Vienna

September 30 - October 1

Water levels on the Danube continued to drop. (Our captain pointed out that the one could see on the shore line that the water level dropped about a foot while we were docked overnight in Passau.) At one point during the previous night the ship had less than 8 inches under her keel. Our captain was called out at 4AM to help advise about a grounded barge. We were told that a portion of the river we had just traversed was closed. Uniworld had booked hotel rooms for everyone in Vienna... just in case. Luckily, we had no need of the rooms. One of the things we dearly love about riverboat cruising is not having to shlep suitcases in and out of hotels!

We enjoyed two days in Vienna, with several options for tours. Here are snapshots of the visit, some nabbed from the bus as we drove by.

Kunsthistoriches Museum

(Museum of Art History)

Imperial Palace

"Scene" along the way:

Belvedere Palace:

Vienna Secessionist Paintings:

Carl Moll

Close up view:

 Gustav Klimt

Close up view:

"The Kiss"

Gold leaf and paint

Egon Schiele

Schiele's paintings were my favorites, although some of his later works were downright weird!

St. Francis of Assisi Church:

Plague Pillar

Many cities erected monuments in the 17th century to memorialize all who were lost in the plague (estimated to be 60% of the population) to thank God for sparing those who were left, and to spare the cities from future epidemics. 

We were back on the water again, and enjoyed a beautiful sail downriver from Vienna to Budapest.

Along the way.
You can see how low the river is in many of the shots.

Sailing past Bratislava, Slovakia