Stallions Posteriors and a Golden Abbey…. My River Cruise Taster

So I have just returned from Vienna from my mini River Cruise trip and what a whirlwind few days I had.

I flew direct to Vienna from Manchester Airport and after a short flight arrived in  Austria’s Capital. I had to make my own way to the River and find the ship and instead of getting a taxi I took the train directly from the arrivals area and within 16 minutes was in central Vienna, 2 stops on the subway and I was at the Danube, It was more time consuming finding the Vivaldi, which was to be my home for the next 2 nights. Arriving at the riverside I was amazed at the number of River cruise ships all docked in a long line. There must have been around 20 and typical after a choice of walking left or right to find Vivaldi I chose the wrong direction!

As well as a long walk it did give me the chance to have a good look at the Viking, Ama Waterways, APT , Nicko and Emerald River ships whilst trying to find mine.

A warm welcome greeted me as I finally made my way onboard, My cabin was on the main deck and had a large window, a flat screen TV and plenty of storage space with a larger bathroom than you experience on an Ocean Cruise.

My colleague Millie was joining me onboard but flying from London so once she arrived we settled in and got ready for the first evening. At 6pm we had to meet in the lounge for a welcome drink and the crew were all introduced to us which was very nice. I was surprised how little crew there where onboard compared to Ocean Cruises. After Dinner we had a Vienna by night tour and with a “Wisper” around our necks and headphones in we wandered around the beautiful city and past the Spanish Riding School where all we could see as we peered through the windows was a Stallions Posterior as the tour guide called it!!

Once back onboard and with a couple of drinks in the lounge we enjoyed chatting with fellow travel agents and listened to the low key entertainment which all finished at 12pm.

We sailed along the Danube to Krems overnight and after Breakfast had a little time to visit the small pretty town. At 11am we set sail for Melk, the weather was amazing and with most of the passengers enjoying the 26 degrees heatwave we were experiancing  it was very busy up on the top deck.I was facinated how on approaching a low bridge Large structures on this deck all folded down to enable us to pass under safely.

We sailed through the Wachau Valley past some beautiful scenery and arrived in Melk at 2pm.

Melk is most famous for its Benedictine Monastery again with our Wispers around our neck and headphones back on we listened to the tour guide explaining the history of the Abbey. The Library and Abbey where exceptional I don’t think I have ever seen so much Gold.

Our last Evening onboard was Gala night, Millie and I got our best dresses on and enjoyed a 5 course meal followed with a Baked Alaska parade.

We left Melk and headed to Linz we travelled through various locks which i found fascinating having done narrow boat holidays in the UK in the past, there was no turning keys and pushing gates open. These large Locks were very quick to navigate through consideriing how much water needed to be moved up and down.

On arrival at Linz on Thursday morning our little River adventure had come to an end, during the coach jorney back to Vienna I had time to think about how my new knowledge will effect how I sell the product to my customers.  In summary I loved the relaxation and scenery, I liked the personal service of having few staff and even in the short time onboard it was nice seeing the same faces each day. You need to be fit enough to climb stairs and navigate around the cobbled streets in the towns you stop at along the way and lastly I think you need to really enjoy the company of your travelling partner, as with low key entertainment of a day and evening being able to spend a week in such close proximity would be hard work if you didnt !!!