Wednesday morning at the Gottweig Abbey was a hard act to follow, but Wednesday afternoon cruising the Danube through the Wachau Valley on our way to Passau more than met the challenge, turning into the best afternoon of the week in a cruise-week of really wonderful afternoons. The weather was delightful, and most of the afternoon was spent sitting on the upper deck -- adult beverage in hand -- watching all the wonderful little towns and churches and vineyards and castles go by. We even passed a small nudist group, but I wasn't quick enough with the camera to get any pictures (ha!).
Here are some of the pictures and videos I was able to capture, with names of towns and buildings when I knew them. One note: Many of the buildings along the river -- homes as well as commercial buildings -- were painted in bright pastels. I couldn't uncover much information on why, although one source claimed the different colors were established by professional guilds during the middle ages. Apparently, different commercial establishments were painted in different colors: e.g., bakers were blue, butchers red, others yellow or green, etc. In any case, it looks like the various colors are still used by many, though the guild designations have probably long since been abandoned.
Left-click on image to see larger view. For videos, use controls at bottom right to enlarge to full screen.
The first small town we passed as we started our journey up the river.
A closer look at the church tower with onion dome and clock. Onion domes were popular in Austria and surrounding countries on Catholic churches, and may have signaled a higher status than churches with a regular steeple.
There are many locks on the Danube, quite a few of which we passed through on our cruise, sometimes being raised and sometimes lowered. Here are some pictures from one of the locks we moved through Wednesday afternoon.
This picture was taken from the veranda off our room as the ship was being raised to a higher water level. The ship was hugging the lock wall on our side of the ship although the lock seemed plenty wide.
Stift Durnstein Abbey. At the top of the hill are the ruins of Durstein Castle where England's King Richard I was imprisoned by the Duke of Austria, Leopold V, in the 12th century over a dispute during the First Crusade.
We approached a very small lock late in the afternoon. The ship crew had already folded down the chairs, stowed the large tent structure in the middle of the ship, and retracted the wheelhouse into the ship. The ship would be raised in the lock, and there would not be much room overhead as we cruised under the bridge at the lock's exit.
Normally passengers are chased off the top deck when the navigation through the lock is tight above the ship. However, several of us positioned ourselves in front of the sunken wheelhouse, slinked down in our chairs, and were allowed to stay. Here's a video I shot as we passed under the bridge and out of the lock.
