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RDVIK2016

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Everything posted by RDVIK2016

  1. We don't have any trouble, yet, with the steeper excursions, but decided on Ehrenbreitstein for the reasons I stated before The Viking bus took to the fortress. After the reenactor/guide's tour was done we took the gondola across the river and the bus met us over there. It was a very nice and interesting excursion. RDVIK
  2. Yes, Braubach is very convenient for visiting Marksburg as the castle is directly overlooking the town. It was one of the excursions available to our fellow passengers. We elected to Ehrenbreitstein to go that more recently built fortress to also get a view from above of the Deutsches Eck, the confluence of the Mosel and Rhein, and to ride the gondola across the river.
  3. In 2023 our Koblenz day on our Viking cruise had us docking upstream at Braubach. From there we were bussed to Ehrenbreitstein.
  4. notamermaid, A dimension I don't ever see discussed is the minimum height of a ship above the water line. All the river cruise ships can lower their wheel houses, topside railings etc., and can perhaps take on some water as ballast to give the ship the lowest possible profile to fit under bridges. I found an article about Viking Prestige that gave a measurement of "Höhe u. Wasserlinie" (height above the waterline) of circa 6.10m . That would be too high to fit under the bridges at Passau and Bogen long before river traffic is stopped. On the other hand it does not say if that is the height at minimum draft and with all the upper deck things raised or the minimum with everything retracted and at maximum draft. The German term is "Fixpunkthöhe". The images attached come from the linked source that you provided. So my question is: Is there any place where the range of the height from lowest to highest is regularly listed? RDVIK P.S. Having looked at your link I can't decide if my new favorite nautical term is the German "Absunk" or the equivalent English "squat" of a ship.
  5. @ural guy I also thank your for your photos. DW and I are trying to figure out when we can do the lower Danube and when we do the panorama at Pleven will be great excursion. We very much liked the panoramas we have seen. In the Hague we saw the Panorama Mesdag and in Berlin, although we could not see at the real Pergamon Altar because of renovations at the Museum, the Pergamon Panorama was extremely interesting and certain sculptures we also on display. RDVIK
  6. notamermaid, Well, as a former submarine builder that caught my eye!! GER SUBMARINE on the Danube just upstream of Irlbach an der Donau. Further research reveals that a bucket dredge / Eimerkettenbagger named Wotan maneuvered by Pushboat Uhu is signalling as a military ops vessel! The VesselFinder summary page shows a photo of a sailboat presumably unaware that a U-Boot is lurking below. Last port of call is listed as Fredrikshavn, Denmark. RDVIK
  7. @notamermaid You have "your" river on which I have seen a few times and cruised on once. This was scene a few days ago on "my" river when I walked down there. The Coast Guard training ship was taken from Germany after WWII as war reparations. She is a vessel of the Gorch Fock class and previously had the name Horst Wessel. RDVIK
  8. The bigger Blaubeeren are probably native North American highbush blueberries. The Latin name is "Vaccinium corymbosum". They might be labeled as "Kulturheidelbeeren" and could be grown in the Netherlands, Germany or a couple of other countries. Here is a description of their introduction to Europe. https://www.ishs.org/ishs-article/446_5
  9. Kind of interesting that your linked article only details how to get to Oradea from Bucharest, although it would take less than half as much time (driving) from Budapest. I had a little difficulty finding Oradea on older maps until I realized the Hungarians call it Nagyvárad and until 1948 the city was 90% Hungarian. Wikipedia's tables of the ethnic make-up over the years of areas and cities ruled by the former Kingdom of Hungary show incredible changes. I don't imagine Romanians have a lot of nostalgia over the end of the k.u.k era (kaiserlich und königlich) Austro-Hungarian Empire. RDVIK
  10. Looks like fun and that location in Oradea is very pretty. I have to admit I can't remember ever hearing about Oradea. Based on my visits to Prague I would have been surprised if they had not landed among the top finishers.
  11. Preiselbeeren are of the same genus as Heidelbeeren, that is Vaccinium. I have some blueberry bushes - North American high bush - many might call them Heidelbeeren, but that is not really what they are. I have tried to learn the distinctions between related berries in order to talk about them to my German friends. It can make your head spin when trying to learn the differences between various berries. German Wikipedia likes to substitute the vernacular German word Heidelbeeren for the Latin genus Vaccinium. That really adds to the confusion. It seems one must use the Latin for the genus and sub-genus, and even species, if one wants to distinguish native North American high bush blueberries from bilberries (which are low bush and more like Heidelbeeren), or lingonberries (Preiselbeeren) from cranberries (Moosbeeren). @notamermaid, I believe German food stores sell North American blueberries and cranberries that have been introduced to Europe. How do they distinguish them from indigenous berries? RDVIK
  12. BLACK CURRANTS - THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT I have taken some interest in the non-availability of currant products in the USA. Everywhere we go in Germany the hotel breakfast tables have currant marmalade and my desired beverage (when beer or wine is not appropriate) is Adelholzener Johannisbeere Mineralwasser (well, unless I can get an Almdudler.) Those little Greek grapes from "Zakynthos Corinth" came to be labeled "Zante Currants" in the United States, but like all other grapes they grow on vines, whereas currants grow on bushes. The cultivation of currants in the United States was banned in 1911 because the currants were an intermediary host to a fungus, white pine blister rust, that damages white pine trees, a very important forest product. US citizens had no exposure to real currants for so long that the confusion of thinking of those Zante grapes as "currants" was able to take hold. The US federal ban on cultivation of currants in was lifted in 1966 and left up to the individual states. Cultivars are now available that do not host the fungus. An acquaintance of mine was able to get the ban lifted in the State of New York in 2004 and he now runs a black currant farm and on-line retail operation in upstate NY. He was first exposed to black currants (schwarze Johannisbeeren) when in Germany. He and I were stationed in the same village in Bavaria in the early 1970's. He explains everything in an interesting TEDx video presentation:
  13. My language nerdiness got the better of me again: Once I found the article in the original (North) Macedonian it appears a better translation instead of "Bach" should have been something like "Strömung" as in English "the flow" or "current". The Macedonian word was "течениет" meaning "flow". "Bach" would be "Бах" (actually pronounced Bach) or "поток". RDVIK
  14. TUI docks, This TUI outfit surely finds some unique places to tie up. TUI Skyla is currently (about 22:15 CEST) at a place called Čilistov, a subdivision of Šamorín, Slovakia. Surprisingly it appears they are pretty well set up to receive cruise ships. There is a huge sports and X-sports facility there. Vienna has more than 30 boats backed up now - several triple rafted. Might just as well stay in Bratislava. RDVIK
  15. That lock at Greifenstein is a real "road"block with both chambers closed. Others have one chamber closed or draft restrictions, but this will be quite a problem if not cleared up soon. Already two ships that left from Passau thinking their way was clear to Vienna are stuck waiting at Tulln. The ships in the freight harbor at Bratislava have been released to go upstream and when I looked at about 14:00 UTC five of them were in a convoy half way to Vienna with destinations beyond Vienna, but there they will sit until Greifenstein opens. Viking Kadlin left Vienna to got downstream and got only as far as Bratislava, she just pulled into the freight harbor there. I am referencing both Marine Traffic and Vessel Finder for this info. RDVIK
  16. Hello notamermaid, Well, at least they got the situation at the Wallsee Schleuse resolved! Still no river traffic downstream from Krems all the way, I think, to Belgrade. There are still many boats at Bratislava that cannot move. It will be quite a scramble to get them redistributed when the river opens up to them. One poster has written about starting their cruise in Bratislava instead of Budapest. I reckon that it will be a new experience for the city and port of Bratislava to see multiple international cruise companies starting itineraries there. RDVIK
  17. notamermaid, Further language nerdiness: We would likely translate "Geschiebe" as a "deposit". Geschiebe is literally a collective noun referring to stuff that has been shoved. (Sand und Kies das geschoben wurde. / Sand and gravel that has been deposited somewhere by being shoved by the water current.) Fun with language! RDVIK
  18. We were posting at about the same time, but chances are that piles of sand were built up by the strong currents on the river bottom. See my other recent post. RDVIK
  19. This might be a clue to what is going on now at the Wallsee lock. The note says there is a maximum draft of 2.1 meters currently. Back in June they had a limit of 1.8 apparently due to masses of sand shifting near the lock. This news article has a paywall, but the summary gives the relevant info.
  20. @hermione8181 As I just mentioned to @notamermaid my cruise stayed longer than planned in Bratislava because LOW water precluded us getting to Budapest. That allowed me to wander around on my own after the cruise's included walking tour of the city center. Several statues around the city are very amusing; best known are ones called Čumil and Schöne Náci. Some others are along the park/boulevard called Hviesdoslavovo Namestie. That makes for a pleasant walk and the river end is very close to the Cathedral of St. Martin where many Austro-Hungarian coronations were held. I got there my a different route - partially following the coronation procession route marked by brass inserts in the cobblestones. The synagogue memorial right next to St. Martin is very interesting, I thought. Kostol sv. Alžbety (Church of St Elizabeth) "The Blue Church" is unique. I never did visit a cafe in the city center, but they are supposed to me a couple of really nice ones. If I had a another day or two I would have gone out to the fortress ruins a Devin. I did not inquire about visiting the observation deck at the top of the UFO bridge. RDVIK
  21. I was there for a few hours more than planned on our cruise because of LOW water that time. The brow from the bank going down into the ship was quite steep. I had extra time to explore while the boat stayed tied up and arrangements were made to go as far as Komárom and bus in to Budapest the next day. Otherwise I would not have got to St. Martin Cathedral or several other places. RDVIK
  22. Looks like she made it. Marine Traffic is on a bit of delay, but Vessel Tracker has this showing her getting through at 18:50 UTC. Due at Regensburg at 20:00 UTC.
  23. Hello luv2trvl, My wife and I boarded Viking Ingvi at Passau/Lindau in October 2019 to start a Danube Waltz cruise. Whether or not Ingvi makes it to Passau on time for your cruise or a different Viking Longship does not matter. Prior to our Rhine cruise two years ago there had been ship swaps due to low water in the Rhine gorge and our ship was changed. All longships are the same so you still get the same stateroom number and notice no difference. The Danube should be good to go for you starting at Passau on the 24th. Meanwhile enjoy Prague and please report on the situation there. We did the Viking post cruise extension there in 2016 and were in Prague on our own this past May and took a short sightseeing cruise on the river. Love that city!! RDVIK
  24. notamermaid, Thank you for the interesting info. I think you posted about a couple of Viking ships tied up at Tulln a day or two ago. There is apparently an interesting museum there about Roman settlement in Tulln. The video from Slovakia is Bratislava. The tallest buildings at the start of the video (that reappear later) are on the right bank of the Danube - the Austrian border is not far beyond those buildings. Later the video shows the spire of the Cathedral of St Martin where many of the coronations of Austro-Hungarian Empire were held. Also seen are the domes of a building of the Comenius University. The three boats at Straubing are a bit out of the city. That area might be somewhat marshy even when not a flooding situation and seems to be a waiting area for the lock. It it were mid-August and you could get off the boat and across the river it would be a cool place to stay for a couple days for the Gäubodenfest. The fest grounds are just the other side of the lock. Gäubodenfest is a fantastic alternative (better in some ways) to Munich's Oktoberfest. RDVIK
  25. Here's another boat stuck in an out of the place. Viking Tor docked at Brandstett (Pupping) a place with a population of 111. On the map it looks like just a couple of Gasthäuser put in their own berth.
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