August 2016
We cruised along this section of Danube without stopping. Here is a Slide Show.
Wachau Valley in Wikipedia
Wurzburg(Germany)
August 2016
We had driven by Wurzburg several times before but never thought to stop in. We were aware that there were enough history and culture in this city, but we were always busy on our way to one place or another. Our Vantage River Cruise changed that, finally, and we got to visit this city of 120,000 people in northern Bavaria.
One place every visitor stops in is an old palace called the Residence, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Residence lived up to its reputation. The ornate interiors and the artworks were quite impressive. It was hard to believe that 90% of the city was destroyed by British bombers in March 1945. They did a good job of restoring the palace and the city.
One bonus we had as a river cruise passenger was the wine tasting in the cellars of the old palace. We would not have done something like this on our own. We didn’t think they would serve a bad wine here, and we were right.
We were bused in from the dock on the Main River, but the whole historic core of the city was not really big and totally walkable except for the fortress area on top of a mountain.
The Old Main Bridge, a Baroque style structure, is lined with statues of saints. There were so many people on that bridge we could not take pictures of the statues. From this bridge, we could walk back to our cruise boat.
Rudesheim(Germany)
August 2016
Our river cruise stopped in Rudesheim, a small town(population: around 10,000 people) in the middle of the major wine producing region in the Rhine Valley that is part of UNESCO World Heritage area. A choo-choo train shuttle was provided from the boat dock to the town center.
We got on the cable car(8 Euros, R/T) from there and went up to the park where the patriotic monument commemorating the unification of Germany, Niederwalddenkmal, stands. The view from there is what you see in the picture above. The town across the river is Bingen, known for the Catholic saint Hildegard of Bingen and the wineries.
The official name of the town is actually Rüdesheim am Rhein to distinguish it from the smaller nearby town of Rüdesheim an der Nahe. Other than the monument, pictured above on the left, this town has a famous shopping and dining alley called Drosselgasse. We stopped at a museum housing hundreds of music boxes in the town center before heading down this alley.
On Drossegasse, many restaurants served Rüdesheimer Kaffee, a coffee with Asbach Uralt brandy, served flambéed. We had it with a slice of apple strudel, and it was heavenly! By the time we got to the bottom of this street, we were close enough to the boat dock so that we could walk back to our ship.
