Our Viking River Cruise

We passed by the Continental Divide at night and Chuck was able to get this photo as we passed by. Actually the plaque marking the site is on the ground to the left of the right set of 3 white poles. The large granite wall is an art installation.

One of the locks we passed through.

A lock we passed through at night. The high concrete walls are visible as the water level is being lowered.

The view of the lock wall from our balcony. Actually the boat got much closer to the side than this, often just inches away.

This isn’t our boat but all of the Viking longboats are identical so ours looks exactly like this one. Just don’t bother zooming in and looking for Chuck, because he’s not there.  And if he is, well then I’ve missed the boat.

Most of the sun deck is covered with chairs, tables, and umbrellas that are constantly moved around based on the activities on the deck.

The sun deck was one of Chuck’s favorite places on the boat. An unobstructed view.

This photo shows how everything on the sun deck has been lowered in anticipation of approaching a low bridge.

The roof over the lobby is glass so when you’re on the sun deck, where this photo was taken, you can see people below. Chuck was walking on the sun deck one evening and took this photo of me working  at one of the computer stations.

This is one side of the dining room, so try to imagine this area 4 times larger. There are tables for 6, 8, and 10, so you meet new people at every meal, especially in the beginning.

This is the Aquavit Terrace at the front of the boat. When the weather is nice, people can eat either inside or outside. But when it’s cold outside, like it was on our trip, then people only eat inside, where there are 2 tables for 2 and 3 tables for 4. For breakfast, this is where the Continental Breakfast is available. For lunch and dinner, the same menu is available here and in the dining room.

This is a portion of the lounge which had a bar in the middle and was huge. There was a really talented singer/pianist who was seemingly glued to that piano behind the post 24/7.  The lounge is where the nightly entertainment happened and it was also where ship meetings were held although you could also see those meetings on the TVs in the staterooms.

Our stateroom was on the Upper Deck. This photo shows the staircase that went from the Upper Deck to the Middle Deck. The Dining Room was on the Middle Deck while the Aquavit Terrace and the Lounge were on the Upper Deck. There were staterooms on the Upper Deck, the Middle Deck and the Main Deck. And there’s an elevator that goes between the Middle Deck and the Upper Deck. The reception area was on the Middle Deck while the Library and the Computer Stations were on the Upper Deck.

This is our boat’s front door on the middle deck. This is usually where the ramp was lowered when we left the ship for excursions. However, depending on the circumstances, we could also disembark from the sun deck or the upper deck.  And every time we left, we had to scan our room keycard so they would know who was on the boat and who wasn’t. And they handed us a bottle of water on our way out.  Sometimes when there were several boats like ours in port, they lined us up together side by side and we had to walk crosswise through another ship to get out. And when we had our drapes open, we were looking right into another cabin. It was kind of weird, but infrequent.

This was one of my favorite places on board – the coffee bar. The coffee machine had 8 different beverages including several coffees, hot chocolate, and hot water for tea. I WANT ONE OF THESE! And on the left, 2 trays of fresh pastries showed up first thing in the morning and during the rest of the day, freshly baked cookies appeared regularly.

Nice library considering the size of the ship, with books curated just for the ports we were visiting.

Once I realized that the wifi in our room would never support my blog in a timely manner and my tablet was giving me fits, this area right next to the library and across the hall from our room became my second home. And luckily it was just down the hall from the coffee and cookie station. It just doesn’t get any better than that.

We had a great balcony. Our room was in the middle of the boat, the first room at the start of the hall  leading to the rooms, which turned out to be a really great location.

The literature said these are queen-sized beds but I really think they’re closer in size to our king bed at home.  Each night when we came back from dinner, the newsletter for the next day and our tickets for the next day’s excursions had been placed on our bed.

The amount of storage in these rooms is amazing. In this storage area are a refrigerator (the far left panel with one door handle) and 6 drawers. There’s a big mirror in this area which really helps make the room look larger too. There’s also a TV here where you can find everything you need to know about this cruise as well as some US news channels and a big bunch of movies. Or you can just turn the bow cam channel on the TV and watch the scenery ahead. Under the TV is where our quiet boxes and headsets were recharging so they would be ready to take along on tomorrow’s tours.  This is the area where the tightness of the room is most noticeable. Sliding past one another in this area, especially if someone is sitting on that stool in front of the mirror or if either one is carrying something, can be problematic. But it’s a small problem, all things considered.

Next to the front door with its full-length mirror is a large lighted closet with one side for hanging clothes and the other side with shelves and a safe.  And all luggage fits easily under the bed.

For its size, the bathroom is a real marvel. There are 3 shelves to the left of the sink and 2 more long shelves to the left underneath the sink. The shower is very adequate, all things considered, and has a non-slip floor and a detachable wand. The floor in the bathroom is heated. And they provide 2 sets of great toiletries – one for the shower and one for the sink. No worry about getting into the shower and then discovering the shampoo is on the shelf above the sink. And the toilet has a silent lid. In my opinion, they have truly thought of everything. And each room has its own thermostat.

The grounds of Lazar Equestrian Park are so green and beautiful. What a pretty place!

One of the large halls for dinners and banquets for special events.

Looking across a big lawn to the performance ring and out to the open fields.

Looking towards the performance ring. Ok, I know I don’t get out much, but I had never seen a leaf vacuum before. This little vacuum zipped across those big lawns sucking up all the leaves as it went. Pretty cool!

So photogenic!

Carriage drivers and their amazing team of horses.

And this guy drove a carriage pulled by a team of beautiful gray oxen.

This rider stood on the backs of two horses while driving the three horses in front of them.

Three horsemen rode horses trained to sit down or lay down on command and they were also able to mount them in this position.

After the horse riding demonstration, we got to take a horse-drawn carriage ride into the woods. The trees in fall colors were an extra bonus.

Next we checked out the horse stables . . .

. . . where Chuck made a new friend.

Then we visited the little animal park where they kept lots of different farm animals.  These are Hungarian Racka Sheep with the curly horns.

The Lazareum Museum is stunning and, besides rooms of creatively lit carriage exhibitions and rooms with countless awards and trophies, they showed films about equestrian sports and the sports careers of the Lazar brothers.

Chuck admired one of the rooms of  memorabilia.

The trophy and awards room was amazing, with a mirrored ceiling and items behind glass walls and under the glass floor.

What a lovely place.

Man it was cold and windy up on that deck. In the mornings, the temperature was generally in the 40’s with the usual winds on the river.  But it was a clear day and the view made it worth it.

Some of the little cottages along the river before we got to Budapest were really interesting.

An art installation in a park along the river.

We passed under many beautiful bridges. Some modern like this one, some very old.  When the boat was too tall to pass under a bridge, they had to fold the chairs on the top deck and lay them down, take down the glass walls around the deck and hydraulically lower the pilot house.

Very striking bridge.  This one wasn’t that low.

Soviet-era apartment buildings.

This is how the Parliament building looked when we first sailed into town.

But this is a photo I took when we were here in 2015 and got to see it from a dinner boat on the river at night. It’s just stunning.

This old building was converted into The Whale – a shopping, cultural and entertainment center.

In the cliff on the right side is an underground church which is accessed from the back of the cliff and totally invisible from the outside. To the left of the cliff is Hotel Gellert, a very old world-famous hotel and spa.

Matthias Church.  Many of the church roofs burned during the war and have replacements of patterned tiles like this one.

Inside the Matthias Church.

Windows inside the Matthias Church.

A hot air balloon just cruising overhead. What a great way to get an amazing view of the city.

This old government building is now a large complex of art museums, the main one being the Hungarian National Gallery.

The castle in the rear is an art museum in a big city park. In the wintertime, the ugly gray concrete area becomes a huge ice skating rink bustling with activity.

The “Shoes on the Danube Holocaust memorial” is made up of 60 pairs of iron sculpted shoes that honor the Jews who were executed by the river Danube in World War II. The Jews were told to line up facing the river, take their shoes off and then shot to death in broad daylight by the Nazis to terrorize both Jews and supporters of Jews. The bodies were carried away by the water, the river cleaned up the mess, and the shoes were re-sold on the black market. It’s a gut-wrenching memorial and very effective.

The Liberty Statue is a monument on the Gellért Hill. It commemorates those who sacrificed their lives for the independence, freedom, and prosperity of Hungary. (Locals sometimes refer to her as the Fish Lady.)

Okay, our bus is stopped at a stoplight. I’m looking down the aisle and through the front windshield. Do YOU think this is what I should be seeing from this vantage point? I think not.

Crossing over that huge bridge on foot was kind of creepy until we got onto it. Cars go across on the top level. The 2nd level is divided into half for ”pedestrians” and the other half for Metro. You can’t see the Metro go by but you can hear it and everything shakes. On the pedestrian half, bicycles, scooters, & rollerbladers stay to the inside and walkers are on the outside.

Chuck agreed it was a little creepy at first, especially when the invisible Metro trains went by.

We even saw mothers on bikes pushing kids in their covered ”strollers” crossing the river on the bridge.

Cute little Lighthouse on the Island.

This is how our boat looks from the Island.

The trees on the island were turning colors and were so pretty.

Another view from the Island to the side opposite our boat. It’s so pretty over there.

This man and his little dog were taking a rest on the lawn of the island. Actually the man was taking a rest but I got the impression that the little dog was ready to go any time.

Don’t these picnic tables look positively indestructible?

At least the WC’s were open. Apparently they didn’t get the memo about graffiti being illegal.

From the Island, looking back up at the bridge we were just about to go back across.

Loved all of this exercise equipment just as we got off the bridge where the flags indicate it’s the cruise ship site.

On the other hand, if you’ve just walked the better part of a 13-mile island, maybe a rest in a hammock is a better idea.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral was built in 1339-1365 and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first from 1147. It’s the most important religious building in Vienna. (It’s not really leaning, it’s just how my camera see things.  I suspect my camera’s been spending a bit too much time in the lounge.)

The inside of the Cathedral is beautiful but there are very few stained glass windows and you know how I like those stained glass windows.

Here are 2 of those windows. Their colors are gorgeous, deep and bright, but they’ve been placed such that they’re difficult to photograph.

There was a white grand piano in front of the Cathedral and a variety of random pianists sat down and played. It was really lovely.

And this woman in the Cathedral courtyard had a complicated bubble maker and knew how to use it!

This mother and her 2 tots were thoroughly enjoying the bubbles.

Of course the city has a ferris wheel, doesn’t every large city?

But the cars on this one are large and unique, and old, I suspect. You can rent a whole car and throw a party or have a chef prepare a special dinner while you propose to your girlfriend – the options are endless.

Of course Vienna has an impressive Imperial Palace which is a whole complex of beautiful buildings. This is only one of them and they’re all humongous.

And lots of beautiful statues everywhere.  I could do a whole post on statues.

Here’s another elaborate grouping of statues.

Beautiful archway.

Cute little glass hot dog stand. Is it Art Deco?

We saw several of these horse-drawn carriages. Looks like fun. I love the sound of the horses walking on the cobblestone streets.

Interesting church near our ship but I don’t think it’s as old as it looks. Our guide said it’s better looking outside than inside.

This is where the Lipizzaner Stallions are kept (see the white horse in one of the bottom stalls?). A performance by the Stallions was an optional tour on this trip but since we had seen then last time we were in Vienna, we opted for another tour this time. They are truly fabulous and our shipmates who opted for this tour were thrilled.

Clever building – we assume the men are trying to get out, but not really sure what’s going on here.

On one of the main streets/squares, they’ve closed off some of the lanes in order to make room for some fabulous outdoor restaurants like this one. (Notice there’s a Five Guys right behind them.)

In that same square, they’ve started decorating for the holidays already by putting up these huge teardrop chandeliers.

I’ve heard that Vienna is the origination of the snow globe and I’ve seen only a few of them here. But on the other hand, I’ve seen lots of these little rubber duckies and I’m not sure why they’re so popular. But I think they’re adorable and I want all of them, especially the Mozart duckie at the bottom right.

Isn’t she elegant?

I loved the ornate ceiling in the room. I’m not sure my photo does it justice.

I’m guessing the theatre held about 300 people and every seat was taken.

I love those church steeples that dot the countryside.  And this old, old bridge is just amazing.

The Schloss Schönbühel castle built in the early 12th century. It’s only 130 feet above Danube River.

I believe the Schloss Schonbuhel castle (in the previous photo) on the right is somehow connected to the building on the left (an abbey maybe?)    See a close-up below.

And this is a close-up of that building on the left above. Notice the open room on the right.

Another castle.

And another one of those great village churches. Notice the grapevines on the hillside behind the church. The grapes at the top which are protected with blue material were left on the vines in hopes that they will be appropriate for harvesting to make ice wine later in the season.

And more castle ruins.

There are fewer and fewer bridges along here so more ferries are necessary to enable people to visit friends and businesses across the river.

Another pleasing church.

And LOTS of vineyards everywhere you turn.

And another really old stone church and watch tower.

Another beautiful church surrounded by vineyards.  They’re so pretty when they turn colors in the fall.

Near a tunnel entrance, we noticed this sculpture of a crusading knight on horseback bidding his family goodbye and heading towards Durnstein castle shown in the next photo.

Here’s the Durnstein Castle the knight was headed to.  Apparently there’s an access to the castle ruins from the back side because there’s no visible access on this side yet there are lots of people visible on top.

This shows Durnstein Castle from a different angle. You can see the old wall leading up to the castle.

This is the town of Durnstein, a really famous small village (population: 864) in Lower Austria that I’m sure we’ve all seen photos of in the past.  It’s a tiny place with a church with a beautiful blue tower and apparently even Princess Diana liked to come here for visits.

We groped our way to the buses and gave thanks that at least it wasn’t raining.

And this was our view from the parking lot next to the Abbey that overlooked the town of Melk.

Another view of Melk. What a cute little town.

The front of the first entrance we encountered.

An interesting fountain just inside the front gate.

A handy aerial map board is situated next to the front entrance to help show the huge scope of the place. The walled abbey is outlined in red on the left, while the area to the right is essentially extended gardens.

There are lots of exterior halls like this one connecting the many areas.

The far end of Melk Abbey overlooking the Danube.

The Abbey church organ.

The Abbey church Epiphany Altar painted in 1723.

Abbey church Koloman Altar.

Abbey church pulpit.

Abbey church dome fresco.

Abbey church fresco in the nave.

Abbey Church, view towards the high altar.

Abbey church high altar close-up.

And this was the library! This was absolutely amazing. The bookshelves were inlayed and the books were bound to match them. This main hall boasts 16,000 volumes, plus 12 more rooms that are not open to the public but contain an additional 100,00 volumes. Some of them are quite valuable, such as the 750 incunabula – printed works dating prior to 1500. The main hall features a frescoed ceiling by Paul Troger. And to reach the upper floor, the monks used the black wrought iron spiral staircase that can be seen at the far end of this photo.

We walked on a footbridge over this parking lot after we left the bus and I just thought it was so pretty.

This statue was in a fountain in the town square. From the back side it looked like the Hunchback of Notre Dame but when I went around to the front side, I saw that he appears to be saving a small child. Sorry I have no more info.

These buildings were down from the town square and there were similar ones around the town square.

I loved this building with all of its detail. All of the buildings were beautiful colors and, most amazing, they all looked like they had been freshly painted.

All of the guys had to have their pictures taken with this knight’s armor. From the look on his face, apparently it’s painful.

This cobblestone-covered alley ran down and opened at the river’s edge.

At the top of that arch in the photo above is a measure of the water height of the river in past centuries. The line at the top is during this century.

One of the houses we passed overlooking the water had a cannon in their front yard. I hope it was for ornamental purposes only.

This lovely building across the river is now a publicly-run private school.  Private schools help students below their grade levels reach the levels of their classmates in public schools.

Another lovely view of the river.

After our visit to Scharding, our tour group took a cruise on this old barge on one of the Danube’s tributaries. They served pretzels and several kinds of beers for us to try. Some of us got a little raucus but it was great fun.

Put up those umbrellas and here we go.

The colored stones in the walkway indicate this is an artists’ neighborhood. I suspect the individual colors correspond to the different art mediums present because occasionally one color or another would split off and move into an intersecting alleyway and up to a studio door.

This complex is the Bishop’s palace. The date on the front of it is 1499: that’s 1 & 1/2 of an 8 (4) & 9 & 9 = 1499. The German numbering system is so weird  The complex doesn’t look that big from here but check out the aerial photo below.

This tour guide-provided photo shows the full size of the complex

A view across the river in the rain and fog.

St. Stephens Cathedral is home to the largest cathedral organ in the world, with 17,974 organ pipes, 233 stops and four carillons. Unfortunately our tour stopped at St. Stephens too early in the day to see one of the daily organ concerts.

Interesting door in St. Stephen’s Cathedral that only opened from the inside.

The Old Town Hall.

In one of the alleywayss, we ran across this man playing beautiful violin music while his adorable little dog kept an eye on his collection case.