organised by others and did our own thing which meant a visit to the lovely castle at Kreuzenstein.  The area was easy enough to reach by train - but the castle is 2.7 km from the station and there is no public transport.  It's a quite pleasant walk but one way at least it's all uphill!

We missed the guided tour we'd planned to join and had to hang around for an hour.  Oh the hardship.

A real (restored from the ruin the Swedes left it in) medieval castle.  As usual, no photos were allowed inside but it was very cool.  

Tomorrow sees our last day, cruising in Budapest.  We've certainly had a fun and busy time (and to think we took a cruise because we thought they were EASY!) !  We've had a slight change of plans as the ferry we were booked on has been cancelled - so Monday will be a long travel day to Split in order to have a scant week on the Dalmation coast.  Unsure what sort of wifi we'll find there too! 

We are enjoying the responses from our friends and family who have read about our exploits - they arrive via email, on the blog and on facebook.  I just don't know how people who blog daily ever find the time!!!

All the rivers run

The last few days have been a fantastic (and full-on) mix of cruising and visiting Places Of Interest.
A visit to Wurzburg offered a walking tour around the gardens of the Residence (Palace) and old town.

The gardens on the old walls were beautiful and offered a mix of formal/French style and informal/English styles of landscaping.

There was fascinating art everywhere in the town - both ancient and modern and our guide told us the town was well known for its distinctive wine bottles, known as bocksbeutel (translates as billy-goat's bags).  The only other place bottles this shape are used is in Portugal by Mateus.  We managed a quick tasting and it's a lovely dry wine - so dry that they're called Fränkisch trocken, dryer than the usual trocken style.


The afternoon saw us taking an optional excursion to Rothenburg.  We're so glad we did, it really was one of the most fascinating towns we've visited! 

The massive city walls could also be climbed

The herb garden outside where the castle once stood had statues for the seasons and the graces

View from the city wall

Where he doesn't try beer Matt samples the local sausages!

Rothenburg really is stunning and we have to go back just so I can visit the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum.

Ducking cage for bakers who sold underweight loaves

Part of the wall was damaged by bombs and has been rebuilt.  Plaques name financial contributors from all over the world.

Back on board we sailed overnight to Bamberg, one of the few German cities which wasn't bombed and as a result has a World Heritage Listing.  Our tour showed the just highlights of the old town.

Being Sunday all the shops were closed and all the beergardens were open.  Matt tried the local beer at the brewery,  Schlenkerla.  Rauchbier (smoked beer) is disgusting.  Like drinking a bushfire.

Today's tour had sections on modern and medieval history.  Highlight of the commentary was the guide telling us "Nuremberg is not an ancient city, it was first mentioned in 1140 when construction began on the castle." Our first stop was a more recent erection, Zeppelin Field where the stage that Hitler addressed Nazi rallies from has been retained in order that the history of the era is not forgotten.  We also drove past the evil regime's  "Congress Hall", modeled after the Colosseum in Rome, now used by the government for Immigration and Refugee resettlement.

After reflecting on the lessons of modern history the tour went back to Nuremberg's earliest days as we tripped up the coblestones to the castle - and down again to the town.

Castle tower

Sumptuary laws restricted what you could wear or even how you decorated your house.  These little cabinets were allowed as their original purpose was for religious contemplation

Life is a journey that ends.

This afternoon we traveled through some of Europe's biggest locks and over some aqueducts, we expect to reach the watershed soon and start going downhill again.  We're now half way through our cruise and are planning our next river trip!

going up...(24.7 metres)
(82 feet Matt says.
What are these feet
of which he speaks?)

and up...

and the top pops into view!

in some spots the road goes under the canal!

We found Jesus in the Attic

Matt suggested that title of this post and I love it.  It's a kind of twist on a house church we visited in Amsterdam. "Our Lord in the Attic Museum".  Three C17 houses with the top stories given over to a Catholic church.  Such an interesting place, it even had a pipe organ!  Apparently even after the Catholic church was chucked there was freedom of religion - so while the churches and cathedrals changed denomination, churches set up and privately run were OK.  Downstairs was three separate homes (including the priest's house) while the upstairs floors had been converted.

Photo stolen from https://www.opsolder.nl/en/discover-house/attic-church because no photography was permitted inside the museum.

We later boarded our ship, TravelMarvel Diamond, our home for the next 15 days.  Y'all know I get sea sick crossing the road so let us draw a polite line under my stomach and move on...

A windmill in Old Amsterdam.  No little mouse wearing clogs to be seen.

We cruised overnight and awoke in Cologne where, after a morning visit to Augustburg Palace and a far too brief trip to Falconlust Hunting Lodge for some Rococo brilliance we had the afternoon to visit the chocolate museum.  Oh and we did manage a visit to the astonishing Kolner Dom as well, truly one of the most magnificent churches I've ever seen.

Gardens at Augustburg through the windows upstairs - again, no photos allowed of the interior to preserve the colours from flash lights.

The next day we awoke to find ourselves in the beautiful Rhine Gorge where we drank coffee on the sundeck and took many many, photos of castles and towns.  None of the men on board were tempted to a watery grave by the singing of the Lorelei.  OK I confess, I was disappointed. 

Afternoon found us visiting the fascinating museum of mechanical musical instruments in Rudesheim.  All sorts of marvels were demonstrated to us, from tiny mechanical singing birds to entire orchestras!

Organ Grinder or monkey?

 

Of course the highlight of the cruise so far was the Abba tribute show in the lounge.  We did wonder what the non-Australian guests made of that!  :-)



Cruising today was a relaxing way to spend a rainy day, bird and castle spotting.

 

We're having a lovely holiday and cruising really is an easy way to see the world without having to unpack more than once.  And I'm NOT the youngest passenger on board as I feared I might be.  I'm the second youngest!

Onwards to Amsterdam

We're both sorry we didn't have more time to spend in Belgium.  Generally the people we've spoken to have been lovely.  I've had some very nice glasses of wine, and Matt, of course has LOVED the beer.

We spent several days staying in a lovely  apartment just off the Big Square

Our evening view

Matt thought the ceiling was a bit low...

 We took a tour with Steven from Wings and reached most of the local Trappist Breweries.  My favourite part of that was exploring the ancient ruins at Orval. 

I think we all know what Matt liked best. :-) 

Brewing Museum

 

 

We also stayed for several days in beautiful Bruges - in fact if we could have stayed an extra night we would have but our hotel was already booked out.  Once again we were right near the old part of town and we spent many hours wandering around.  The local tourist commission has an excellent ap which allowed us to plan our walk and view information about various sites off line - meaning no need to carry a map or our guide book!  There were so many sites of interest we didn't get to see that we think we'll need to plan another trip.

Our last night in Belgium was a very quick trip to Antwerp before we caught the train onwards to Amsterdam.   Our hotel room is lovely with a big shower - and the STEEPEST staircase I've ever seen!  We spent the afternoon catching up on a few essential chores and for dinner took in a rijasttafel.  Enormous amounts of food and so nice to have something spicy again!  (And no, I don't mean the Amsterdam sort of spicy, I mean the Indonesian sort!) 

Two kinds of sate, prawn curry, beef curry, chicken curry, vegies in coconut milk, gado gado, pickles, toasted coconut, tempeh, prawn crackers, steamed rice.  All this for two people?

We walked back after dinner through the red-light district which was certainly an eye opener!  And I confess I did spend several minutes wondering who I could buy the his and hers naked, 3D, anatomically correct BBQ aprons for...



We have this morning to explore independently before joining our ship for the next leg of our journey, a river cruise to Budapest.  I'm disappointed we were unable to purchase tickets for Anne Frank House (they were sold out when I tried over a month ago) so we'll see where we end up!