Uniworld River Beatrice, 4/10/16 Budapest to Passau

[Got2Cruise]

I hope you post a pic of the Linzer torte. :-)

[jpalbny]

I hope you post a pic of the Linzer torte. :-)

 

Sorry! I really truly forgot to take one! :(

 

stonepebble, I will get to your questions a bit later. Meeting friends for dinner now. Just finished a 3 hour drive...

[jpalbny]

Hi JP,

Wonderful report! Thank you! I've read bits & pieces for awhile, but have devoted today to the whole report!

 

Thanks for suffering through all of it!

 

We are sailing on Avalon 8/24 Budapest to Prague. Not sure what I'm gonna do about Regensburg, Roth, & Nuremberg without you!! ha ha

 

We have been to those places too... by land, in 2013, when our Danube cruise was canceled by the epic flood. I did a trip blog on Travelpod. The link is in my signature.

 

Questions about Budapest-Castle Hill...it seemed you took the bus up one time & the Funicular the second...is that correct and was there a reason?

 

Just something different. The 16 bus takes you further north on Castle Hill, if you want. It will let you off at Matthias Church. For some sights, that's more convenient than the funicular, which basically goes to Buda Castle.

 

Do you think we really need to purchase tickets to Parliament ahead?

 

They say so...whoever "they" are... There were a few spots open on our tour for walk-ins. May be different in August - busier season.

 

We will be there for 3 days (going before). It seems as though you found the Budapest card well worth it...We are planning on cabbing from the airport and most of the sites look close to me (within walking)...would you still recommend it?

 

If you're not using public transportation, my guess is that the 3 day card won't pay. But add up the ticket prices and see. It's 9900Ft for 3d. That's steep, but a 3d public transportation pass is around 5500 IIRC. So if you need that, then the Budapest card is likely worth it. If you're walking most places, probably not.

 

We're planning on doing Castle Hill area most of 1 day. Pest 1 day and Parliament area the day we get on the ship. So furthest transportation will be to Margaret Is. (we plan on going there in the late evening) and City Park (which we may go to for dinner or skip altogether).

 

Not just pertaining to Budapest-Did you print pics of buildings ahead and take them with you or figure it out afterward?

 

I identify things by a variety of methods. We download and label pictures while the memory is still fairly fresh. Our cameras have geotagging capabilities so I know where the picture was taken and can use that to figure it out later. Or Google.

 

What were the maps you used with stars on them? Was that so you could click on them while traveling?

 

Those are my own customized Google maps. Before the trip Chris makes a list of places to go, and I log in to Google and find them on a map and save them. Then, when we're there, I can navigate wherever I want using the smartphone app (Google maps). It saves the locations for me on my phone even of I originally saved them on my laptop.

 

Anxiously awaiting Passau!

 

Chris

 

Answers above. Glad you enjoyed the report so far!

Edited May 14, 2016 by jpalbny

[ewizabeff]

JP's map trick has inspired me to make my own maps for our trip to the UK - we leave next weekend. :)

[stonepebble]

Answers above. Glad you enjoyed the report so far!

 

Thank you so much, JP!

 

I will be purchasing Parliament tickets ahead...a few spots makes me nervous! ha ha

 

Will also be checking out your 2013 blog!

 

And just played around with Google Maps a bit & found gold stars!!

 

Chris

 

Warning :eek: Will probably be back with more questions!

[notamermaid]

Hello ewizabeff,

 

where are you going in the UK?

 

notamermaid

Edited May 15, 2016 by notamermaid

[ewizabeff]

Hello ewizabeff,

 

where are you going in the UK?

 

notamermaid

 

Not to hijack JP's thread, but....

 

We're spending 3 nights in London, then taking the train to Cardiff for just one night (the plan is to go to the Doctor Who Experience and then check out the craft beer scene), then on to Bath for one night (where we will tour a craft brewery before taking the free walking tour -- see a theme?), then the train to the Leeds/Bradford area for two nights. We have friends getting married in Bradford/Esholt, and we have reservations at The Box Tree in Ilkley the night prior. Then a quick flight back to London, where we stay overnight at the Hilton airport hotel before catching an early morning flight back to the states. It should be a whirlwind trip!

[jpalbny]

Not to hijack JP's thread, but....

 

We're spending 3 nights in London, then taking the train to Cardiff for just one night (the plan is to go to the Doctor Who Experience and then check out the craft beer scene), then on to Bath for one night (where we will tour a craft brewery before taking the free walking tour -- see a theme?), then the train to the Leeds/Bradford area for two nights. We have friends getting married in Bradford/Esholt, and we have reservations at The Box Tree in Ilkley the night prior. Then a quick flight back to London, where we stay overnight at the Hilton airport hotel before catching an early morning flight back to the states. It should be a whirlwind trip!

 

No worries about any perceived hijack. Your trip sounds like great fun, especially the craft beer theme. Hope the wedding is fun too.

 

**

 

Anyone using my map trick, be sure to download the region(s) of interest for offline use before you are out of WiFi range. The map won't do you any good if the data isn't stored on your phone - unless you have an international data plan. I don't...yet.

[jpalbny]

Thank you so much, JP!

 

I will be purchasing Parliament tickets ahead...a few spots makes me nervous! ha ha

 

Will also be checking out your 2013 blog!

 

And just played around with Google Maps a bit & found gold stars!!

 

Chris

 

Warning :eek: Will probably be back with more questions!

 

Glad you've figured out Google Maps. If anyone ever decides to spy on my Google account they will have a field day with all the saved places in my maps. :rolleyes:

 

Of course the downside to prepurchasing Parliament tickets is that you're locked in to that one day and time, so it does mess with spontaneity. We figured it would be worse to miss out altogether.

 

More questions - not a problem. Happy to help, as I've received plenty of help from these forums and don't mind passing it on.

[jpalbny]

Friday, April 15 - Linz, continued

 

From the Landhaus, we walked towards the Alter Markt.

 

 

A few views of the famous Kremsmünsterer Haus - where Emperor Friedrich III died in the late 1400s.

 

 

The van just had to park there in my picture...:mad: Oh well! This building was the city residence for the Kremsmünster Monastery - not that I am 100% sure what that means! It's now a restaurant. Nice building regardless.

 

I also liked the modern looking fountain in the center of the Old Market.

 

 

We headed to the Main Square next, and the Rathaus.

[jpalbny]

Friday, April 15 - Linz, city and country tour

 

On our way to the Rathaus I was distracted by this statue. I think this building holds an art gallery.

 

 

In the main square of Linz (Hauptplatz), stands the Dreifaltigkeitssäule, a column dedicated to the Holy Trinity, for protection from war, plague, and other dangers that were all too common, it seems. Our guide explained all of this while I was too busy taking the picture...

 

 

Next stop was the Rathaus. In addition to a very large floor that had a satellite image of Linz and the surrounding area, there were medallions featuring some of the town's more famous residents.

 

Kepler the astronomer was described previously. Pruner was a former judge and mayor who left his fortune to build an orphanage after his death. Bruckner was a composer who has a University named after him in Linz. Friedrich III was mentioned earlier (he supposedly died in the Kremsmünsterer Haus in 1493) but was also the first Holy Roman Emperor of the House of Habsburg.

 

 

We wandered the aerial map and tried to figure out where we'd been so far in Linz. Soon it was time to get on the bus to head out for our ride to the cider farm. Free public bathrooms in the Rathaus, BTW...good to know.

 

It was a short ride, about 25 minutes on the bus, so much less than the poor folks who are heading to Salzburg today. For the first part we rode on large motorways, but after we exited we went through some pretty rural country on smaller roads.

 

 

Soon we arrived at Deisinger Hof, a family-run cider farm that serves very tasty food as well. They are also starting a Schnapps product line. Their website: http://www.deisinger-hof.at/ shows a picture of a wooden tray of meats, cheeses, and vegetable garnishes that closely resembles the delicious tray of food that each of us was given for our lunch, and the tray was accompanied by freshly baked breads. Their different ciders were poured freely. It was a nice lunch, and it tasted just as good as it looked!

 

After lunch, we toured the grounds for a few. Quite an idyllic setting!

 

 

We headed into their bar and tried some Schnapps, but that was quite the firewater. A bit too strong for our liking, but the cider was very nice. After the tasting, we headed back to the ship and were back on board by about 3:30. We could rest I suppose, but we do probably have time to head back into town to knock off the rest of our list...what to do now?

Edited May 15, 2016 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Friday, April 15 - Back in Linz, on our own

 

So, of course we didn't stay on the ship to rest. This is vacation, and there are places to go and things to see! We can always rest later...like on the plane ride home...

 

The ship is docked less than 5 minutes' walk from Hauptplatz, so we headed back into Linz right away. While we had some energy left, we immediately climbed up Hofgasse to the Linzer Schloss. We explored the grounds for a few minutes before visiting the Museum...well, that's our story, but in reality we wandered around lost for a few minutes, looking for the museum entrance...eventually, we found it!

 

This is a gate entering the Linzer Schloss, known as Rudolfstor.

 

 

I don't remember what this statue was, but it sat atop a column near the gate.

 

 

Nice view of the town from the terrace of the Schloss. The Alter Dom is on the left of this picture (two towers). The single tower in the foreground on the right is the Landhaus. The twin towers in the background on the right belong to the Ursulinenkirche.

 

 

We spent almost 2 hours touring the museum (no pictures though). There were many different exhibits, including arms and armor, coins, art, changes in technology over the years, and a great nature exhibit of the geology, flora, and fauna of Upper Austria as well. When we finally finished, we headed back down Hofgasse into the main part of the Old Town. It had been a nice climb, but it was more fun going back down.

 

 

Neptunbrunnen (Neptune Fountain), at the top of the Hauptplatz. I should have taken this from a different angle; the Alter Dom is dominating the background.

 

 

Time for a few more stops before we call it a day. Only 6PM...we can do it!

Edited May 16, 2016 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Friday, April 15 - Linz, on our own.

 

We decided to visit a few churches before calling it a night. The Alter Dom looked better from far away. From up close, you can't get any kind of an angle for a photo. It was nice to have the inside pretty much to ourselves, though.

 

 

The Stadtpfarkirche too.

 

 

One last stop - the Keplerhaus. Johannes lived here...tick that one off the list!

 

 

I think we've done all that we can do today, so time to head back to the boat and get ready for dinner. I suppose, if we have to, we can go to Tamas' talk at 6:45 - though who really wants to hear about disembarkation?

[jpalbny]

Friday, April 15 - Good Night, Linz

 

So the disembarkation talk was the usual. We'd dock in a nice downtown location in Passau tomorrow morning, then after dinner we'd move out of town to Lindau, a few km downriver, so that they could get the buses in and handle the luggage. Much like Budapest.

 

Since we had an independent train ticket booking to Salzburg, the ship arranged a taxi for us at 10:00. Our luggage didn't have to be out until 8:00 and we figured that we'd be able to have a leisurely breakfast before heading out. So, that's enough about disembarkation. Time for dinner!

 

 

We both had the Chicken Caesar salad, which was surprisingly tasty, and it went very well with a Grüner Veltliner. We tried both soups; the creamy lentil soup didn't seem to have much (if any) cream; maybe that described the texture, not the ingredients. But the duck leg confit was delicious!

 

 

And the Blauburgunder (Pinot Noir) that accompanied it was perfect. What a treat!

 

After dinner we wandered out onto the top deck for a while. We'd been told that the modern buildings along the Danube put on a light show, so we brought our cameras. The Ars Electronica building was illuminated in several different colors.

 

 

 

And not to be outdone, the Lentos Kunstmuseum put on its own light show.

 

 

We headed to the lounge where a local group was playing some dance music, which lasted about an hour. They went by the name "Groove 4 You" and it was an enjoyable performance. We also enjoyed some more Grüner Veltliner, of course. The regular musicians were supposed to follow, but we didn’t see them, so after waiting for a while, we retired to bed.

 

It had been a pretty busy day, and there is a lot planned for Passau tomorrow. We have a walking tour, then a hike, then things to do on our own. Can't believe that the cruise has gone by so quickly! :(

Edited May 16, 2016 by jpalbny

[notamermaid]

Hello ewizabeff,

 

Thank you for your answer. What a busy trip. Have fun.

 

notamermaid

[notamermaid]

Hello jpalbny,

 

I have found the statue with the boat on the Linz website, sort of hidden down archived in the German version. It is called Nibelungenschiff and shows King Gunther and the minstrel Volker von Alzey. The website says that the statue represents the old wish of Linz town to be associated with the saga of the Nibelungen (hence the Nibelungenbrücke - the bridge over the river at Linz) but Linz is not mentioned in the saga and it s very unlikely that the people or tribe of the Nibelungen ever set foot in the town.

 

Which reminds me: the Nibelungen are closely associated with the Rhine - famously immortalized in the saga as well as the operas by Richard Wagner.

 

Great photos of Linz, thank you for your detailed entry, makes me a little disappointed that I spent so much time in the shops rather than sightseeing. The view from the river at night is spectacular, I also have a photo of the Kunstmuseum all in blue. Two fellow travellers on my river cruise went inside and told me that is was very interesting.

 

notamermaid

[jpalbny]

Hello jpalbny,

 

I have found the statue with the boat on the Linz website, sort of hidden down archived in the German version. It is called Nibelungenschiff and shows King Gunther and the minstrel Volker von Alzey. The website says that the statue represents the old wish of Linz town to be associated with the saga of the Nibelungen (hence the Nibelungenbrücke - the bridge over the river at Linz) but Linz is not mentioned in the saga and it s very unlikely that the people or tribe of the Nibelungen ever set foot in the town.

 

notamermaid

 

Thank you so much for finding this! Now I can update the labels on my picture, and we have all learned more interesting history from you. :)

[boards]

Thank you for the memories and the additional places we did not get to visit. We did this wonderful river cruise a few years ago, but we started where you finished in Passau. We also had three days in Prague to begin with and then two rainy days in Budapest, but it was a great cruise. We met some wonderful people my DW still is contact with.

[notamermaid]

Hello jpalbny,

 

my pleasure. Seeing that you label everything in detail about your photos I decided to have a look for the building with the statue. It took a bit longer than the "Nibelungenschiff" but I have found some info. The building is at the address Hofgasse 12, called Galerie Hofkabinett and is indeed an art gallery. The statue on the building's front is the Archangel Michael. He is normally depicted slaying a dragon (see the bible story). Here he is standing on the dragon. It is the interpretation by the artist Josef Fischnaller (1927 - 2006). He had worked for some years in that building (or the gallery premises themselves - I could not figure that fact out). He did many religious works and was founder of the Donauschule Linz.

 

Now I am off to some lunch and the TV to watch more "Downton Abbey". :)

 

notamermaid

[jpalbny]

notamermaid, thanks once again for your additional information. I can get to many of the websites, searching with the German names for each tourist site, but then I can't read them. And Google translate is not always very good.

 

***

 

Saturday, April 16 - Passau

 

Sad day, knowing that this is our last full day on board… We were up early, and had breakfast finished before 8:30, because we were expecting to be sailing into Passau at 8:45. The approach into the city is supposed to be beautiful. So we headed up to the top deck, only to learn that we were still a few miles short of Passau. Still, very pretty this morning on the Danube, with the fog lifting from the hills, the morning sunshine, and the relatively smooth river.

 

Instead of Passau, we had views of the towns a little further downriver. At this point, Austria was still on our left side (right bank of the Danube, since we're cruising upriver) but Germany was on our right side (left bank). This is the Austrian town of Kasten. And in keeping with the theme, I just looked at the town on a map, and the main street running along the Danube is Nibelungen Strasse!

 

 

On the German side, we had a nice view of Obernzell, with the Pfarrkirche St. Maria Himmelfahrt in the distance (twin spires). Schloss Obernzell is blocking the view of the rest of the church.

 

 

Here's a better view of Schloss Obernzell as we passed by.

 

 

A half hour later, we were still cruising but getting closer! My map told me that this was the last bend in the river before Passau.

 

 

So we were a little late getting into Passau, and the sun was intermittently hidden by haze and clouds. As a result, we didn’t get to see the separation between the waters of the Danube and the Inn as clearly as we could have. Supposedly, when the two rivers come together there is a clear difference between the blue-green mineral-laden waters of the Inn, and the brown waters of the Danube. Still, the city of Passau was a beautiful sight, here at Dreiflüsseeck. St. Stephan's Cathedral is easily visible.

 

Dreiflüsseeck, or three river corner - though the Inn and the Danube are the two big ones, the Ilz river also joins in here. You can't see the Ilz in this photo, but the Inn comes from the left of this peninsula, and the Danube from the right side. The Ilz would enter at the far right.

 

 

Here's the left bank of the Danube, with a view of the Veste Oberhaus, a 13th century castle high atop the hill (on the far left). Originally, it was linked to the fortress at the bottom of the hill (center right of the picture) by stairs enclosed by a fortified wall. They say you can walk to the castle, or there's a bus.

 

The Ilz river runs right behind the lower fort, and enters the picture at the far right.

 

 

But soon it was time for our walking tour of Passau. We're hoping that the nice weather holds; already, some clouds are rolling in... Lots to do though, so let's get moving!

Edited May 16, 2016 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Saturday, April 16 - Passau, walking tour

 

We had a nice docking location just upstream from Dreiflüsseeck. The old town of Passau sits on the peninsula between the Danube and the Inn. The riverboats can line up along the Danube side, very convenient to the old town.

 

We filed off the boat and headed left, down towards the confluence. Along the way, we saw a high-water mark - way over our heads! Crazy!

 

 

We stopped at the park, here at the confluence of the three rivers, to hear more about the flooding. The three rivers coming together at once makes this town particularly vulnerable. Strange to imagine that this whole park was submerged three years ago.

 

 

From the confluence, we walked along the Inn for a bit. There's a nice view across the river to a monastery.

 

 

The Innpromenade is pretty as well. This is Schaiblingsturm, a defensive structure from the 13th century, built to protect the old town.

 

 

From here, we climbed into the old town. Our tour guide talked about her time as a student in the all-girls school pictured here, and shared some stories about the boys' school next door. One anecdote led to a prohibition against open windows...

 

 

We walked the hilly streets to the other side, stopping for a view of the Veste Oberhaus. What is the year on the castle? It looks like 1899, but only half of the 8 is written. Our guide explained that this is a Gothic numeral, half an 8, so it says 1499. That was the year of a major renovation; the castle is originally from the 1200s.

 

 

From here, it was a downhill stroll to Rathausplatz. It's certainly getting a touch cloudier. What happened to the beautiful morning sunshine?

[purduemom1]

jp, once again, thank you for this awesome review. Your pictures really tell a story and then with all the details-it is really enjoyable to follow! For those of us who have visited these towns and cities your review is a nice way to "revisit" and for those planning, it is a great resource.

Sharon

[Got2Cruise]

The pictures of the river near Passau are splendid. Love the view.

[eyeu]

You do an amazing job of photographing and describing your trip. always look forward to your travels...you did not disappoint..thanks!!!

Rick

[jpalbny]

jp, once again, thank you for this awesome review. Your pictures really tell a story and then with all the details-it is really enjoyable to follow! For those of us who have visited these towns and cities your review is a nice way to "revisit" and for those planning, it is a great resource.

Sharon

 

Thanks for following along! When I read my reviews, I keep thinking that I put in so much detail that I must be boring people to death. But it's hard to contain our excitement at finally getting to cruise the Danube after trying since 2012. Glad that you're not too bored with the review (or at least you're too polite to say so)!

 

I wish I had started keeping notes for some of our earlier trips. I look back on our pictures from 10 years ago and can't remember all the details of what we saw or did.

 

The pictures of the river near Passau are splendid. Love the view.

 

The combination of fog on the hills and early morning sunshine was really spectacular. I wish the trip through the Wachau Valley had been like that, but this part of the Danube was pretty nice too. We had great conditions for the sail into Passau.

 

You do an amazing job of photographing and describing your trip. always look forward to your travels...you did not disappoint..thanks!!!

Rick

 

Thanks Rick - I have to confess, I like your pictures better than mine. I think I need to get a better compact camera before next trip, as the focus isn't crisp enough on my all-purpose Nikon waterproof camera, so the picture quality isn't making me very happy. Most of the pictures in this review were taken by Chris; she has a pretty nice high-end P&S. :)