Rathaus

Bohemian Forest Treasures 6/22/15

 in Grand Eastern European River Cruise  tagged Bohemian Forest / Castle / Danube River / Passau / Rathaus / river cruise / Saltzburg by

Passau is small–50,000 people, and our ship is double parked on a little peninsula surrounded by steep wooded hillsides. I’ve been yearning to see the forest from the inside, so I took advantage of a trail, just over a bridge, to a castle on the hill. Steve took advantage of the opportunity to groan over being “forced” to climb it with me. It was of course, terrific. At least one pretty little vine of ivy graced almost every tree, and the fortress walls were covered with it. After a couple flights of steps the view grabbed even Steve–the old city […]

Bridges of Bamberg 6/18/15

 in Grand Eastern European River Cruise  tagged Bamberg Germany / bridge / Old Town Hall / Rathaus / Rhine Main Danube Canal / Rhine River / river cruise by

Today our ship takes the high road.  We’ll even cruise a bridge over the Autobahn.  I guess I’m not the only one who was ignorant about the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal (RMD) because onboard lecture about it was packed.  The first false start on a connection between the North Sea and Atlantic to the Black sea was launched by my great (to some immense power) uncle Charlemagne in the 700s.  The efforts that followed were only semi-successful until the RMD Canal opened in 1992.  The big hang-up was crossing the continental divide, which the RMD Canal manages with 16 locks to float […]