not allowed yet!
Passau
Sun still shining!
Happy in Vienna
Spectacular view!
September 9/07 2:48 p.m.
Honestly, folks, it had been raining so badly that we were kicked off the boat on our way back at Vienna and had to take a 3 1/2 hrs. bus- drive to Passau, our embarking and disembarking harbour in the end. Locks had been closed on account of high water level. And it all started out quite promising. We had fair weather, not cold and no rain the day of our arrival at Passau(Bavaria) and a nice leasurely boarding the next (Saturday) morning. We arrived in Vienna on Sunday and had a city sightseeing tour in the afternoon, the usual tourist attractions, of which Vienna offers plenty. Late afternoon I gave the nordic walking instructions a try, to see if I would join a work out. - Next morning we ventured out on our own by taxi, had a very nice and funny driver, who gave us some inside infos on top of the little tour while driving and then were just as lucky with our fiaker driver (horse drawn coach) . Of course, if the weather plays along, things are so much more pleasant. -
Now, don't ask me to give you a tour too, I am not so gifted at reciting history, I let my snapshots talk for themselves! And then we went inside the St.Stephen’s Cathedral , spectacular! and up with a crummy little elevator which took you outside into a kind of caged in walk (gave me the creeps and a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach -ugh, damn high!), but the view over Vienna and sourrounding aereas had been marvellous! Also you could have a peek at the big bell, the Pummerin. And at late afternoon I battled hip gold, tried nordic walking and decided it would in the long run be not my thing, I think walking without sticks suits me better (never know when I would need them anyway, in the years to come) .
And from then on the weather pixie got its mean streak and we had pouring rain in Budapest, Bratislava, ashore, on deck , on the river, till the not blue Danube decided to overflow and that put an end to our river cruise.
But we had fun inside, like during the long wellness nite,which only us two and another couple had booked, so we had the complete wellness area to ourselves, including the massage people, where man of my life managed to collapse with his relax bed and rip on top of that the socket of a lamp out of the wall. Too much good food, I think. But he survived his downfall, only to wipe a glass of the neighbouring table and a bottle of wine (which I fortunately managed to catch) with his - pardon me - ass the next nite.
The left- over mischiefs I will not mention. So, we have not been bored.
I frequented the trimm bike, which had been set in front of a window looking out on an aisle and felt like a monkey in a cage, people stopping to look at me through the glass.
Well, as I said, the rest had been rain.
Train ride back home had been very nice, the train quite empty and daughter No. 2 picked us up at the station, along with Herr Hund, who screamed like a pig beeing slaughtered,when he spied us. Now life is back to normal, only our bags are still missing, hope the service works as well as on the way to the cruise, then we should have them by Tuesday.
