This stretch of the Danube is considered one of the most beautiful. It is all identified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As you can see, we didn't have such good luck with our weather. Special note to our friends, Roger and Marsha, who were with us on our last Viking cruise down the Rhine: remember our long day of cruising? Pretty much the same. Beginning to think we bring the drearies with us! Anyway, it did get better as we sailed.
We even saw some blue sky and peeks of sun later in the morning. There were so many quaint villages and beautiful churches along the way.
The church at the right is one of the oldest in Austria. It was built in the 1500's.
There were also many old castles like the one at the left. Some were just ruins, but others were still inhabited.
Just below and to the left of the castle you can see another fixture of the Wachau Valley-vineyards. They were everywhere! Apparently this valley is the perfect microclimate for growing grapes.
The picture at the right shows a castle that we had been told about as we were sailing. Only when the commentary was going on that bank of clouds was much higher and we could not see it at all. Then after we had passed by, we looked behind us and it just popped out of the clouds! Pretty cool.
This lovely castle is one of the ones that is still privately owned and inhabited. Not a bad little piece of real estate!
The Happy Travelers
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