It’s time for a break from those Europe photographs. I went out to do some photography early this morning and on the way home, I came across a black bear grazing along the edge of the road. Although he was much too focused on eating to pose for me, I did get some good shots…
Durnstein
The fifth day of our cruise took us into the beautiful Wachau Valley of Austria. We visited two towns, Durnstein and Melk, about 30 km apart. I was planning to cycle between the two towns, rejoining the cruise ship in Melk. Alas, the weather did not cooperate. As we were about to depart, it was…
Bratislava
On the second day of our cruise, I awoke early to catch some river scenes in the early morning light. As we approached Bratislava, our stop for the day we arrived at the impressive Gabcikovo Lock, the first of many on our way to Passau. Gabcikovo Lock consists of two main structures: a hydropower plant and two…
Vienna
One of our featured stops was Vienna, about 350 km (220 miles) upstream from Budapest. Vienna is quite different from the other cities we visited, more modern, more elegant and cleaner. Vienna was the dynastic capital city of the Habsburg monarchy, from 1583-1611. From 1804 to 1867 the Habsburg Monarchy was formally unified as the Austria Empire,…
Budapest
The starting point for our recent river cruise was Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. Budapest is situated on the Danube River, which originates in the Black Forest of Germany. The Danube then flows southeast for 1,914 km (1,189 mi), passing through five capital cities before emptying into the Black Sea via the Danube Delta in Romania and Ukraine. This great river is host to many river cruise lines…