Avalon River Cruise

Artistry II – VIENNA TO BASEL - Part 1

Welcome on board was very personal and friendly. Our cabin 220 (middle floor) was just as we expected. Roomy enough and beautifully appointed. The large picture windows that open right up are great. Even had a deep pink orchid plant in the cabin. Orchids were a theme throughout the ship with large displays in the lounge, reception and restaurant.

We unpacked and ate some of the complimentary fruit we were given as we were ‘returning’ guests! We were on a Globus tour of 8 days in 2012! We were also given vouchers for a free drink in the lounge whenever we wanted to during the trip.

We then had to attend a safety lecture and practice drill. All had to go on the Sky Deck and put on the safety vests and report to the staff member who was holding our floor number (2).

We then had an orientation lecture from Katy the Cruise Director, and we were introduced to the Captain and other senior members of the staff. We were given a glass of ‘champagne’ and were offered little savouries.

We then all went into dinner in the restaurant on the floor below the lounge. The lounge is on the same level as the reception and our floor was 7 steps up from Reception.

We sat at a round table for dinner with Barry & Yvonne from Perth and Tina & Jay(male) from Texas!

I had three courses but you could have five! Plates were not too large, so it was all good, as was the wine.

Afterwards we went back to the lounge and listened to Edward the resident musician playing piano and/or electric keyboard. Eddie & I even had a wee dance! Haven’t danced together for some time, so it was a nice change and a very nice end to a lovely day.

31 May - on Artistry II. 10:35am

This morning most people went off to Schonbrünn Palace by coach but we stayed on board and checked out the ship after breakfast. Took a photo of the Tower we went up yesterday.

Now writing this back in our room (they do not call them cabins – that would imply small/compact and this is not!) Some of the boat crew are now cleaning the windows.

We all go to a concert tonight and the ship apparently gets underway at 11pm. We get a daily newsletter and we found news sheets for the various countries of origin that Katy prints off daily, so we do not miss up-to-date happenings from home – if we choose to read it!

Later: Back in our room after a nice grill lunch up on the sky deck. Salads and lovely salmon plus a long, skinny sausage, which was lightly spiced so quite tasty. Also had an iced tea as it was very warm up there. We asked yesterday for name badges and got them back this afternoon, BUT they had spelt our country New Zeland so we won’t be wearing them!

Still later: had a small meal in the Bistro(lounge) after the “Port Talk”. The meals at the bistro are like tapas – small dishes for ‘tastes’, and we also had a tomato juice. Got dressed now ready for the Viennese Concert.

Later again: Concert was OK – rather light and ‘fluffy’, I guess to appeal to a wider audience. I guess Strauss is rather light hearted and they also played light songs/tunes of Mozart. There was a group of Asians sitting in front of us that were extremely enthusiastic!

The violinist was the best when he played the encore. That’s when his true talent shone through. It was held in the Albertina in the Hall of the Muses – white statues of the muses around the walls that were in pale pink and light-yellow marble. Very pretty and elegant. I enjoyed the dancers especially the wee Asian Ballerina, but overall, I consider that the concerts we go to back home are superior in performance. We received a free programme as a memento plus a CD of the concert.

We got back to the ship and were given a bowl of soup for supper! Very tasty.

Friday 1 June

Started sailing last night and were in Dürnstein by the morning. Late start to the day because of late night. We all went on a walk to and around the village of 180 souls. This took about an hour. We had a sample of their famous Apricot (Marillen) Liqueur and Eddie & I bought a jam/sugar spoon with the handle made of a Dürnstein stone as a memento. I liked some hand painted T-shirts there but not at 55 euro!

Above the village is the ruin of the castle where Richard I (lionheart) was held prisoner and his minstrel Blondel found him two years later – Myth? Legend? The town capitalises on this and hotels have names of Richard and Blondel. There was also a beautiful Augustinian Abbey in pretty blue & white. A Lovely village.

Then it was back on board and at 12 :45pm the ship moved on. We spent the afternoon up on the Sky Deck taking pics and listening to Katy telling us about the area (Wachau Valley) which she pronounces as ‘Varcow Walley’!

For ‘Happy Hour’ (5:45 – 6:45pm) we used our complimentary drinks coupons and ordered a Bellini each as we didn’t have one in Venice – too expensive! So this was a nice relaxing afternoon.

Had dinner in the restaurant tonight. Sat with a Venezuelan couple who have lived in USA for 40+ years, and a South Korean couple. He speaks some English, but she spoke hardly at all. Very smiley and happy taking lots of pics of the passing scenery – and us!! He told us his birthday was on the 6^th and he will be 84 years old! Did not look it at all! We introduced ourselves by our first names, but he said he was Mr Lee!

Katy the Cruise Director is very good. She writes a newsletter each evening and a copy is on our bed when we come back after dinner and had details and timings of what is to happen the next day. She also provides us with extra information sheets and maps of the areas we visit and/or pass in the ship. Also when we come back to our room in the evening the crew have turned down the bed, put on ambient lighting and on the TV screen is a cosy fire ‘burning’, together with some relaxing music!

We passed our 3^rd lock just after Melk in the afternoon. It was the first daytime lock so everyone was very excited and went outside in the front to watch and take photos. However, it happened at the time of Katy’s Port Talk so she rounded everyone up saying that we’d have lots of locks to see over the cruise – a total of 76! Whereas her talk is only once a day and never repeated!

Saturday 2 June – On the Danube.

Two groups went on Paid Optionals all day – one lot went to Salzburg and the other to Cesky Krumlov. We joined the third group on a walking tour of Passau where the ship was berthed. A very interesting little German town at the confluence of 3 rivers. We had a fun guide, Peter Prinz, a Dutchman who married a local girl and has lived here for many years. Very interesting little town with the Daube on one side and a swift flowing Inn on the other. He kept telling us early on that he would be taking us to the ‘Rivi-air’ Inn and I thought he was taking us to an old Pub!! In the photo he is standing in front of a Beer  Fountain! After his tour and a look around on our own, we returned to the ship for a leisurely lunch and afternoon.

Sunday 3 June

A busy day! 9am tour of Regensburg with Ranier -another very good guide. When we do these walking tours we take a ‘power pack’ to which we plug in our very good over-the-ear Listening devices. We are divided up into smaller groups depending on the colour band on the ‘pack’. The green group is always for the slow walkers. The local guides have the colour on their microphone packs too and the channels are already tuned to the one our guide would be using. Very efficient and effective.

Ranier talked about the old Roman garrison and showed us the old walls and original ‘gate’ to the town which you now have to enter via a set of steps as its been built up over the years. We then had sausage and sauerkraut at the Old Sausage Factory using the free coupons katy had given us. Service was not good – 6 of us ended up sharing two plates, but that was enough. They also took a while to bring our drinks. I had a beer! Very nice it was too!!

One thing I did not like about the town (and I know this has happened throughout Europe in the past) and its not the current citizen’s problem – they had a time-line in the Tourist Office where he went to get us some maps and I saw on this time-line that in 1542 they expelled all the Jews and destroyed all the building they had lived and worked in! Grrrrr!!

Then it was back to the ship for a quick coffee before a group of us went on an Optional Tour to Danube Gorge and Weltenburg Abbey. This is the oldest Monastery in Bavaria, founded in 600AD.

The gorge was pretty but we were on a public transport vessel and as it was Sunday, everyone was there including groups of very noisy children!

It was better at the Abbey as we had a nice talk by our guide in the old church (she was married there) and then we had tables set aside away from the general horde, where we had a pretzel and another beer! A dark one this time but still rather nice, and I am not normally a beer drinker – but ‘when in Rome’, or in this case, Bavaria, you have to drink what they drink!

When we got back to where we were to re-join the ship, it hadn’t arrived, so our driver took us on a ‘Tiki Tour’ through a small village that had been built on the side of high rock cliffs – Essing. A nice little extra and we were very close to the houses as the bus only just fitted down the street!

When we got back to the dock the ship was there, and after we were all aboard we had a beer tasting!! Four small glasses of four types. I did not like the Pilsner and only had a couple of sips. The dark beer was the best. They also had an example of wheat beer. OK but not something I would order if at a local Inn.

I have been looking for another T-shirt, but No chance for shopping today as shops are closed on Sundays.

Monday 4 June

We went on coach for tour of Roth (Pronounced Rowt). Others went to Nuremburg (Nürnberg).

First we went to a working blacksmith museum outside the town,with the hammers water driven. Robert, the blacksmith, made a ‘hop nail’ – for hanging up lines of hops that are numerous in the area (Beer country!) Because of Health & Safety regs. He’s unable to make anything else in a demo. Lots of old tools displayed and we saw a video of the previous owner making a hoe.

Then it was a short ride into Roth. The guide Steve told us he was a US ‘Army Brat’ and had his early schooling in Germany. He was given the opportunity for a free College education but only if he became a German Citizen. He saw this as a good move as he had hardly lived in the States.

Roth is a very nice wee town. The ‘Hunting Lodge’ castle was especially interesting. I took quite a few pics of the doors, furniture and paintings on the walls. Fascinating. All the wood carvings and even the inlaid wooden ceilings.

He then took us into a Church that was Catholic but became Protestant after the proclamations of Martin Luther. A very quiet, gentle church with not a lot of ornamentation.

We had free time for about 40 minutes. We bought gelati from an Italian Café! Very nice. Looked at some of the clothing in the local stores, but nothing appealed.

Back at the ship by 1pm and it sailed on. After lunch we had an interesting talk by a specialist in design & construction of the Main-Danube Canal. I was rather tired after all that and went back to our room for a nap.

We had been going into locks that raised us up, but now we have been through a couple that drop us down. Fascinating. In fact as I write this (9:45am Tues) we are about to descend in another lock.

We had a taste of white asparagus for dinner which were quite nice, but then I had green asparagus with my main and I prefer those. We sat with Barry & Yvonne again. He’s quietened down his elaborate stories – I think he realized we could read through his ‘bull-shit’. They certainly travelled a lot when younger though. We were also joined by Mr Lee and his wife again. Very difficult trying to have dinner and concentrate on what he’s saying. His wife kept taking pics of everyone with her ipad!

Tuesday 5 June

Now on the Main River (pro. Mine!) travelled through several locks last night and this morning. Didn’t get up until 7:30am. Had a shower then caught up on the past days in my Journal. leisurely breakfast then back to room to clean teeth etc.

Went up to the lounge around 10am so they could clean our room. Chatted with people and then the room was readied for an expert talk on the European Union. Just before it began I noticed that some others had ordered Spritz Aperol, so we ordered some too! First drink we’ve had on board that we have to pay for. Very nice it was too even though rather decedent drinking at that time of the morning – it was after 11am though!

Talk was quite interesting and he lightened the ‘heavy’ stuff with German Cartoons. I especially liked the one depicting 2 men looking at 3 books. The first – the 10 Commandments, 297 words. The second, the American Declaration of Independence – 1458 words. Finally a huge volume of some 30 pages outlining the EU regulation for the manufacture and distribution and sale of a particular type of biscuit!

Nice lunch up in the lounge. Just coffee and a small salad this time. Katy saw us on the way back to our room and reminded us about payment for Optional tours we took. ‘Oh, we’ll pay now!’ says Eddie brightly. Only trouble is I don’t carry my Visa card around with me, only our door card. So I quickly went to our room and grabbed my purse. Katy admired my little Alien creature I have attached to the zip as a lucky mascot.

Now we are waiting to go on our town walk and wine tasting in Kitzingen at 3pm.

Later: walk was interesting. The guide, an older fellow, was fun and informative. It was nice to see and hear that the town finally renovated the Synagogue that was wrecked on “Kristallnacht” (Chrystal Night). That occurred in November 1938 and the building was left in ruins until 1980. He actually told us he was sorry about what happened. There is no Jewish Community there anymore but there is in the town about 25km away – Wurzburg?

The town is newer looking than previous ones we’ve seen. It was bombed in 1945 so most buildings were built after that. The Old Bath House, built in the early 1900’s still there but is now a community centre and library.

We went to a little square near the Rathaus and were introduced to the ‘Burgermeister’ and the ‘Wine Princess’. We then went into a cellar and had a wine tasting of 5 types of wine. The first, a prosecco (Secco) was nice as was the Bacchus and the Silvaner. The people here refer to themselves as Franconians – from the Latin meaning ‘Free’ as the Romans didn’t capture them.

We all just walked back to the shop separately. I spied a clothing shop with racks outside and bought a nice greeny-blue top. Very light soft material that does not crease and good in this heat.

Had another light dinner in the Bistro upstairs lounge. Ena & Joachim from Canada, but originally Dutch and German, really like it there now too and we were that ones to tell them about it! Its getting quite popular. When we first ate here there was only one other couple, but now several come and its quite a lively, but relaxed dinner time. The tables are for two, or 3 people at the most, but as they are grouped close together its still very easy to converse with others.

To Continue  ... Part 2