Both the Rhine and Rhone Rivers in Germany have hilly shorelines dotted with vineyards and old castles. On the Danube from Budapest to Nuremburg, this is the only stretch of the river that is somewhat similar; fewer vineyards and fewer old castles but every bit as picturesque. The only drawback for our rivercruise was the weather. While many passengers went up on the viewing deck to see the sights, only the hardiest passengers stayed. The weather was, shall we say, less than amenable.
Back in Winnipeg, prior to the actual journey, I had visions of cruising up the Wachau, relaxing on the upper deck, glass of wine in hand, marvelling at the scenery, the coloured leaves, the castle ruins. Reality was somewhat different. It began at +3C with a 10km North Wind. In spite of many blankets provided by the crew, it was just too cold to stay up top. By the end of the valley it was +1 with a 15km North Wind and only 1 passenger was left, it wasn't me...
The Amacerto came equipped with bikes for the more fit and adventurous passengers. On this leg you could bike up the Wachau and get picked up by the Amacerto further upstream, about 20 miles upstream! Our CAA president Mike was one of several to take the challenge. They actually made better time on the bikes than we did on the river, but then you don't do a rivercruise with the idea of covering great distances with great speed.
This is the land of the church of 5 rabbits, the land of Richard the Lionheart, perhaps even the area that gave the Danube its Blue name.
On the left is St. Michaels's - the parish of St. Michael, was first mentioned around 987 and is one of the oldest church buildings in eastern Austria. The church stands on the site of a small Celtic sacrifice. The weir was built in 1500 to 1530 and around the same time the present church was built. The west tower was originally Gothic, after a fire in 1544 but was rebuilt in Renaissance style. The "Seven rabbits" on the gable of the church of St. Michael is an architectural feature of the Wachau. Today the "rabbits" are copies, the originals are preserved in the Weinstadt Museum Krems. The seven sculptures are sometimes not clearly identifiable, recognizable as perhaps horses or deer. In legend, the animal figures are thought to be rabbits. The story goes that during a particularly severe winter, the rabbits were able to walk through the deep snow up on the church roof. The snow melted suddenly and seven rabbits could not get down, so they sit on the roof.
"An interesting part of the 12th century history is the imprisonment of Richard the Lion heart, the King of England, at the Kuenringerburg castle (now in ruins) above the Durnstein town for the reason that he insulted the Babenberg Duke, Leopold V by showing disrespect to the Austrian flag (he had thrown it into a drain). Even though
he was traveling in Austria (returning from the Holy Lands) in disguise (he had grown a beard to escape detection), he was identified in an inn in Erdberg, now a suburb of Vienna. He was finally released after paying a kingly ransom of 35,000 kg of silver" (Wikipedia). I was on the little train for the less physically able for our Durnstein visit and our guide entertained us with stories about Richard. Her version of the insult is different. All the soldiers loved Richard because he was an involved leader, always with his men. When Leopold went to call on him, Richard was to be found with his troops, building a defence stone wall. When the duke offered his hospitality Richard dismissed it and said he could join him building the wall. The duke, who would rather be drinking wine in the castle, departed, insulted in front of mere soldiers. While Richard managed to endear himself to armies of men, he incurred the dislike of all royals he came in contact with so he could not call on allies in Austria. He was politically naïve. I like our guide's version better. |