Cruising the Danube, part 2

Bratislavia, Slovakia -- Tuesday, October 23

    The River Beatrice made good time overnight, sailing up the Danube and emerging into the corridor where Hungary yielded to Slovakia on the north bank, with Hungary and then Austria on the south. The Danube is perhaps Europe's mightiest river, originating in the Black Forest of Germany and flowing 1,785 miles to the Black Sea. It passes through or touches the borders of ten countries and four national capitals. In ancient times it formed the northern border of the Roman Empire. Romans built the first bridge across the river in 105 AD. With the completion of the Rhein-Main-Danube Canal in 1992, the Danube is now the eastern end of a trans-European waterway which can take travelers from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
     In late morning we cruised through the city of Bratislava, capital of Slovakia. The sunny skies we had enjoyed in Hungary were starting to desert us, but many of our cruisemates were preparing to join us for the day's optional excursion. Pulling to the shore in Austria, we disembarked and boarded a motor coach for the short jaunt back into Slovakia to visit the capital.
     Like Hungary, Slovakia was for many years behind the Iron Curtain, as the eastern half of Czechoslovakia. Bratislava was actually the capital of Hungary until the mid-19th century. After World War I and the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Czechoslovakia was created. Occupied by the Russians at the end of World War II, it remained a communist nation until the "Velvet Revolution" of 1989. This led to the "Velvet Divorce" on January 1, 1993, with the nation splitting into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. From what the Slovaks told us, there are no hard feelings.


On a cloudy day in the Slovak capital, Bratislava Castle was barely visible.



      Nicknamed "The Beauty on the Danube," Bratislava has about 650,000 residents in its metro area, about 12% of the country's population. Like many central European cities, it suffered battle damage in World War II, but the industrious Slovaks have been busy rebuilding historical sites and building new ones. Our tour took us around the city, where we viewed the US Ambassador's residence, right up the street from China's. We disembarked our coach in Old Town.

 

Bratislava's Old Town, with its quirky streets, foreign embassies
and beautiful architecture.

The Primate's Palace, where Napoleon signed the Treaty of Pressburg
after winning the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805.

Some interesting statuary has been added to Old Town in recent years.
This one is "Cumil the Peeper." The one to the right is a mime.
Or is it the other way around? 

     After the tour we had an hour or so of free time for browsing, and I hustled back to St. Michael's Tower, which is the tall edifice in the above photo of Old Town. I was told it housed a museum featuring weaponry from medieval times to World War I, and being a student of martial arts weapons, I was eager to see it. The museum featured five floors of displays, accessible via winding stairways, and at the top I emerged onto the balcony to get a spectacular view of the city.

     

    Our time in Bratislava was drawing to a close, so we gathered in Hviesdoslav Square in front of the National Theater. This neo-Renaissance building was finished in 1886, and in front of it is Ganymede's Fountain.

     

    We boarded our coach and headed back to Austria, only a few kilometers away. The border came up before I could bring my camera into play, and we wouldn't have known it was there if the guide hadn't said so. What used to be a fortified checkpoint between communist Czechoslovakia and neutral Austria is now just an empty building, with no signs, no flags, nothing at all to indicate the traveler is leaving one country and entering another. During the Cold War, travel from the East Bloc to the West was severely restricted; our guide said that Slovaks who wanted to visit relatives in Austria could do so only with a permit from the government, and only one family member at a time could go. Times have certainly changed from those days.
     Our ultimate destination was the River Beatrice, by now docked in Vienna, but first we would have a dinner stop, and it was not just any dinner stop. This would be the Marchfelderhof, in one of the neat-as-a-pin Austrian country towns we passed through on the way. The staff rolled out the red carpet for us, literally.

     

    Inside was a non-stop display of Austrian historical bric-a-brac, along with photos of celebrities and politicians who had been guests. There was music and dancing and the food was great. Awaiting us at each table were shots of schnapps, served in what looked like test tubes. From the "Imperial Dinner" menu, I chose Wiener schnitzel, but with turkey meat rather than the traditional veal. Sue had barbecued spareribs. My father and I washed our meals down with Austrian beer. 
     We had already heard a lot about Franz Josef I, the next-to-last of the Austro-Hungarian emperors, and his wife, Elisabeth, known as "Sisi." In our time in Austria we would hear a lot more. Franz Josef ruled the empire for 68 years until his death in 1916 at age 86. Although it seems Austrians have a lot of nostalgia for those days, the history of Franz Josef's reign was filled with one military defeat after another, resulting in the gradual decline of Austro-Hungarian power and influence in Europe. The emperor's only son, Crown Prince Rudolf, committed suicide in 1889. Sisi herself was assassinated in 1898, stabbed to death in Geneva by an Italian anarchist. Franz Josef's nephew and designated heir, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was shot to death in Sarajevo in 1914, the event that touched off World War I and finished off his uncle's empire. But nobody talks about that anymore in Austria. Instead it's about the cultural heritage of Franz Josef's time and especially about Sisi, her beauty and independence.

Emperor Franz Josef I, who ruled Austria-Hungary
 for 68 years.



His empress, Elisabeth, known as "Sisi".



      Returning to the ship after the dinner, we repaired to the lounge for an evening of musical entertainment, provided by the Pressburger Duo, a pair of musicians from Bratislava who played classical numbers and Slovak folk tunes. One of them played the piano and accordion, the other the violin and four kinds of pipes, and he also sang. We hit the hay early because the next day would be one of the highlights of the trip---Vienna.

 Vienna, Austria -- Wednesday, October 24

      It is the "City of Music," home to some of the world's greatest composers, and also the "City of Dreams," because not only has it hosted Brahms, Mozart, Strauss and Beethoven, but Sigmund Freud. In 2005 it was ranked in a tie for first (with Vancouver, Canada) for the title of "world's most livable city." It is Vienna, the capital of Austria, and it is quite a place.

    Home to over 1.7 million people, about a quarter of Austria's population, Vienna has been one of Europe's most influential cities, culturally and politically, for centuries. First settled by Celts around 500 BC, the Romans fortified the city during their day. By the 15th century it was home to the Habsburg dynasty, which would produce Franz Josef in its waning decades. In the early years of the 20th century, an aspiring young painter from Linz was twice denied admission to the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. The young man gave up art and after serving in the German Army in World War I (and getting decorated for bravery in combat) he went into politics. Our guide told us that the academy's rejection of Adolf Hitler was the worst mistake the Viennese have ever made.

    Incorporated into greater Germany along with the rest of Austria in the Anschluss of 1938, Vienna eventually became a battleground. In April 1945, Allied forces ejected the Nazis after an 11-day battle that left much of the city in ruins. Along with the rest of Austria, Vienna was divided four ways by the Allied powers and became a center of postwar espionage and intrigue, depicted memorably in the 1949 film The Third Man. The Russians pulled out in 1955 after Austria agreed to become a neutral state. 
    We decided on a walking tour in the morning, "See Vienna as the Viennese Do." It was a good choice. Our motor coach took us around the fabled Ringstrasse, a broad boulevard that features some of the city's most impressive buildings. Vienna's architecture, largely in the Baroque style, is one of the city's great charms. Franz Josef is credited for much of it, and the Austrians themselves carefully rebuilt the city after the war so that today it is, in many places, almost a city in a time warp, where the visitor can step from the 21st century into the 19th and back again. 
    Our walking tour began, appropriately enough, at Hofburg Palace, which was the winter home of the Habsburgs for most of their 600-year reign. Today it houses shops, private apartments, museums and the seat of Austria's government. 

In the People's Garden, a statue of the Empress Elisabeth, "Sisi."

The Leopoldine Wing of the Hofburg, which is the Austrian version
of the White House.



The New Castle, built in 1913, houses many of the city's best museums,
including collections of military arms and ancient musical instruments.  



        Exiting the Hofburg, we began a stroll through Vienna's renowned shopping district, the Kohlmarkt. Given over entirely to pedestrians, it is one of Europe's most fashionable places to shop. It was hard to keep the women from fainting.



        

    Vienna is famous for its sausages, and there are curbside stands where they serve sausages in many different and tasty varieties. Part of our tour included a snack, and it was a real treat. Not too pricey, though, at 3.70 euros, which is about $4.81 US.

Snacking on Kaesekreiner mit Senf und Gebaeck, cheese sausage
with mustard and bun. Es war herrlich!

        

    The group had about 45 minutes of free time to shop before heading back to the ship via the U-Bahn-zug, the subway. Since the ship was providing free shuttle service by bus for passengers who wanted to stay in the city a while longer, I decided to hang around for another couple of hours. My first stop was nearby St. Stephen's Cathedral, then I did some shopping and headed back to the Hofburg to see the National Library, which we'd been told was the world's most beautiful. It was like no library I've ever seen, that was for sure.

The interior of St. Stephen's, completed in 1160. In the north tower outside is
the massive bell called "Boomer," the largest bell in Austria,
weighing in at over 22 tons.

This photo from Wikipedia shows the Prunksaal, the center of the old Imperial library.
This is the part I toured. (No flash photos allowed.) There are over a
quarter-million books here. The entire library includes over 7.4 million objects,
including ancient papyri dating back to the 15th century BC,
music, statuary and a collection of globes. I could've spent the entire week here.

     

    While waiting for the shuttle bus across from the State Opera House, I chatted with some Viennese and other Europeans who were at the same bus stop. Surprisingly, they didn't ask me about the upcoming US presidential election. I asked them what they thought about the current European Union financial crisis, which has been in the news back home. One Dutchman told me, "The Greeks have been living like kings, but that's all over now." It was pretty clear from these conversations, and other observations we had during our trip, that the northern Europeans aren't at all happy about how things are going. It's also pretty clear that Germany is the economic engine and political leader of the continent, and its influence is growing. I couldn't help reflecting that 70 years ago the Germans conquered the continent by force of arms, but couldn't hold onto it. Now they have pretty much bought it back. Whether they want to keep it is another question.
    Back on the Beatrice, we dined and then headed out for our evening event, a concert at the Kursalon, built by Franz Josef as a spa in 1867 but which soon became a venue for intimate concerts. Our performance this evening was by the Alt Wien, a salon orchestra of some 15 musicians. It performs without a conductor, just as in the time of the famed composer and musician Johann Strauss, who performed here many times. The principal violinist is the leader of the orchestra, and this evening he was an Austrian gentleman of about sixty who bore a startling resemblance to the former US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld.

Sue and Mom, in the center, prepare to enjoy a Viennese concert.

        

    Even in the relatively small salon orchestra setting, the music was wonderful, featuring many of the best-known compositions of Mozart and Strauss. An added bonus was the presence of opera singers and ballet dancers for some numbers. Hearing "The Blue Danube" performed in Vienna was a perfect way to end our visit to this magnificent city.

Thursday, October 25 -- Through the Wachau Valley, Austria

        On an overcast and somewhat chilly day, we cruised through one of the most scenic areas of the Danube, the Wachau Valley. Some 40 kilometers long, the valley is known for its many vineyards and wineries, as well as its castles and picturesque villages. We came ashore in the village of Duernstein. Sue and I took the hike up the mountainside to the ruins of the famous Duernstein Castle, and it was worth the effort.

As we came ashore outside Duernstein, the castle loomed above. 

Heading up the winding path to the castle, a glance back at the village and the Danube beyond.

At the top, the view across the Danube to the village of Rossatz is worth the climb.

The intrepid climbers take a rest upon the ruins.



        Duernstein Castle hosted a famous prisoner in the late 12th century. Just before Christmas 1192, King Richard I of England, famously known as Richard the Lionheart, was arrested near Vienna by the Duke of Austria, Leopold V. Richard was returning to England after the Third Crusade, and was accused by the duke of arranging the murder of the duke's cousin, Conrad of Montferrat. Moreover, Richard had insulted Leopold by throwing the duke's standard into a ditch during the Crusade. Although Richard and his party were traveling in disguise, it was said he was identified by his expensive ring and because he was eating roast chicken, a delicacy enjoyed by aristocrats. In late March 1193, Richard was taken to another prison in Speyer and eventually ransomed for 65,000 pounds of silver. If you're a fan of the classic 1938 movie The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn, you might believe that Richard successfully returned to England, deposed his nasty brother, Prince John, and pardoned Robin. You would be wrong; Richard died in France on April 6, 1199, several days after being shot by a crossbowman while besieging a castle. (The more recent Robin Hood movie starring Russell Crowe got it right.) Nearly 500 years later the castle was destroyed by invading Swedes, who were a lot more aggressive in those days.

Although Richard isn't buried here, Duernstein's cemetery is as picturesque
 as the village itself.

At the end of the village's main street, yet another scenic view.

         From Duernstein we took a tram to a nearby winery, Domaene Wachau, sampling some of the winery's best products and touring the impressive wine cellar. We didn't buy any of their wine, being unable to transport it back home on the plane, but here in the States you can order authentic Domaene Wachau wines through its US importer, Vin Divino of Chicago. I'd recommend the Zweitgelt Rose and the Federspiel Riesling.

        Our cruise continued, and after lunch we repaired to the lounge to take in more of the Wachau scenery. It was a bit brisk to be up on the uncovered sun deck, but I did get up there for some shots and also a visit to the wheelhouse, where the captain showed me the high-tech controls of the ship.

Near the village of Spitz, the ruins of Hinterhaus Castle watch over the Danube.

        

        At the western end of the Wachau is the city of Melk, known for its famous Melk Abbey. We came ashore and toured the abbey, which was founded in the late 11th century. Today it is still a Benedictine abbey, and its present Baroque structure was built from 1702-36. In addition to the monks, the abbey hosts a school with some 900 students and a world-famous museum and library.

       The weather was turning colder by the time we finished our tour and came back aboard the Beatrice, but there was one more event for the day. After dinner, we were entertained by an Austrian couple in period dress, telling the story of Franz Josef and Elisabeth.

       Sisi was the Princess Di of her time, and today's Austrians revere her memory, 114 years after her assassination at age 60.  She was a non-conformist, resisted court protocol, and pretty much did her own thing years before it was fashionable for women to do so, especially a woman of royalty. Our Vienna guide called her the world's first supermodel: at 5'8", she was tall for a woman of the times (taller than Franz Josef, in fact), and she maintained her weight of 110 pounds by being way ahead of her time in terms of diet and exercise. She took it to extremes at times; married at 16 she went through three pregnancies by the age of 21 and became moody and what we would now call anorexic and bulimic. The death of her first child, Sophie, at age two sent her into a depression. She would have her corsets tied so tightly that at one point her waist was measured at only 16 inches. At the mercy of a domineering mother-in-law, she became increasingly distant from her husband, although she did bear his fourth child in 1868 at age 30. 

    Sisi was obsessed with her appearance; her hair reached to the floor and took two hours a day to prepare, but she rarely used cosmetics. Every morning she took a cold shower and in the evening would bathe in olive oil. She slept very little, but when she did it was without a pillow on a metal bedstead so as to preserve good posture. Her leather sleeping mask would be lined with crushed strawberries or ground veal. After she turned 32 she no longer sat for portraits and was rarely photographed, so as to preserve the public perception of her youthful beauty.

        Emotional problems aside, her fitness regimen was impressive even by today's standards and unheard of for a woman of the 19th century. An accomplished equestrian, she also walked and hiked for hours at a time, performed rigorous calisthenics and at age 50 took up fencing. Franz Josef had a series of mistresses but it was never really known if Sisi had lovers, although it was suspected that she had an affair with George "Bay" Middleton, a Scot who may very well have been the father of Clementine Ogilvy Hozier, the wife of Winston Churchill. Sisi was well-read, knew several languages and wrote poetry. Devastated by the suicide of her only son, Rudolf, in 1889--he had murdered his lover before taking his own life--Sisi wore black every day for the rest of her life. On September 10, 1898, she was stabbed to death in Geneva, Switzerland, by an Italian anarchist. Like the Princess of Wales a century later, Sisi was one of the world's most famous and beautiful women and died tragically before her time.

    Salzburg, Austria -- Friday, October 26

     Our last full day in Austria saw us come ashore in the city of Linz. Our choices for tours this day were a trip to some small villages near the Alps, or further inland to the city of Salzburg. We chose the latter. Fans of the movie The Sound of Music, and there were many among us, were eagerly anticipating this trip. Salzburg was where much of the movie was filmed. Released in 1965, the film is set in the late 1930s and is based on the real-life family of retired Austrian Navy captain Georg von Trapp. (Today, Austria is land-locked, but in its imperial heyday it had access to the Adriatic Sea via the port of Trieste and did indeed have a navy.) The movie won five Academy Awards and quickly became one of the highest-grossing films of all time. Sue and I had never seen the movie, but we'd attended a stage production several years earlier.

The Sound of Music starred Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer,
and featured the memorable music of Rodgers & Hammerstein.

     The weather was once again overcast, preventing us from viewing the Alps, but we were able to get a good look at the Austrian countryside as our motor coach headed southwest over an ultra-modern freeway. The typical Austrian farm, our guide noted, is about 19 hectares (46 acres), quite small by American standards. Most of the farms we saw raised crops such as hops and sugar beets, although some also had livestock, mostly dairy and beef cattle. Austrians also enjoy hunting, we were told, with deer and boar the primary game animals.
     We stopped for a break at a very modern rest-stop overlooking Moon Lake. Except for all these people speaking German, it would've easily passed for an American location. Gas was priced at 1.53 euros per liter, which translates into $7.54 per gallon. In the village of Mondsee below is the church where the wedding of Maria and Captain von Trapp was filmed for the movie.   

   
    
    Salzburg was only about 30 kilometers further, and soon we disembarked near the north bank of the Salzach River. In addition to being renowned for the movie, Salzburg is known as the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the famous 18th century composer and musician. Our first stop was the beautiful Mirabell Gardens.




Mirabell Gardens date back to the 17th century and were opened to the public
by Franz Josef in 1854.

The rose garden next to Mirabell Palace. Originally built in 1606 and redesigned in 1727,
the palace today houses the city government of Salzburg.

The steps in the background were where Julie Andrews taught the children the
"Do-Re-Mi" song in The Sound of Music.

Near our exit from the park, a pair of mimes were on station.

 
 
    We approached the Staatsbruecke, the main bridge across the Salzach, and got our first view of Salzburg's Old Town. Proceeding across the bridge, we entered the well-preserved historical center of the city.




Across the Salzach, the Old Town awaits us, dominated by the
cathedral dome and Fortress Hohensalzburg.

On the bridge, a curious European custom: young lovers clamp a padlock
to signify their bond.

In Old Town, the Getreidegasse is the place to shop.

    

    Our tour took us through the district and inside the huge cathedral, through the marketplace and back to our rally point, Mozart's birthplace, which is preserved as a museum. Mozart was one of the world's greatest composers and was also a pretty good musician in his own right. Born in 1756, by the age of five he was proficient on the violin and piano and was already composing music and performing before royalty. He relocated to Vienna at 25 and died ten years later, in 1791, of an illness that has never been positively identified. The most common conclusion is rheumatic fever. In his short life he composed over 600 pieces of music, ranging from symphonies to operas to chamber and choral music. His influence on music then and now cannot be underestimated.

Mozart's birthplace is the centerpiece of Salzburg's Old Town.

     

    We had about an hour of free time, so we headed back to some of the spots we'd visited during the tour. Many of the shops were closed due to the Austrian National Day, the commemoration of their 1955 declaration of neutrality, but enough were open to provide us with some treats and souvenirs.

We never could figure out how this mime stayed in the air.

Dating to the 17th century, Salzburg Cathedral is where Mozart was baptized.

Interior of the cathedral, which suffered bomb damage in World War II.

The ornate cemetery of St. Peter's Church.

The entrance to Stiftskeller St. Peter, the oldest restaurant in Europe
dating back to the year 803.

We passed on the Stiftskeller and opted for giant pretzels in the Old Market.

We had to stop for Mozartkugel, the unique layered chocolate
named after the composer.

Dad was surprised when the statue shook hands.

    

    After the tour, we had dined at one of the traditional Austrian restaurants on the Getreidegasse, and after our free time we waited for the group in the restaurant's courtyard across from Mozart's birthplace. A nearby stand was selling roasted chestnuts. Even though this was a holiday, the streets were busy with visitors and shoppers. After a walk back to the north bank of the Salzach, we boarded our coach for the trip back to Linz and the River Beatrice. We would be sailing upriver overnight to our final stop, the village of Passau, Germany.

                   Passau, Germany -- Saturday, October 27

    Our only full day in Germany dawned overcast and rainy, and unfortunately it didn't improve. Still, we bundled up and with our ship-provided umbrellas we set out on the walking tour. We'd come ashore on a peninsula that juts out into the confluence of the three rivers that meet in Passau: the Danube, Inn and Ilz. Now a university town of some 50,000, Passau was renowned during the Renaissance for its manufacture of swords and other weaponry. The wolf is prominently featured on Passau's coat of arms, and its swordsmiths stamped the image of a wolf on their swords. Some swordsmen came to believe that this image conferred invulnerability on the sword's owner, so the "Passau art" came to be a common practice for swords manufactured throughout Europe. (Ironically enough, I was unable to find any swords, or even sword-themed souvenirs, in the town once famous for making them. Germans have gone way out of their way to de-emphasize anything resembling the military or warrior culture since their defeat in World War II.) 

Passau, on a cold and rainy October morning.

  

    Despite the rain, some of us headed back to town after a traditional Bavarian lunch aboard the ship. I was in need of some good walking shoes, and I found a pair at the first place we stopped in the town's modern shopping district. Alas, my search for unique souvenirs turned up empty. Sue and I try to get native artwork during our trips, and fortunately Sue had found an artist's shop in Duernstein and we purchased a beautiful painting for our home. On our previous visit to Germany in 2006, we'd bought a cuckoo clock from a factory in the Black Forest.
    Tonight's event on board was the Captain's Dinner, so we all dressed to the nines and shared one last evening of dining and camaraderie. One of the best things about river cruising is the relative intimacy of the ship, compared to the much-larger ocean liners. You get to meet a lot of your fellow passengers and get on a first-name basis with much of the crew.

On our first day we met Dick and Kathi Madison of Green Bay, who graced our table
many times. One evening we had an entire table of Wisconsinites.
All we needed was a Bucky Badger pennant to complete the ensemble.

    

    Alas, we had to retire early. The River Beatrice was at the end of its voyage. Tomorrow, many of us would leave via Munich, others would head to Prague and extend their visit for a few days in the Czech Republic. We would be among the first to disembark, with a 3 a.m. wakeup call for a 4:30 departure. Fortunately, Europe's Daylight Saving Time was ending, so we would have the benefit of an extra hour of shuteye.



      To Munich and home -- Sunday, October 28

    Even with that extra hour, three in the morning was still three in the morning. Despite the early hour, the ship's crew had bag breakfasts ready for us and our luggage was efficiently taken outside to the motor coach. The weather had turned from rain to snow overnight. It was about a two-hour drive to Munich, and virtually everybody aboard got some extra sleep. We arrived at Munich International, which is about 18 miles outside the city, in plenty of time and after a short wait we were airborne. Our first flight was to Atlanta, 11 hours away. There we parted, with my parents heading to Phoenix, me and Sue to Minneapolis. We would gain six hours on the clock, but by the time we arrived at our home in northwest Wisconsin we'd been up for about 24 hours.
     The next morning we were up and off to work. As always with international travel, it was hard to believe that the previous morning we had awakened not only in another country, but on another continent, thousands of miles away. It would take us a few days to regain our equilibrium, time-wise, but very soon we were back in our normal routine.
     It is always special to travel, especially when it is to a foreign land, and having my parents along made it extra-special for me and Sue. We had visited very interesting places, met a lot of interesting people, and once again had a boatload of memories to share with friends and family. We also had that special feeling you get after a successful trip: there's still so much more to see in Europe, so we'll be back.