Tuesday December 19^th:

The ship continued all night to somewhere passing through many locks and under bridges that were becoming concerns because of the water levels. In the early morning we were still sailing down the river through the fog until we set up at a port from which we could bus back to Nuremberg for our scheduled itinerary. On the ship we got a presentation of the history of efforts to connect the rivers through the continental divide with the system of locks.

After an early lunch, we were bussed an hour and a half back to Nuremberg for a quick bus city tour. Our guide mentioned some oddities of the area. It is the largest hops growing area but purportedly produces the lowest quality beers. Gingerbread here is called liebrach and has no ginger and is a cookie not a bread. The castle is actually in the Frandina District which was merged with Bavaria by a king, but there is a lot of rivalry still there. Each area has slightly different Lederhosen designs and each claim theirs is the real thing. We were dropped off and walked up a hill to the castle for our walking Imperial Castle tour. In addition to the castle views, we were treated to views of the old city below. Our guide first pointed out the old stones versus the newer one as we entered the castle were identifiable by the holes used to raise the stones into place. Parts of the castle are student dorms.

That evening we had signed up for the "Chef's Dinner". When we signed up, they asked if I had any allergies and I said I don't eat beef in the evenings so I was served grouper instead of the chef's choice of Prime Beef. We were served seven different courses. They were pretty good, but so are the normal dinners served every evening on the ship. I didn't note anything that night that I was going to try to duplicate upon my return.

That evening they had a tree decorating contest that was well in progress when I arrived there. The participants were vigorously decorating so I chose not to get in their way. I'm not sure what the decorating winner team got.

Wednesday December 20^th:

Today's plan kept changing due to the rising rivers. Instead of heading to Regensburg right after breakfast we were told to pack our bags because we were changing ships. We had an early lunch then boarded a bus with our luggage. We took the bus to Regensburg and started the walking tour and Christmas market, while the bus continued to Passau where our luggage and rooms on the AmaVerde were getting ready for us.

Our guide pointed out the old Stone Bridge, considered a masterwork of medieval construction. We got to our tour start late so we lost our position for the tasting. The guide brought us by the Regensburg Sausage Kitchen, notable for its role in catering for the workers who built the bridge. We would have tasted their sausage if we were on time. At Thurn & Taxis we were left in the Christmas market and instructed to gather at the llamas for the return trip. The market was a little different from the others in that the artists were carving, cooking etc. in their stalls. It was cold and dark already there when we headed to the meeting place.

Thursday December 21^st:

Passau is the City of Three Rivers because the Danube is joined by the Inn and Ilz rivers. The streets were very steep and the cobblestone made walking a bit difficult. We saw many building ornations. The city flooded often due to the three rivers meeting there. The buildings were color coded to identify the businesses inside. Green was for drugstores, yellow served for breweries and churches. There were markings on the doors indicating that the 3 kings had visited by indicating the year and the initials C+M+B for the wisemen.

Our guide had us enter St. Stephan’s Cathedral first in order to be back out before it was closed for services. We got to hear the choir practicing and they sounded pretty good. The Cathedral is home to one of the largest church pipe organs in the world with 17,774 pipes and 233 registers, but most of it was behind curtains as there is maintenence being done to it.

We also visited another Christmas market with somewhat higher quality stuff. I found and bought a Chrismas table cloth large enough for my new table.

Friday December 22^nd:

Located above the town of Melk on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Danube, Melk Abbey (Stift Melk) is one of Europe’s largest and most revered Baroque monasteries. The Benedictine abbey now houses a museum chronicling its history and a famous library with countless medieval manuscripts. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside. The libraries were massive and the shelves were full of books. Currently there are 23 monks in residence with most of them serving as teachers for students whose tuition is 110 Euro per month. We were allowed to take pictures from the outside for views of the Danube below. I also photographed the optical illusion of the staircase created by mirror at the bottom.

After the tour we were offered to walk through the town of Melk and make our way back to the ship via a different bridge than the bus took. I chose to walk back and had a little difficulty finding that bridge, but eventually got back in time. I got a different view of the monastery on the way down.

Leaving there we cruised through the Wachau Valley towards Vienna. The views may be better in the summertime than the winter scenery.

During the afternoon there were gingerbread decorating classes that we signed up for. There wasn't much class involved, just the materials and have at it.

We purchased the optional classical concert. This experience was a mixture of the most popular compositions of Vienna’s favorite and most famed composers – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart & Johann Strauss II and presented by local musicians. It was unusual for a classical concert because the performance included comical acting and very expressive acting in addition to the music.

Saturday December 23^nd:

The morning started with a bus tour of Vienna, followed by a walking tour and finally their Christmas Market. It was cold and rainy so most of the bus photos didn't work so well. We passed a planetarium that might be interesting to investigate further. They have a Ferris wheel that rotates slowly so you can eat dinner and get a different course each time you ground out. People also get married on it.

The buildings we saw included: Vienna Opera House, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of Natural History, Heroes’ Square, Hofburg Palace, Parliament, City Hall, Ringstrasse Boulevard.
Not sure I separated the bus and walking tour pictures exactly, but in the Christmas market was a store with the chimney cakes that also had an interesting photo of bubble waffles. They didn't have any of those cooked so I tried a cannoli. It was good, their crust wasn't as fragile as the ones I've had before, so they worked better.

As our walking progressed, the rain got harder and eventually switched to snow which got to be pretty intense.

The afternoon trip to the SCHÖNBRUNN CHRISTMAS MARKETS was cancelled due to the rising waters so the ship had to leave early to be able to get to the next port. That evening the ship had a Christmas Party with the ship musician becoming a DJ. In the market earlier I bought a Christmas designed table cloth for my larger table and Marilou bought a pastry rolling pin that she showed me later.