Day 9 and 10 - Returning Home - Saturday and Sunday

The boat made guide time overnight and we docked at Passau just after 10AM. Before that we had a last breakfast and cleared the cabins by 8:30AM. We sat in the lounge watching the approach to Passau as the rain teamed down. How lucky we have been with the weather this week.

Our driver was waiting at the dock and we were in Munich airport just after noon.

Claire and ourselves managed to check in our bags but Katy couldn’t do so thus we could not go through security and use the lounge. Instead we sat in the bier garten and had some drinks, lunch and played cards for a few hours until it was time for us and Claire to go for our flights. Katy was flying 3 hours after us so she had to kill time in the terminal. A sad farewell to everyone after such a lovely holiday.

We had access to the Air France lounge in Terminal 1 which was pleasant but Claire was flying from Terminal 2 and, bizarrely, there was no lounge available.

As our flight time neared everything started to go wrong. A lightning storm was forecast so they put planes into holding patterns and then started diverting them to other airports. Our flight to Amsterdam was then cancelled and whilst we were on the queue to speak to the agent Claire told us that her flight was also  cancelled. Without knowing the processes we all waited to speak to an agent but when we did so we were told that we should make all arrangements ourselves and then claim back from the carrier. By the time we learnt this KLM had rebooked us for the next day but Lufthansa did nothing for Claire and we couldn’t get a flight for her on Sunday. She was panicked because a) the cats would be alone for much longer and b) she had to be at work on Monday. Howard ended up booking her train from Munich to Frankfurt, Brussels and London.  We got a hotel near the airport and got a place for Claire near to Munich station because her train was at 6:15AM the next day. Meanwhile Katy’s flight was only slightly delayed and she got home as planned.

All in all a fairly stressful end to the holiday.

Riding the Danube - Day 8 - Krems to Melk - Friday

 Wachau Wine Region

Our last day of cycling, and another hot day. Overnight we had left Vienna to start making our way back to Passau. We woke up moored in Krems this morning. So we had the usual breakfast and out by 9am. We cycled back into Krems to explore a little as we had been told it was a lovely town, which it was of course.

Then onwards to Durnstein in the heart of the wine region which was quite a touristy but an extremely nice place. However it was busy with pedestrians and the instructions was for us was to walk through the village with our bikes. There was a great elevated view over the river before we left.

And then onto coffee at (another) lovely little village Weissenkirchen. Then finally onto the wine tasting at Spitz. Klosterhof was the company, just on the outskirts of the village and we were taken down into cellars - nice and cool. We tasted 3 wines, bought nothing, but really enjoyed it.

Then on to the ferry across the river and the last cycle of the holiday, on towards Melk. It was hot, and the wind was in our face so it was actually quite a tough ride. So, when we got close to Melk, we looked for a beach, and had a great last little swim in the Danube. 

Back to the boat for a quick drink and then into the whirlpool for the first and last time. It was really lovely - quite cooling actually, and with a glass of wine or beer beside us it couldn’t have been better!

We then all had a bit of downtime. We were motoring back upstream to get to Passau tomorrow so it was very pleasant to set on our balcony and see the world speed by! 

Before dinner there was a presentation of all the crew (42) so we could show our appreciation and then a lovely Gala dinner. After dinner we sat on the top deck, where at last it was quite cool, with lightening in the distance. A cooler week ahead I think! 

Our complete route from Passau to Vienna 

The black lines are our cycle routes

Riding the Danube - Day 7 - Vienna - Thursday

Up at usual time for breakfast but no lunch buffet for us today. Instead we headed back into town complete with our Hop on bus vouchers from Nina - 30 euros for 3 routes.

We all took the tram to the bus start point and immediately set off on the yellow route to Schonbrunn Palace. In hindsight we might have thought better of it as there were no tickets for the Grand Tour left, but we did get ones for the State Apartments, which was at least enough to see the grandeur of the Family. The ticket office was incredibly busy

Schönbrunn Palace was the main summer residence of the Habsburg rulers, located in Hietzing, Vienna. The name Schönbrunn (meaning "beautiful spring") has its roots in an artesian well from which water was consumed by the court.

The 1,441-room Baroque palace is one of the most important architectural, cultural, and historic monuments in the country. The history of the palace and its vast gardens spans over 300 years, reflecting the changing tastes, interests, and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs. It has been a major tourist attraction since the mid-1950s.

Claire didn’t come as she had already been so after our tour with audio guide we walked up through the gardens and joined her at the Gloriette in the gardens for a coffee, before walking back down to the bus. The gardens and the views back to the palace were lovely.

The Gloriette where we had coffee

Neptune's Fountain

We walked back to the bus which took us all the way back into town, and we were kept entertained by the history of Vienna. Once off the bus we enjoyed walking through the impressive old centre and visiting the most impressive St Stephens Cathedral. 

After that we headed only a little bit away from the Main Street and Burger Kings to a very nice and quiet traditional restaurant for lunch. Then after a further stroll we went to Demel where Claire was keen to take us for Sachertorte Torte, and coffee. Both lunch and  cakes were very very lovely.

It was very hot in Vienna so Claire decided to head back to the boat, while we thought we might do more of the red line. However time and heat were against us so after a couple of stops we too headed back. It’s quite a lengthy journey - 30 mins on the tram then a 15 minute walk back to the boat.

Claire had a lovely bottle of champagne she’d brought from London so we enjoyed that on the top deck in the shade. 

We were keen to get the briefing for tomorrow as it involved the Wachau wine region and a wine tasting. After that we had the Pirate dinner! The staff had set a messy table and had all got dressed up. What fun it all was!

A buffet dinner and then we retired to the bar for Newfie dice while preparations for the dancing got underway. We were all encouraged to get dressed up so we did….

Riding the Danube - Day 6 - Tulln to Vienna - Wednesday

There was heavy rain whilst we had breakfast but the rain radar showed that it would be gone by the time we cycled and that proved to be the case. We had a lovely morning to set off out of Tulln. Another pretty town!
It is famous for being the town where Attilla the Hun met Gudrun and there is some statuary to celebrate this fact.
Once again we blasted along the flat tow paths. The plan was to visit Klosterneubrug Monastry and Abbey so we cycled up to it from the river, had a coffee in the square and then paid EUR9 each see the treasury and a rather strange art exhibition. To see any more of the monastry you would need to go on a guided tour which didn’t work time wise. The Abbey church was nice but quite small. a disappointing visit - we were left thinking what did we miss!

This is the usual start in the morning - folks getting their bikes and starting off. But it was never an issue - the crowds disappeared and we only occassionally saw people we knew to be from the boat - at cafes etc

One of the very few working barges we saw on the river - this one carrying cars.

So on to Vienna where we planned to cycle past the boat and picnic on the river banks but the area was quite industrial so we went back to the boat. After a quick lunch Claire and Howard chilled stayed on the boat to rest whilst Kay and Katy went into Vienna to explore.

The centre wasn't that easy to get to - a 10 minute walk to the tram and a 30 minute tram ride, and it was hot! However we simply strolled into the centre to enjoy the magnificent buildings and have a drink. We spotted a roof op bar but couldnt get right outside but had a drink on the 6th floor with a great view over this cathedral - St Stephens, right in the centre of Vienna

Back to the boat for cocktails - Katy and Claire won the question of the day (how many chairs were on the sundeck - answer 85!) and won this espresso cocktail! Along with our unlimited drinks package!

A lovely still evening - as always on our trip!

Riding the Danube - Day 5 Mauthausen to Grein - Tuesday

We moved overnight to Mauthausen. Our cruise director Nina had told us about the concentration camp at Mauthausen so we cycled up the very steep hills to the camp. Immediately after the war Austria turned the camp into a memorial. Together with the adjoining camp at Guzen, which was a quarry work site, Mauthausen was graded as camp type 3. This was the most severe regime and only Auschwitz was ever (and temporarily) in this category. Most of the people sent to these camps did not survive for long. The museum presented the facts but the gruesome reality was horrifying to read. We could have spent much longer at the camp but we were aware that we had a long cycle ahead. Our mood was sombre as we walked back round the camp perimeter to the bikes.

We fairly blasted along today and stopped at the Radlerbauernhof (cider farm) at Mitterkirchen for lunch. Delicious Apfelwein and we share a couple of cheese platters. The beautiful cider and the surroundings lightened our mood. We bought a light cheese platter lunch which was superb.

Another swim on the way to Grein on a sand/mud beach (Howard didn’t swim this time but kept an eye on us and the bikes) and then on to the boat, moored at Grein today

Back on board with the the cocktail of the day which a was Tequilla Sunrise - a blast from the past!

The beautiful chandelier on board the boat

After dinner we went into the beautiful little town for a wander and had a couple of drinks at a traditional gasthof and a chat with the owner. He owned 3 different establishments and scraped a living, he was not complimentary about the river cruises because people seldom came ashore to spend any money. He did tell us that the trips a couple of weeks ago had rainy, windy weather so we are very lucky. We were last back aboard the boat before it left for Tulln, around 9.30pm.

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