Danube Waltz Viking River Cruise
Day 4: Tuesday, October 22, 2019 - Čheský Krumlov, Czech Republic, and Linz, Austria
For breakfast, the menu doesn't change. And apparently sometimes what we eat doesn't either. Linda had the egg
benedict. I had some scrambled eggs with mushrooms, sausage, and a hash brown. We ate with Arla and Jim.
I got a picture of a portion of the breakfast buffet. It includes pancakes, fresh veggies, and some sliced meat and cheese.
Today we needed to have our passport in case we had to stop at the border and go through a security checkpoint as we were traveling to the
Czech Republic, and the town of Čheský Krumlov. Though this was booked as an optional excursion, we didn't specifically
know / realize we were going to another country and not staying in Austria. Just before the border, though, we stopped at a petrol
station to use the rest rooms - one of the only free public bathrooms on our trip. The facility also had a convenience store and while
some the candies may have looked different, they were the same as what we know from the U.S. And they had wine too. Some wine that
was a little as $2 a bottle. We didn't venture to try a bottle though, primarily because we would have had to keep track of it all
day... (We had fantastic inexpensive wine when we were in France many years ago, so we wouldn't have been affraid to try some here too.)
The bus ride was uneventful and we didn't get stopped at the border.
The one and a half hour bus ride also included 3 tunnels, one of which was almost 3 miles long.
Fun fact: the Czech Republic was the Czech portion of Czechoslovakia before the amicable split with Slovakia on January 1, 1993.
This is this morning's and early afternoon's approximation of where we walked.
The left most upper red line, untill around the blue line, is the walk from the bus with the tour guide. The blue is the travel
we did on our own, and for lunch, with the half-arrows showing that we walked the same path. The second portion of the red line
from the end of the blue line is the guided trip back to the bus in the upper left corner.
Today's excursion was the Čheský Krumlov Walking Tour, and our guide was Śárka (shar-ka).
We started the tour at the castle. We parked in the lot at the bottom of a hill, and walked up the hill toward the castle.
This segment was part of a half-mile passageway between the main castle and the gardens.
Here are some views of the city from the castle. The sun was in a bad position for really good pictures.
And of course, a selfie with the city in the background.
A fountain near the overlook.
A couple of sundials built into the wall - one near the overlook, one further away.
A couple frescos in courtyards. The left / first is 30% original while the right / second two are 70% original.
A rose painted on the ceiling in a hallway.
The original entrance with the coat of arms above.
Some of the cannons used to protect the castle.
Some other views while at the castle.
We left the confines of the castle and made our way throught the town. Here are some interesting sights
from our tour, including some images of the castle, such as the main spire and residence wing.
We went down Artists' Alley, and here are some shots from there.
This image shows a church in the distance. However, the key to this image is the line on the wall on the left above the person's head.
That is a flood line. I left the rest of the image intact for reference purposes.
A close-up of the church from above.
We were walking toward the town square. Here are some more images, including a couple of a TV crew doing a brief segment, and another selfie.
This day we had about two and a half hours of free time, which included lunch - the only meal we had during the cruise that was not on the ship.
We walked around the city a little in an effort to try to find a place to eat, and bumped into Carmel and Abe. One outdoor cafe had a couple
employees sitting out - but when we entered, we were told they were closed. But it was lunch time! We found a couple other locations that were
also closed. Eventually we stumbled upon Restaurant Bohemia. It was a lovely small restaurant.
We made sure to eat local and Linda had "Krumlovská kapsa" (bramborák plněný uzeným masem, zelí)
["Krumlov Pocket" potato pancake stuffed with smoked meat and cabbage], and a beer.
I had the Pecená veprová krkoics a bramborovým knedlíkem a zelím [roast pork with potato dumplings and cabbage],
and a Light Coke.
After eating we walked around the city some more. We happened into a gift shop that was attached to a small museum. After buying a couple souveniers, we walked around a little. And by little, it was about 10 minutes. It was a small museum. They had an old manual cash register that even looked to have a currency converter built into it.
We found another gift shop for our typical postcard and shot glass.
We eventually made our way to the square to meet the group, headed back to the bus, and back to the ship. This was captured on said return journey.
It was still early enough and there were shuttles still running every hour into the city of Linz. So we took the 4:30 10-minute trip. That turned out to take a half hour because of traffic. It was also standing room only on the bus. We arrived at the center square and got off the bus.
This is this late afternoon's approximation of where we walked.
The red line is the walk from the bus to the church, and the blue is the rest of the walk, ending back at the bus.
We start with a couple images of the trolley.
We headed to a nearby church first, Ignatiusdom. It was dark inside, but that's what the manual mode is for on the camera...
The main altar, side altar, ambo, architecture, organ, and a big door.
After the church, we headed back to the square. A composite image of flowers, and some other sights of and near the town square.
I grabbed the very end of the bells playing. At first I didn't even realize they were playing.
After that we went back to the square for our souveniers.
Since we only had an hour - and wanted to be back on time in order to get a seat on the bus - we didn't venture too much further.
Someone sitting in the seat behind us was telling us about the balcony above the enterance to City Hall, telling us that it was where Hilter
had given a speech. While the building's facade had changed, the balcony itself really didn't. Here is a comparison of then and now (though
now was taken from a moving bus).
Back at the ship and it was now time for our port talk followed by dinner. Tonight's menu.
Linda had Ceasar salad, peanut crusted chicken breast, and Linzer tort (no pic, for some reason).
I had minestrone alla Genovese soup, Regenbogenforelle (seared trout fillet), and apple tarte tatin.
And we had wine. And we ate with Diane and Mike, farmers from Illinois, Penny, Roger, Arla, and Jim.
We returned to our room and were trying to watch a movie. Within about fifteen minutes we were both dozing off. So we turned it off and went to sleep.