Home again...

The bus left our ship at 3:45 AM to head to the Vienna airport.

We flew from Vienna to Frankfurt, had a 4 hour wait, then a LONG, LONG flight to DFW. Everyone was ready to be off the plane. Not a lot of sleeping happened (well......except one of the guys behind us who SNORED LOUD the ENTIRE way home).

We were worn out by the time we got home, but what a time we had!! I wouldn't trade the memories, laughs & good times for anything! Mom & I talked last night about how fortunate we were to 1) be able to go on a trip like that together and 2) WANT to go on a trip together. I am blessed to have a mom who is ALSO a friend! Thank you, God, for that blessing!!

Melk & Vienna

We left the ship at 9:30 AM for a tour of the 900 yearold Melk Abbey. It was beautiful.

Melk Abbey is an Austrian Benedictine abbey, and one of the world's most famous monastic sites. It is located above the town of Melk on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Danube in Lower Austria adjoining the Wachau valley, The abbey was founded in 1089, when Leopold JJ Margrave of Austria gave one of his castles to Benedictine monks from Lambach Abbey. A monastic school, the Stiftsgymnasium Melk was founded in the 12th century, and the monastic library soon became renowned for its extensive manuscript collection. The monastery's scriptorium was also a major site for the production of manuscripts. In the 15th century, the abbey became the center of the Melk Reform movement which reinvigorated the monastic life of Austria and Southern Germany. Today's impressive Baroque abbey was built between 1702 and 1736. Particularly noteworthy is the abbey church and the impressive library with countless medieval manuscripts. Due to its fame and academic structure, Melk managed to escape dissolution under Emperor Joseph JJ Melk when many other Austrian abbeys were seized and dissolved between 1780 and 1790. The abbey managed to survive other threats to its existence during the Napoleonic Wars, and also in the period following the Nazi Anschluss that took control of Austria in 1938, when the school and a large part of the abbey were confiscated by the state. The school was returned to the abbey after the Second World War and now caters to nearly 900 pupils of both sexes.

After the tour we headed back to the ship & sailed through the Scenic Wachau Valley, past a number of quaint little villages, churches & vineyards.

We arrived late afternoon in Vienna. Maxie, her daughter, Tracy (pronounced TRASHY in Germany), Mom & I took a cab to the city center of Vienna to their Christmas Market. The sights on the way to the market were worth the cab ride. The lights & decorations were so pretty. We walked around the market & the surrounding area until everyone's feet were cold & we decided it was time to head back to the ship.

We had to call it a night early because we had to be up & ready to roll by 3 AM.

Salzburg

Some of our group left the ship at 8:30 AM for a tour of Salzburg. We took a 2 hour bus ride. It was raining and snowing as we drove. The countryside was beautiful! We had a local guide that met us in Salzburg and we did a walking tour. It rained the entire time we walked & it was COLD & WINDY!! We had lunch in a restaurant that was housed in a building that had formerly been St. Peter's Abbey. It was beautiful.

After lunch we had free time to walk, shop, etc. We were very happy to see our bus & Fritz, the bus driver mid-afternoon. We got back to our ship in Linz & headed toward Melk, where we docked for the night.

Passau

After breakfast this AM, we had a guest speaker that told us of the German Christmas traditions. Afterward, we went on a walking tour with a local guide. Passau is known as the city of three rivers. The Inn & the Ills rivers join the Danube at Passau.

In the 2nd century BC, many of the Boii tribe were pushed north across the Alps out of northern Italy by the Romans. Passau was an ancient Roman colony of ancient Noricum called Batavis, Latin for "for the Batavi." The Batavi w

ere an ancient Germanic tribe often mentioned by classical authors. During the second half of the 5th century, St. Severinus established a monastery here. In 739, an English Celtic monk called Boniface founded the diocese of Passau and this was the larges diocese of the Holy Roman Empire for many years. During the Renaissance and early modern period, Passau was one of the most prolific centers of sword and bladed weapon manufacture in Germany. Passau smiths stamped their blades with the Passau wolf, usually a rather simplified rendering of the wolf on the city's coat of arms. Superstitious warriors believed that the Passau wolf conferred invulnerability on the blade's bearer, and thus Passau swords acquired a great premium. As a result, the whole practice of placing magical charms on swords to protect the wearers came to be known for a time as "Passau art". Other cities' smit

hs, including those of Solingen, recognized the marketing value of the Passau wolf and adopted it for themselves. By the 17th century, Solingen was producing more wolf-stamped blades than Passau. In 1662, a devastating fire consumed most of the city. Passau was subsequently rebuilt in the Baroque style. From 1892 until 1894, Adolf Hitler and his family lived in Passau. The city archives mention Hitler being in Passau on four different occasions in the 1920s for speeches.

After our walking tour, Maxie, Tracy, Mom & I went exploring on our own. Here is what we found for lunch.

We sailed and docked for the night at Aschach.

Another day...

I started out the day with a run along the river. This is the view along the path I took.

There weren't many people out, except children on the way to school. We got dressed, then a few of us headed to town & walked around until time to sail away from Rosenberg at 11:45. We sailed all afternoon. We spent time in the lounge playing a dice game called Farkle. Then dinner, followed by more games. We headed back to the room to watch a movie until bedtime.

Rosenberg

As we woke this AM, we were moving down the canal of the Danube. We went through several locks to get to the river. We spent the AM on the boat. We gathered in the library for a devotional with our group. It was a great time of praise & sharing.

We arrived in Rosenberg about 11. Rosenberg is one of Germany's oldest cities.

More than 2,000 years old, Regensburg, in southern Germany was a charming city. Regensburg boasts magnificently preserved historic buildings, narrow medieval streets and a pleasant walk along the Danu

be. Regensburg was an important military and trading center. There are traces of Celtic settlements around

Regensburg dating back to the 5th century, BC. A Roman fort was established in 179 AD, during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, then emperor of the Roman Empire. The area of the fort now comprises

the oldest, central part of the city. From the 6th century to the middle of the 13th century, Rosenburg was the capital of Bavaria and also served as a bishop's seat. In 1146, a stone bridge was completed over the Danube in Regensburg, which opened up a major trade route between southern Germany and Northern Europe.

From 1245 to 1803, Regensburg was a Free Imperial City under the Holy Roman Empire, meaning that it was ruled directly by the emperor and not a provincial leader. With the collapse of the Empire in 1806, Regensburg was ceded to Bavaria. Unlike many other German cities, Regensburg suffered little damage during World War II, enduring only one major air raid.

We took a city walking tour that included several old churches and another Christmas market.

Tonight, we went to a boys' choir concert at a beautiful old church. It was a chilly walk there & back, but well worth it!

Nuremberg

Our day began today with a breakfast buffet followed by a meeting that detailed the highlights of the rest of the week. We left the ship at 10 AM for a Nuremberg city tour by bus.

Nuremberg was only mentioned in a document written during the 11th century, but for Nuremberg historians, they consider the date when the document was written as the day Nuremberg was founded. The city grew with the domination of leading trading and merchant families. The late 15th century and 16th century have seen the economic and cultural growth of the city. When the first railway in Germany was built between Nuremberg and Furth in 1835, the city rose and Bavaria became the center of industrial growth in Germany. During the 20th century, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party abused the city's progres

s. Nuremberg became the "City of the Party Rallies". During World War II, Nuremberg was greatly destroyed by bombs. It has recovered and has flourished into what it is today.

This is a picture of the Nazi party headquarters in Nuremberg.

After we saw the highlights by bus, they dropped us off at the

famous Christmas market. The weather was cold & quite windy, but we were pleasantly surprised that the forecasted rain didn't arrive. It was extremely crowded at the market. Mom & I got on a 1 o'clock bus back to the ship for lunch. We ate lunch, then both opted for an afternoon nap. I got up in time to run a little on the treadmill in the ship's workout area. We joined our friends for a nice dinner, then back to the cabin.

Danube Christmas Market River Cruise

My mom asked me back in February if I'd like to go on a Christmas cruise down the Danube River. Are you KIDDING?? Think I'd turn down a trip like that?? No way!!

Our friend, Margie Turner, did a fantastic job of organizing the trip (she started the process in February). At the last minute, because of some health concerns, she had to stay home. That was the ONLY disappointment we experienced on the trip.

Our crew ended up being a very congenial group of ladies. There were 4 moms & daughters on the trip & 7 other ladies. There were 9 of us from Granbury, 1 from Fort Worth, 1 from Dallas, 1 from McKinney, 1 from New Braunfels, 1 from Pearsall & 1 from Virginia.

Mom & I left home about 11 this AM. We met some of our traveling partners at the church building. One of the girl's husband drove us in the church bus to the airport. We picked up one of our girls in FW & met a few others at the airport.

We flew from D/FW to Frankfurt, Germany. It was a long overnight flight. We departed at 4:30 PM & arrived at 8 AM. We had a 4 1/2 hour wait for the short flight to Nuremberg. We were met at the airport by the Grand Circle travel guide & a tour bus. They took us to the ship. We had time to unpack, get settled in, rest a bit, then it was dinner time. We had an extravagant 7 course meal. Everyone was worn out, so we all retired soon after we finished eating.