Day 9 Scenic Cruising Wachau Valley

Day 9

Scenic Cruising: Wachau Valley
docking at Yrpps, Austria

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Since the river was low, we needed to depart our ship Viking TOR to board another sister ship, VAR to continue our journey east along the Danube.

We had yet another 3 hour bus ride to our next stop.
We'll be sailing down the Danube and seeing the "most scenic stretch" of the Danube known as the Wachau Valley where you will view many vineyards and several villages along the route.

Always have a book to read when taking a long bus ride.

Our ship is arriving as we wait for it to come to port.
It's the one in the distance.

Here is our new ship, VAR, approaching our port.

Our first event on board would be LUNCH!

Now we're getting ready to do some sailing.
Here's a map to get you oriented...

To prepare your vision for what's coming next here's a summary from the Viking Guide p. 26:

"You will cruise 18 miles through this vast UNESCO World Heritage Site, where the river courses through emerald-green hills. During your leisurely journey through this splendid region, you will see prolific grapevines and quaint wine-producing villages hugging the shores, the legacy of vintners that stretch as far back as Celtic and Roman times, and an echo of the more than 30 monasteries that served as vineyards in Renaissance days."

After lunch we began our journey east and had to go through more locks.
Where's Jan?

There she is!

Gates open and ready for us to continue our journey!

I'll try to capture some of the great views along the Wachau Valley.

John Rodgers was our photographer and had to deal with Jan's hair going all over the place.

Yes, it was quite windy up on the sun deck.

There you go, this one will do just fine.

We passed quite a few of these castles.
This one you can see on top of the ridge.

A tug-boat pushes a load of automobiles.

A closer look at the castle and the fault line on the side of the hillside.

The same castle as previous photo, but we've passed it and now looking back at it.

A small villa along the way.

Sometimes you just need to take a picture for no reason.

Remnants of a castle from a bygone era.

Insert video here...

Length: 00:00:18 sec.

Three forms of transportation are evident in this photo.
Can you name them?

Another church of interest along the way.

Another small village.

Now we're seeing some of the many vineyards.

Built right in the cleft of the rocks.

Remnants of a castle wall from the Renaissance.

Very picturesque.

A very happy couple, Chris Pletcher and Jeff Stinehelfer.

Another very happy couple, Nancy Long & Randy Hackbarth.

And to round out our table tonight, we have the last happy couple, Curt & Jan Berg.

End of Day 6 Cruising Wachau Valley