Authentic Danube River Cruise

Uniworld includes airport transfers if you're flying out the day the cruise ends. I didn't expect this car and driver that came to pick up myself & one other person! I had a fairly long journey, Nuremberg to Frankfurt to Calgary to Vancouver. Nuremberg airport wasn't busy, but Frankfurt was a gong show. For some reason we had to go through passport control again, and the line-ups were incredible. Luckily I had a 2 hour connection. It was very disorganized, especially in comparison with Munich. I was in Premium Economy with Air Canada, very comfortable and surprisingly good food. Calgary Airport was not busy, and baggage was checked right through so I didn't have to pick it up there. Flights were all on time, and we even landed early! So a good ending to a great trip.

As you can probably tell, I tend to do my blog posts in the late afternoon. In consequence I haven't written much about our evenings onboard. (I've been too busy enjoying them) Of course dinner is always a highlight. Food has been excellent. Breakfast and lunch are buffet, dinner is sit down. I've generally been going with the "local choice"; starter, soup, main course and dessert. All with matching wines of course! (and now you know why I've been biking or walking every day!) We've had 2 nights where people dress up a bit, but mostly it's smart casual. The majority are American, with a spattering of Canadian, Australian, New Zealand etc. People are relaxed and friendly (the open bar helps!) There is always a cocktail hour before dinner where the cruise director talks about the next day. On 2 nights there was entertainment brought onboard. First a singer with a guitar that could play almost anything (Mr 2000 songs), then a Brass Oomph band. Fo...

I hadn't expected Nuremberg to be such a lovely city. I knew it had been heavily bombed in World War 2, but hadn't realized that they had re-built the old town in the original style. A beautiful morning as we disembark in Roth to catch the coach into town. About a 45 to 60 min drive. We first saw the Congess Hall  on modeled on the Colosseum in Rome (which was never finished) Then to Zeppelin field, familiar from old pictures and newsreels. We then had a drive through town ending at the castle, or Kaiserburg at the top of the town, the battlements are very well preserved. Then down through the winding cobblestone streets past many churches, restaurants and shops. The main square or Hauptmarkt is very busy with a market in the middle with both food and handicrafts, the Glockenspeil which preforms at noon, and a Gothic church as well as a gold gothic fountain. It's about 23C today, which seems extremely warm after the weather we've been having! It's Saturday s...

Yesterday was very busy with 2 tours, and of course the weather made the bike ride challenging. So it was nice that my tour started a little later this morning. I still woke up about 7am, but didn't have to rush out. I had a relaxed morning, then walked down to Regensburg city centre. A very pretty town, not damaged in the war because the industry was further away. There is an old steam powered paddle-wheel tug that is now a museum, the "Wurstkuchl" or sausage kitchen that is basically an old hot dog stand from the time when the stone bridge was being built (1135). The stores weren't open yet when I had my walk, but the boutique stores looked fabulous. Back to the ship for the 10:00am bike ride tour to Wallhalla. Only 3 of us, and this is by far the nicest day! A little cool to start, but glorious sunshine and warming up to about 18 by the afternoon. Our ride was on bike paths along the dike along the Danube. Peter the wellbeing coach led the ride. Nice and flat...

Last night was a late night as we had music and dancing. At one point I think we had everyone from the lounge up on the floor! Our  8:30am tour seemed very early. It took about 45 min by bus from Deggendorf up through the hills covered by pine and birch forest. Low clouds with the temperature about 6C "warming up" to 9C. This area practices sustainable forestry, so only a few trees well spread out are cut each year. We stopped at Theresienthal glass factory, one of the few places where they still make glass the traditional hand-blown way. Interesting, and some incredibly beautiful glass! There was a glass museum as well, which had examples of glass from Versailles, the Romanov court, and the German Royal family. We then drove to a National Park with a nature preserve. They had aurochs, which are the ancestors of modern cows, wild horses, and wolfs. These are the animals that originally roamed the forests. The preserve has a series of trails through the forest with viewing...

After lunch we had our walking tour of Passau. The weather isn't much warmer, about 8C with a wind off the rivers. Passau is at the confluence of 3 rivers, the Danube, the Inn and the Ilz. The Inn River, coming from the Alps is the one the causes flooding in Passau quite frequently. When we were standing beside the Inn River we could see hundreds of swallows swooping over the river. I walked down to the point where the Danube and the Inn meet, and the swallows were only flying over the Inn! Passau has always been a wealthy town, first from trading in salt, then pilgrims coming to Mariahilf Church. It's a very pretty town, with ornate buildings in Italian style. It's dominated by the castle above the Danube. There are lots of small winding streets, including one called Hollgasse or Hell. St Stephens Cathedral in the center of town has fantastic baroque frescoes, and the worlds largest cathedral organ. Luckily we had a great guide. Even the man wearing shorts, and the la...