Wednesday 3 September 2005: Nuremberg – Roger

After a light breakfast, it was just after 8am when we jumped into a taxi to take us to the Nuremberg Castle. Arriving there before it opened at 9am, there were few people around and we spent the time looking around the outside of the buildings and the castle gardens, admiring the massive amount of work that must have gone into building the castle alone.

Nuremberg was a walled city and the 4 km long walls still stand today. Construction of these walls started in the 10th century and finished in the 15th century, some 500-years later. More alterations were done as time went on and different designers had different ideas on how to defend the city.  It is hard to understand how many man-hours and wheelbarrows of soil would have gone into building up these walls, digging out the moat and putting it all together. It makes you wonder how did they pay for it all and was slave labour used, or was the economy that good at the time that they could just afford to build these things? I’ve never quite worked that out after all the places I’ve looked at over the years.

After a look around the castle area we wandered down to the town square where a gold statue stands in the middle of several churches or cathedrals and other nice buildings. About nineteen percent of the buildings here were destroyed during the war but there’s still restoration work going on in some buildings as there has been in every town we’ve been to so far. Tourism certainly plays a large part in the restoration of many of these old buildings and sights.

Sylvia had marked out a route on her phone map last night so we knew where we were going and how fast we had to go, which was quite fast as we only had four hours here, including getting to and from where the boat was moored, about a 20-minute drive from the city. I thought it was a bit poor on the part of Viking because I could’ve easily spent the whole day here.

Next we boarded the local metro, which took us out to the Palace of Justice, which is where the Nuremberg trials were held in Courtroom 600. The top floor of the building is now a museum where it takes you through a timeline of what took place at that time, including the trials that happened after the main Nuremberg trials that went on for many years.

Over many years we have both seen many documentaries on the second world war and in particular the Nuremberg trials but it was really good to actually come to the building and get a feel for where it really took place. Although courtroom 600 now has chandeliers instead of downlights and part of it is taken up with the seating area for tourists like us, the rest of it is pretty much original so we got a good sense of what the place was like at the time. They still have viewing windows up on the second floor where a press gallery sat throughout the trial. During the trial the external windows were blacked out, hence the downlights, which have now been replaced by the chandeliers that were up prior to the trials.

Too soon, time was up and we were on another train and then a bus across to the Nazi Documentation centre. The Germans were very good at keeping records and this huge building is where they were stored.  A lot of it is under renovation at the moment. There was a well-laid out timeline, taking us through the rise of the Nazi party, their philosophy and principles. It also indicated how they went about the propaganda to convince the people that this was the right way to do it.

We had to race through this area as time was running short. Across the other side of a lake from this building is the Zeppelin Centre, where Hitler held huge parades that we have all seen in movies and on TV in the past. This was a bit of a must see, given I really wanted to get a feel for how big it was. A quick stroll around the lake got us there with only a few minutes to spare. At 312×285 meters and with seating for 200,000 it is one of the world’s largest stadiums. Most of it is overgrown now, but the main stadium, where Hitler and his mad men would have stood, is pretty much still intact. Unfortunately we had only time for a quick look before we had to catch an Uber and get back to the boat, arriving just in time as they were about to pull up the gangway.

Very soon we were chugging back along the canal. We were in the dining room enjoying lunch when we came to the first lock. At over 300m long, with massive gates in each end, it went quite dark in the dining room as we pulled in, before being elevated over 24m to the level of the next part of the canal and sailing on.

It was the year 700 AD when some bright spark came up with the idea to build the canal but it only got started. Rain put it on hold. In the 1800s a canal was built for King Ludwick I between Bamberg and Kelheim. In 1921 a company was formed by the German government and the state of Bavaria to build the larger Main-Danube Canal that we are sailing on today. Construction started in 1960 and was completed in 1992, creating the 3,500-km (2,200-mile) waterway from the North Sea to the Black Sea. It is simply a massive piece of engineering with roads going underneath it and power generated on it. This all contributes in a big way to Bavaria being the richest state in Germany and possibly Europe.

Later on we passed through the deepest lock we will come to – at 27m. When we sail into these locks, the sight of just how high the lock is, is quite overwhelming. The gate opens, we sail through into the lock, which is just big enough for the boat to fit through, the gate closes and the water is gravity fed in through a series of reservoirs situated beside the lock, which raise the boat up to the height of the next canal. Then the gate in the front drops down and you sail off as if nothing has ever happened. It is a piece of brilliant engineering.

We also passed by a monument to the Great Divide. At 406m above sea level, this will be the highest point we reach on the journey. From here we will start dropping down towards Austria.

 

Thursday 4 September 2025: Regensburg – Sylvia

We arrived in Regensburg early and were parked up by the dock well-before our scheduled disembarkation time. We are now on the Danube river and sailing downstream, having passed the highest point in our journey yesterday evening. It was lovely to have a slightly more leisurely start to the day. We wandered off the boat just before 9am and strolled smugly past all the passengers huddling in their groups, lollipop wielding guides at the ready. Regensburg is a lovely, but small town and easily walkable. We walked along the banks of the river admiring the views into town. An old steamship of sorts was moored along the way.

We meandered through the lovely narrow streets, passing the Porta Praetoria, the only partially preserved Roman gate north of the Alps. It dates back to 179AD, when it was the gate to the Castra Regina Legionary camp. It was exposed again in 1885.

We made our way to the old town hall, which was busy today. Every time we passed there was a wedding underway. It sits on a very picturesque square.

We wandered along Goliathstrasse to the impressive fresco of David and Goliath, which takes up most of the face of one of the buildings on the street.

As we were making our way through the narrow city streets to find somewhere for Roger to have a coffee, we got a message from Greg and Susie, who were bugging out of their walking tour and were keen to catch up. We met at a lovely coffee house and all indulged in some rather delicious cake.

We entered the main cathedral, another gothic edifice, this one covered with sculpted gargoyles and other creatures. Originally built in about 700 AD it has suffered several devastating fires. The current Gothic-style building was completed in 1320  and contains numerous spectacular stained glass windows.

We kept exploring the pretty small streets, before heading to the river and crossing over the old stone bridge, which dates from the 12th century. Statdamhof is the town on the other side of the bridge (still part of Regensburg). It boasts numerous pastel coloured buildings with lots of cafes etc. We were about to turn around and head back when Roger and Greg spotted a damsel in distress – a young woman with a flat tire. They leapt into action – perhaps the happiest I’ve seen them the whole trip, and soon the spare was on the car and she was off again,

We wandered back across the bridge to the Wurstkuchl (Sausage kitchen), which has stood on this site next to the Old Stone Bridge for over 500 years. We shared a plate of 10 sausages and 4 pretzels, along with some sauerkraut. Delicious!

I had read about a huge palace in Regensburg and we decided to visit. St Emmeram’s palace is the stately home of the Thurn und Taxis family. The building was once a monastery but became the family residence in 1812. The family developed the postal service in Europe in 1490. They were awarded noble status in 1608 and became imperial princes in 1695. The family still use this immense palace as their residence today. We could only visit the palace as part of a guided tour, departing at 2:30pm.

In 1993 the Bavarian government purchased more than 2,200 works of art from the holdings of Thurn und Taxis and these are now displayed in the former stables of St Emmerman’s Palace. We visited this museum in the interim. It houses an impressive array of treasures, including a diamond studded men’s coat, some impressive porcelain and a fantastic array of carriages.

At 2:30pm we joined several others and set off on the 90-minute guided tour. The tour was conducted in German and we were provided with audio guides. The audio guide was interesting and informative but it was really frustrating to have to wait around and listen to the guide going on in German, clearly giving a lot more information than what we were receiving. Still it was worth it to visit the place. Words can’t adequately describe it and we were not allowed to take photos. This is a shame as the rooms were truly magnificent. I was struck in particular by the stunning bed, with swan sculptures in one of the rooms. The tour finished in the beautiful chapel, where members of the family are buried.

By this time we were all pretty tired, having been on our feet most of the day. We stopped at a lovely strudel shop for more cake! And then wandered back through town and along the river to where the Lif was docked. Apparently the water levels in the river between here and Passau have been dropping and we may have some slow patches overnight.

We had a lovely day in Regensburg and it is a beautiful town. It is a shame though that we only had 4 hours in Nuremberg and a whole day here. In an ideal world I would have reversed that and had a whole day yesterday in Nuremberg.

 

Friday 5 September 2025: Passau – Roger

It was around 5am when I was woken by a loud thud as the boat bumped into the lock, or into the other boat that was in the lock. I got up to have a look out the back to find out we were in a large lock, big enough to take two boats side-by-side. That was the end of sleep for me.

A couple of hours later we tied up next to the town of Passau. From here various groups went off on their excursions, including one to Salzburg and another to a nice looking castle in the hill somewhere that they had to fly to. We had opted to hang around town and also planned to go for a bike ride, as one side of the river is in Germany and the other side in Austria.

Leaving the boat we strolled into town to find another historic city with the normal old quaint and solid buildings. We came across the town hall just back from the Danube River, with flood markings on it going back to the 1500s. It appears that they’re pretty used to flooding here and obviously just pack everything up, move upstairs, then move back down when the flood is over and clean up and carry on.

We wandered past the art street and into the catholic cathedral, done quite differently than most of the churches we’ve seen along the way. It was white and bright with lots of frescos on the ceiling and walls and hundreds of cherubims crawling all over the walls. Above the altar were a number of statues illustrating a number of thugs beating up Saint Stephen back in the day. Not quite sure why they needed to display that up there, but I suppose they have their reasons.

Behind the church is a large building, which was the residence for the bishop. Once again religion seemed to rule this town, just like others around Europe in the day. There is a lot of restoration going on on the church as there is on a number of buildings.

We visited the local glass museum. Boy did it have glass – five floors of it. Every vase, dish, pot, statue and anything else you could make of glass was on display. It was actually quite overwhelming. I understand my sister came here a few years ago. She is really into antiques and such things and spent nearly the whole day here. I didn’t realise how many different shapes could be made out of glass until visiting this place.

Just before 12 we met up with Greg and Susie, going back to the cathedral to sit and listen to the pipe organ play.  I’ve heard this a few times before in my life and realise I’m never really going to get into it but Susie quite enjoyed it.

Just down the road we found a nice restaurant called Anton’s, where we dined on a very nice weiner schnitzel (Sylvia and I), a healthy-looking chicken salad (Susie), and  sausages along with some rather tasty horseradish (Greg).

It had rained on and off most of the morning so Sylvia and I binned the bike ride idea (we had planned to go on our own) while Greg and Susie headed back to the boat to meet up with a group to go on a pre-arranged bike excursion. Sylvia and I headed across the river and up to the old fort on the hill. This dates back several hundred years and had quite an interesting museum with lots of old weapons, tools and various other things on display, including instruments of torture, armour, canons, clothing, pottery and more.

From one of the walls in the fort we could see all three rivers converging, as this town is where the Danube, Inn and Ilz rivers meet. The Inn is glacier-fed and a greenish-grey colour while the Danube is fed from the Bavarian forests and is much more blue-green so one can see the different colours meet.

After the fort I headed back to the boat and Sylvia went off to look at another church with a long covered stairway, where apparently you’re supposed to stop and pray on every step. I’m not sure that she actually did that but the church is called the Pilgrimage Church Mariahilf. It is across the Inn river in Austria. We were told to take our passports just in case we got stopped but she decided that wasn’t necessary.

It was later than I got a call from her as she had gone for a tea and cake at a cafe back in Passau. Unfortunately when she went to pay, they only took cash, and of course she didn’t have any on her. So off I went to the rescue.

Back on board I joined Greg and Susie for the German specialty dinner on board. Because of the dinner the staff were dressed in German garb and Dessy, our lovely cabin steward even turned up to clean our room in her dirndl.

 

Saturday 6 September 2025: Melk and Krems – Sylvia

We woke this morning well and truly in Austria. I had gotten quite used to the juddering of the boat going through the locks but this morning we had more of a sideways rolling motion – I still haven’t figured out what it was. The Danube river is much wider than The Rhine or the canals we have been on. The lock structures are very impressive.

Just after 8am, we docked at Melk, and at 8:30 wandered the 400m or so to where the buses were waiting to take us to the Melk Abbey. Benedictine monks have been living and working in the abbey since 1089. It is certainly an impressive piece of architecture at about 400m long. It was originally the residence of the Austrian royals and was later gifted to the monks. The gate towers date back over 1000 years with the rest having been rebuilt. There are still 22 monks working and living on the premises, which also houses an administrative building and a school. There are about 5000 people here each day including 900 students, some employees, and of course, tourists.

We met our tour guide inside the main courtyard. She led us into the building and shared some of the history. No photography was allowed inside the building but that didn’t stop Roger, or to be fair, several others. We wandered through the guest rooms which didn’t have any furniture. Apparently the noble visitors preferred to bring their own furniture when they came. The parquet floors were particularly stunning.

There were numerous relics and works of arts in the rooms, which serve as a type of museum. I was particularly taken with a tiny prayer book. The monks have to pray 7 times per day and before the days of iPhones and Google, would have carried a little book like this when they were away from the abbey.

The grand dining room was particularly impressive with its gilded statues and faux marble walls. The baroque period is well known for the illusions it creates. The statues are covered with gold leaf to look like gold, the marble is in fact painted stucco. Most impressive of all were the ceilings, which were skilfully painted to look like they were domed, even though they were in fact flat.

We visited the library, which houses over 130,000 books, many dating back to the 16th century. It is incredibly ornate, with little doors built into the bookshelves so the monks could read by the windows – no candles allowed in the library.

Tour over, we had time to visit inside the abbey church. This ornate building is absolutely covered in frescos, statues and gold. It really is quite overwhelming. Apparently there are 789 angels represented inside the church – I didn’t count them all.

We then wandered up to the observation deck with fantastic views over the grounds and the small town of Melk, out to the Danube river.

The gardens were also lovely although not the most impressive gardens I have ever visited. On our way back to the bus we stopped for coffee or tea and delicious fresh apricot dumplings (sorry – forgot to take a photo).

Back on the Lif, we continued our journey downstream through the picturesque Wachau valley, passing many small towns and villages, all with interesting histories. These hills, like those along the Rhine are covered in grape vines. At one point we passed under a low bridge and the shades over the chairs and the bridge house were all lowered.

Later in the afternoon we docked at the small town of Krems. Roger elected to stay on board and I went for a bit of a wander through the pretty little town. It was pretty sleepy on this Saturday afternoon so I stretched my legs a bit and climbed up the hill behind the town for some lovely views back over the river. The whole area is covered in vineyards. Another lovely day!