Sunday 21^st September, 2014…….After breki we had a traditional German Sunday morning…….Fruhschoppen….served in our lounge area…….virtually beer, pretzels and sausages……everyone got stuck in regardless of only having eaten breki about an hour earlier….I settled for the beer and have to admit that I have quite enjoyed the German beer even though I am not a beer drinker….after lunch we had a guest speaker come on board and tell us all about the Rhine/Main/Danube Canal……a commercial waterway in Bavaria, southern Germany, completed in 1992….the canal is 171 kms long and runs from Bamburg on the Main River (a tributary of the Rhine) to Kelheim on the Danube River permitting traffic to flow between the North Sea and the Black Sea….all very interesting and more locks but some really deep ones to come….also something different about this canal is that we go into locks and rise up and then we go into locks where we drop down……amazing engineering on this man made canal……all quite technical but another thing about this section is that at the locks the water is pumped into areas at the side of the lock and then brought back into fill the lock and vice versa…..later in the day the boat docked at Bamburg  (the Franconian Rome) and we were off on yet another walking tour…we all wear a headset and most of the guides are very good so usually these walks are informative in that you do learn something about the area…..one of the things of interest here was the row of medieval houses by the river called little Venice……and of course the usual with the Cathedral, the Town Hall etc…..personally we didn’t think much of Bamberg but they have 6 million visitors a year!!!!   Levi Strauss was born near Bamberg…at 18 he travelled to the USA with his mother and sister to join his brothers who were already operating an import business…Levi teamed up with Jacob Davis, a Nevada tailor who was making Denim work pants, in 1870 and together they patented the Levi brand……Levi never married and when he died in 1902 his fortune was estimated at around 6 million dollars which he left to orphanges!!!! Made me have a different view of the Levi brand!!!

We  cruise again tonight and we are really enjoying the night sailing with our ranch slider open…..often we wake with bright lights or a big concrete wall beside us as we go through another lock…..M & F

Monday 22^nd September, 2014……After breki a morning tour of Nuremburg and it’s raining…..our first day of rain where we are actually out in the rain on tour……Nuremberg is the 2^nd largest city in the German state of Bavaria with a population of 500,000….merchants and craftsmen made the city wealthy….the city first appears in the records of 1050 and during the 13^th century developed into one of Europe’s greatest trade towns….most of the city was completely destroyed in World War II (in 90 minutes so the records say)…the historical buildings have mostly been rebuilt using the same stones…..during WWII Hitler chose Nuremberg for the Nazi Party Rallies…..later Nuremberg became famous for the Nuremberg trials…we drove past the Court House…we also visited Zeppelin Field where the big Nazi Rallies were held….we recognised the spot from movies and documentaries we have seen but we went inside the Congress Hall Hitler was building…..like the Coliseum in Rome….massive and it was to have had the biggest room in the world had the building ever been finished…building stopped when WWII broke out and was to be completed after the war but of course that never happened and now this enormous waste just stands decaying!!  We spent more time walking the streets of Nuremberg, markets, shops, more castles and churches!! Back on board we continued on the Main Danube Canal where we went through 2 high locks, in particular 2 Canal Bridges where we sailed over the road!!  (Shades of the Pont Canal in France)….and then later on in the evening we passed through the Continental Divide of Europe but it was dark so we missed that in daylight!! And so another night of cruising and enjoying the Main Danube Canal….M & F 

Tuesday 23^rd September, 2014…..After breki our walking tour of Regensberg….a  city of 150,000 where one in every 5 is a student!! Regensberg has charming cobbled streets and was spared destruction in WWII…..once again we walked the streets of the historical centre, cathedrals and town halls etc and then we were taken into a Bavarian Sausage House to taste the famous Bavarian sausages……Michael enjoyed them….Regensberg was once the home of Oskar Schindler who was remembered for his movie, Schindler’s List….also Pope Benedict XVI came from Regensberg….in the afternoon Michael and I took an optional excursion to Weltenberg Abbey and a trip down the narrows of the  Danube Gorge…..the bus took us from Regensberg to Kelheim to where we boarded the boat trip down the Danube…we got off at Weltenberg Abbey and explored same…..this Abbey is the oldest Abbey brewing beer and has a great beer garden and as our guide said this is a typical family Bavarian day out, to come down the Danube and then stop at the Abbey for a beer…..The Monastery of Weltenberg was founded in 620AD and the Abbey Church was built between 1716 and 1751 and is famous for its great Baroque décor…then we bussed back to the boat at Regensberg…..fine weather and an interesting afternoon out in the Bavarian countryside….tonight cruising again…..M & F

Wednesday, 24th September, 2014…..We docked in Passau and another morning walking tour….Passau has a 2,000 year old history but we did not have time to venture into Passau as Michael and I took a full day excursion to Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic….and a beautiful sunny day….. CK is a Unesco World Heritage city in the Southern Bohemian region of the Czech Republic……the town and its castle were built on the Vitava River in the 13^th century and it was an important trade route in Bohemia….the well preserved old structures are mostly Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque style….the core of CK is within a horseshoe bend of the river and overlooked by the mighty castle….it was about a 2 hour drive from Passau to Cesky…..no border checks as we left Germany into the Czech Republic…the old border crossings are now empty buildings but some have been reopened as shops…..a very scenic drive through the Czech countryside…roads not quite the standard of Germany….and so we did about a 2 hour walking tour of Cesky and what an interesting place, best known for its art and architecture of its historic old town…During the communist era of Czechoslavkia, Krumlov fell into disrepair but since 1989 much of the town has been restored and it’s now a major tourist and holiday destination….we saw photos of the place from 1975 to 1983 and it is incredible how they have rebuilt this mountain town to what it is today….we couldn’t use Euros here so had to use the hole in the wall to get some Czech Krowns but that didn’t worry us as we will need them in Prague anyway….once we had some money it was time to eat as by this time it was about 2 pm and we were hungry…so many restaurants and lovely food smells…..then we were on the bus again to join the ship but en route we stopped in the town of Ruzmberk as this is where the Ruzmberk family originated from and they are the wealthy family that restored the castle in Cesky…..and so we travelled to Linz as the boat had sailed on to meet us there….(again, no border crossing into Austria) and what a interesting journey to Linz as our driver took us through more of the Czech countryside keeping off the main roads…..and so to Linz….the 3^rd largest city in Austria…at the end of WWII this was the border between the Soviets and the Allies with the main bridge across the Danube forming no man’s land and a dangerous place to wander as shots were regularly exchanged…..Linz, just another city today with a population of 200,000……we were on the boat and cruising again….very tired, walking these cobbled stoned streets every day is very hard on the back and legs…..M & F    

The very German tradition....Sunday morning and Fruhschoppen in the lounge on board.....(Beer, sausages and pretzels)

Oh those locks......

The European Union......

As above....

The Rhine/Main/Danube Canal....

The lock where we sailed over the top of the road.....

Oh those locks again.....

Our boat in the lock with the water tanks on the side of the lock.......hard to explain but incredible engineering....

Regensburg......Germany....

Where we did our sausage tasting...Regensburg.....Germany.....

Regensburg.....

The Garden at Bishop Court...Regensburg....

Entrance in through the old Roman Wall...Regensburg....

Regensburg...

Suspended organ in Cathedral at Regensburg......

Liberation Hall on the hill top en route up the Danube to the Monastery at Weltenburg....

The narrow gorge up the Danube....Germany....

As above....

As above....

The Monastery at Weltenburg....

Inside the Abbey at Weltenburg....

As above.....

As above.....

Enjoying a beer and pretzels in the Abbey Beer Garden.....

This boat crosses the water by the Abbey...purely attached to a cable above...he puts the rudder on one side of the boat and the current takes him across and to come back he puts the rudder on the other side of the boat...it was amazing to watch....

The country side in the Czech Republic....

As above....all so green as is Germany.....

An overview of Cesky Komlov showing how it has been built on a horseshoe bend in the river......

Part of the castle as Cesky.....count up 3 arches and we later walked across the point where you can see a statue....

As above from the other side....

Cesky Komlov.....

The Castle at Cesky.... the granite rock on which the castle stands was used inn the construction of same....some of the rock still in its raw state.....

The Market Square Cesky Komlov....

Cesky Komlov....

As above....

As above....

As above....

As above....

In one of the court yards of the castle....

The view from above those 3 arch ways I mentioned earlier....

The gardens of the castle....sadly looking very tired....

Lunching in Cesky omlov with fellow passengers....

More of that castle...Cesky Komlov....

Ruzmberk...en route from Cesky Komlo in the Czech Republic to Linz in Austria......