Today we headed off to a different country. Slovakia. And the capital Bratislava. The bus picked us up 9ish and we headed south east for just over an hour. Our tour guide ‘Big George’, himself from Bratislava, had lots to tell us. For instance, there are 1000 wind power plants between Vienna and Bratislava. So Big George said. The turbines are much smaller than the … Continue reading Bratislava

We are sitting at the Liechtenstein Palace. In Vienna. Watching an opera. Created especially for us. An APT exclusive and a little surreal. Today was Vienna. We left the boat at 8.30 for a bus tour along the sights of the Ring Road. Bit different to Ballarat’s Ring Road. Our guide told us quite a lot of interesting stuff although we are finding the guides … Continue reading Oh Vienna. Our hearts sing.

Today we visited the beautiful Baroque Benedictine Monastery – Melk Abbey – founded in 1089. The Abbey overlooks the Danube River and is still a working Abbey, without interruption since its founding. It has twenty two Monks aged between 39 and 93 and includes a working high school with about 800 students. The Monks predominantly work in pastoral care and do not teach the children. … Continue reading Stift Melk & Durnstein

The fourth largest city in Austria with a population around 157,000. Salzburg was founded in 696 as a Roman settlement, becoming the seat of the Archbishop in 798. It was also the location of five sub camps of the Dachau Concentration Camp – one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany. Home of Red Bull but most importantly birth home of Wolfgang Amadeus … Continue reading Salzburg

The toilets here remain half full of water, so when you do your business you get a clear view. Fantastic. One should ALWAYS check their poo. If it’s red and you haven’t been eating beetroot, get yourself checked. If things suddenly change with your habits. Get yourself checked. If you take only one thing from this bog…whoops I mean blog. Let it be that. So….so … Continue reading Regensburg

The second biggest city in Bavaria, the 14th largest city in Germany. Population within city limits about 530,000, outside about 2 million. Today was extremely interesting and more than a little confronting. As I find most of the WWII history sites are. Nuremberg held great significance during the Nazi Germany era. Due to its position in the centre of Germany the Nazi Party chose the … Continue reading Nuremberg

Today was Bamberg day. Our charming Cruise Director Janos said it is actually pronounced BumBag. Well that was what I heard. Bamberg sits in the Upper Franconia district of Bavaria Germany, where the rivers Regnitz and Main basically join. Population about 80,000 with 12,000 students. According to our on shore tour guide Ray. Of course Ray isn’t his name, I actually have no idea what … Continue reading Bamberg

Today was Wurzburg but before I start I need to share a pic of last nights tea. Given I am a pescatarian now (when it suits me of course), and they cater for every type of ‘tarian’ this is what I chose. Was yumdiddlyumpcious. Alas it was just one of the four courses along with the three bread rolls I ate….burp…..which meant today a little … Continue reading Wurzburg

Today was a walking tour of Miltenberg, after a morning on the boat doing not much. Well actually we did quite a lot, stretching with Petra, then gym for an hour, then eating – of course. Our guide James sounded suspiciously Scottish. Which he was. Said he had arrived 14 years ago, missed his boat and stayed here. Didn’t hurt that he met the love … Continue reading Miltenberg

Today we set sail for Rudesheim so the morning was spent on the boat until we were due to arrive at our destination around lunchtime. For the next few days the top deck will be closed whilst we navigate some tricky locks so it was a good time to walk the plank. Well walk the walking track located up there. So we did. It was … Continue reading Main River and Rudesheim