BACK TO PASSAU AND HOME

25th - 26th Jun 2025

Another grand 'schloß' on the way back to Passau

Following on from the Linz visit, and the final night on board, we were treated to a 'Farewell Briefing' and a 'Captain's Cocktail and Crew Presentation'. I show these photos, more for my benefit 'pour memoire', which are of (most) of the the ship's crew. Some were still on duty thankfully. I believe there were 51 altogether. It was a decent cocktail.

Left: The Navigation Crew and Deckhands.

Right: The Cabin staff.

Left: The Admin/Reception team.

Right: The Bar staff and Waiters.

Left: The Kitchen staff. (Slop Jockeys we called them in a less grand previous existence).

Right: The 'Skipper' Tom giving his quite amusing farewell speech.

Left: Two of my dining companions, Anne and David. They were most amusing company.

Following this was the 'Gala Dinner'. Many of the more experienced 'cruisers' had brought smart/elegant clothes for this. Not me, of course.

Below: The Gala Dinner' menu. Click on and you may be able to enlarge and read it. It was rather sumptuous and served in style.

Right: The waiters put on a bit of a show.

Left: A sparkling presentation!

This was followed by a 'Gala Dance' evening in the lounge with the talented duo, Stefan and Lyuba, providing the music. In true Bar Fly tradition, I'm afraid I only spectated.

At some point we must have set sail because on waking we had arrived back in Passau. Breakfast, then another briefing for departure. All most efficiently done with buses allocated to take some to the railway station and those (like me) who were flying, to Munich Airport.

Well that is about it....and the flight back to London Heathrow was relatively painless and on time. I hope that series of 'blogs' has given you some idea of this 'luxury' cruise and was certainly not something I am accustomed to! I think I will be back to my rough and ready cheapo travels in future.

'ENDEX'

ON UPSTREAM TO LINZ

 25th Jun 2025

Our ship, the Amadeus Imperial, docked in Linz

We were sailing all morning into Austria and towards our next destination, Linz. We passed through Vienna and some very attractive countryside. Left: Another ruined fort en-route. The river banks are littered with derelict 'forts'.

Right: .....and picturesque little villages and towns such as this. I think it is called Grein.

Have I mentioned the option of the 'Morning Stretch' with Tatya? This occurs for early risers in need of some 'assisted stretching' at 7.00am. I resisted the temptation.

Sometime after breakfast we were encouraged to go up to the sun-deck for some 'Shuffleboard'. My curiosity was piqued, so up I went. Left:  Shuffleboard (a common deck game I am informed) consists of a long smooth shiny track with scoring areas at both ends. Yellow and black weighted discs are then shoved by their respective players, with the aid of a long 'cue', from one end to score in the relevant area at the other. A bit like bowls. Anyway, someone (a rather bossy shuffleboard 'expert') selected  four teams of four 'shufflers' to compete against each other. I remained seated in my deckchair as a keen observer. Play duly commenced with much very erratic 'shuffling'. I could barely control my excitement. After about an hour one of the teams was announced the winner.

 

Right: Another lock to be negotiated going upstream.

We arrived in Linz after lunch. Linz is an ancient town with most of it on the southern side of the river (at which we were anchored). I believe it was the seat of the Habsburg Emperor in the 15th century...before Vienna. 

Right: On the northern side is a high hill (Poselingburg) on top of which is St.Leopold's Church, build in the 18th century. It was a popular pilgrimage site and there is a 'tram' (funicular?) which takes you up to it. You can just make it out in this photo. We didn't go up there.

Same routine for our 'guided tour' around the town; we were divided into our groups. Ours was led by an Austrian chap called 'Wolfgrad'. As with all the others, he possessed much knowledge and regailed us with the complicated history from Romans, to Goths to Habsburgs and so on. I did not take notes and got thoroughly disorientated so will just show a few pics to give you the idea. 

Right: The National flag of Austria (two red stripes) and 'Upper Austria', which looks the same as that of Poland.

Right: One of the many pretty cobbled streets with pastel coloured houses and typical of the whole town. 

There were numerous cafés, bars and restaurants and many large groups of schoolchildren being given conducted tours as their schools had just broken up for the holidays.

A popular delicacy is the Linzer Torte, a sweet cake which they regard as far superior to the Sachertorte of Vienna. 

We gathered at some house up a covered alleyway which the composer Mozart stayed in during a short visit in 1783. While here, to satisfy the whims of the local bigwigs who had arranged a concert, he managed to write a whole symphony in four days! It is known as the Linz Symphony....and no computers in those days! Quite an achievement. Our guide gave us a long talk on other famous Austrian based composers and history which I failed to memorise!

Empress Marie Theresa  gave birth to 16 children from 1737 to 1756! 11 girls and 5 boys, of whom only 10 survived to adulthood. A busy lady. One of the children, Elizabeth, lived on the first floor of the nearest building (left). She became so fat she could not get up the stairs. A manual pulley lift had to be installed to get her up there. So we were told.

The old walled city was surrounded by a moat (part of which we were shown). The city expanded outwards. There are at least fourteen churches of various descriptions marked on my city map. Right: This is one; St Martin's I think. They are very keen on churches here.

Left: The Catholic Old Cathedral within the city walls. Built/completed 1683.

Right: It is very lavishly decorated inside. With the increasing population it became too small and a mammoth new Cathedral was built. The old one was sold off to Jesuits (I think)....or some other religious order.

Left: The vast New Cathedral (or Mariendom) was completed in 1924 (outside the Old City walls) to accommodate 20,000 people. The spire is 443ft high. It has big and famous bells.

I went inside. Right: Quite impressive. And virtually deserted.

Left: City transport.

Right: A statue of Adalbert Stifter. A famous Linz novelist, poet, painter and teacher. Apparently.

Left: We ended up in the old 'main' square. I couldn't help but notice another large 'Gay Pride' banner. Austria obviously takes 'Gay Pride' seriously (see Vienna blog), which is not apparent in the other surrounding countries.

This large square replaced a previous smaller 'main square'. It is surrounded by many delightful bars and cafés. It was another very warm day. I made use of one of these 'facilities' after we were 'released'. 

In the centre of this square is an elaborate 'Plague' monument, known as the Holy Trinity Column. Built in the early 18th century to commemorate the city's deliverance from threats of fire, plague and war. It is similar to the one in Vienna.

That is a fairly vague and cursory description of our Linz guided tour. A very pleasant city. We had some free time to wander the streets (and cafés) before reporting back to the ship at 6.00pm for our final evening, including briefings, the Captain's cocktail and crew 'presentation' and the 'Gala Dinner'. 

Photos of all that to follow..........

MORE BRATISLAVA

 24th Jun 2025

Bratislava Castle, overlooking the Danube, on a hill west of the Old Town

Left: We boarded this 'Noddy Train' to take us up to the Castle. The two carriages were full (two of our groups). Off we chugged up the hill with a lady guide giving constant commentary on all the buildings we passed. We had only gone a short distance when the train seemed to run out of puff and ground to a halt. After much re-starting and revving up it continued, rather slowly and reluctantly. I was beginning to wonder if we would make it! 

We did eventually and parked outside the castle walls near this building (right). I think it is the Slovak Parliament building.

Left: .....with the Slovak national flag flying outside it.

Right: The entrance to the castle complex. 

Left: Our very informative guide describing the castle layout.

A (stone built) castle of sorts has been on this strategically important hill since the 10th century. It was the royal residence of the Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa in the 18th century. It burnt down in 1811 and was left in ruins until a rebuild was started in 1953. It had undergone many rebuilds and alterations over the centuries, the last massive and expensive reconstruction was  carried out between 2008-2014. 

As with everything in this part of the world it has a long and complicated history!

Right: The main entrance to the castle itself. It now houses museums, the Crown Jewels, a concert hall, rooms for Parliament to meet, and a venue for official state events and functions.

Left: The equestrian statue seen above. This is of 'Svatopluk the Great' (840-894), an esteemed ruler of Great Moravia (871-894). Well, you've heard of him now!

Right: A view from the castle wall to the south over the river towards the 'new' town. The suspension bridge has a tower at the southern end with a lift that takes you up to the viewing gallery which has a 'glass' floor (like that tower in Toronto), plus a restaurant. We did not get the chance to go up it!

Left: In the area to the front of the castle is this odd looking 'monument'. It depicts three Saints; Cyril, Methodius and Gorazd. No, I hadn't heard of them before either! They seem to have very long necks.

Right: Behind the castle are these rather immaculate gardens.

We were left with 30 mins to wander the area, then back to the Noddy Train and the return journey to the docks. The train seemed to appreciate the downhill journey.

Left: Poor photo taken on the move at the bottom of the hill. It is the Presidential Palace (Peter Pellegrini is he) with the flag flying which indicated he was at home.

Right: A much better pic of the Presidential Palace......sent to me by my ever attentive 'advisers' at OMPITA.

On return to the docks we had 45 mins free time before back on the ship at 1.00pm. It was very warm. I went for another ice-cream, a glass of beer and wrote and posted a post-card (which arrived in UK before ones I posted previously in Vienna).

After the usual gargantuan meals (late lunch, afternoon tea and Dinner) we were assemble in the lounge for another 'trivial' quiz on dance music. This involved a team identifying the type of dance music played by the very talented guitar and keyboard duo. The team that got it right had then to come up and perform the dance. Our little team kept our mouths firmly closed.

So, that was (a bit of) Bratislava and at some point we set sail again....onwards west to Austria and the town of Linz.

BACK THE WAY WE CAME - TOWARDS BRATISLAVA

 23rd - 24th Jun 2025

Life, of sorts, on the sun-deck.

We were still tethered to the quayside on the morning of the 23rd, and had free time to wander Budapest at our leisure (back on board by 1.15pm). It was suggested we might like to visit the 'Shoes' and the large covered market down town.

Left: The Shoes on the Danube Bank (Hungarian: Cipők a Duna-parton) is a memorial erected on 16 April 2005, in Budapest, Hungary (near the Parliament Building). Conceived by film director Can Togay, he created it on the east bank of the Danube River with sculptor Gyula Pauer [hu] to honour the (many thousand) Jews who were massacred by fascist antisemitic Hungarian militia belonging to the Arrow Cross Party in Budapest during the Second World War. They were ordered to take off their shoes (shoes were valuable and could be stolen and resold by the militia after the massacre), and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. The memorial (60 pairs of metal shoes) represents their shoes left behind on the bank.

Right: A small part of the enormous (Central) Rákóczi Market on the Pest side of the river. It sells almost anything that you can carry!

I got back to the ship at exactly 1.15pm. Apparently a call had been put out that I was missing! (we had to leave our cabin keys at reception so they knew who was out). Anyway, panic over. I'm not sure what they do if someone does go 'AWOL'!

We set sail sometime after lunch back westwards up the river. Left: A quaint little paddle-boat on passing the Parliament Building.

Right: Another ship coming towards us amongst what was very scenic countryside and pretty riverside villages.

After tea, at 4.45pm we were treated to an 'Apfelstrudel cooking display' by the head chef and his team. It was in the lounge so I stayed, not paying much attention, but helped myself to the end product.

Left: We passed the ruined Visegrád Citadel (at the top) on the northern bank. This was, since the Mongol invasions in the 13th century, the fortress and residence of Hungary's kings. The tall round structure is Salamon Tower. Legend has it that Vlad the Impaler (the inspiration for Dracula) was imprisoned here in the 15th century.

Right: ....and past this large domed church which was pointed out to us as something of great importance. I believe it is the Basilica of Esztergom (I wasn't taking notes) which is Hungary's largest church. Esztergom is the birth and coronation place of the first Hungarian king, St Stephen. It was the capital of Hungary until the 13th century.

There was another rather silly 'quiz' after dinner and normal musical entertainment  before bedtime.

At some point, before reveille, we reached Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia at the foot of the Carpathian mountains. It is a city which straddles the river, north/south. The northern half contains the 'Baroque Old Town' which is the touristy bit and which we subsequently explored. Left: The square next to where we docked. We set off in our little groups for the guided tour at 9.00am.

This part of the city is 'picture-postcard' attractive with a maze of cobbled streets, pedestrianised squares and a multitude of delightful cafés and restaurants. All these 'Bohemian' cities seem to have houses dedicated to famous conductors such as Mozart, and Bratislava is no exception. Our guide, a 'talkative' Slovak lady took us around this maze of streets and squares and filled us with (too) many details concerning the buildings we passed, and the complicated history . I became thoroughly disorientated. I show photos below in no particular order to give you some idea.

Right: The public transport.

Left: A typical street bordered by pretty pastel coloured houses. I forget the name of the church at the end. There are no less than 12 churches of various style, size and denomination marked on the street map of the Old Town. 

Right: This is one of the bigger ones....St Martin's Cathedral (I think).

Left: The statue of Pavol Hviezdoslav (1849-1921) and fountain in the Square named after him. He was a poet, dramatist and sometime politician. Obviously well regarded.

There are fountains everywhere in this city.

Right: As in all respectable cities, there is a decent 'Oirish Bear' (Irish Bar). This one, The Dubliner Irish Pub, looked most inviting. We didn't have time to try it out.

Left: Almost next door is a café called 'Historische Konditorei'. Its interior is something to marvel at! A 'protected' historic building, we were told.

Right: A curious and eye-catching (much photographed) piece of 'street art'.

Left: The Old (Main) Square, Hlavné Námestie in the local lingo. One of many squares. It is considered the 'centre' of the city (maybe the 'Old' bit). It contains another elaborate fountain and the old Town Hall.

Right: Also in this square is a bench seat for the weary. Leaning over it, rather rudely, is the figure of Mr Napoleon Bonaparte. I believe he visited the city during the Napoleonic Wars in 1805.

Left: The Slovac National Theatre. It is in a square near where our ship was moored.

There are also lots of ice-cream shops. The weather was hot (as it has been throughout this voyage), and I treated myself to one from this place - Luculus. It is one of the more well known establishments (recommended to me).

That will do for our walk around the Old Town; Part 1 of the guided tour. Part 2 was a visit to Bratislava Castle on the hill to the west. 

..........To follow!