Germany and Luxembourg Border Skirmish

HA!  Well, not exactly a skirmish but we wound back and forth between Germany and Luxembourg so many times, it was hard to keep up with ourselves.

It was the third day of our long weekend to Luxembourg and because our B&B was over the border in Germany, we started out that day in Neuerburg...Germany.  With a population of only 1500, we knew it would whet our appetite for the rest of the day.

What a delightful little town in the Eifel with something for everyone!

We parked right outside the old Gothic parish church of St. Nikolaus, from 1492 (top-left).

Its free-standing tower sits next to it (bottom-left and center)...both not open, sadly.

The Castle Neuerburg (left-center) is the city's symbol, from the 9th century, now a youth hostel.

The look-out tower (top-center) from the 16th century was open for climbing.

Which we did.  And that was our overview!

See what I mean about whetting our appetite!  A nice YouTube here gives more of what we didn't see.

But we didn't need any more than that while on our way to...Vianden, 20 km away.

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Vianden, Luxembourg, was our main goal of the day.  At circa 1800 inhabitants, it's not much bigger than Neuerburg but much more well-known.

What is it about European signs!  

Not much different than going from one city or state to another in America, right?

So, another charming town, with lots to see...

...and wonder about.

Victor Hugo, for instance, was a famous French author who stayed in Vianden often between 1862-71.

Oh, yes, and the Our river runs through it.

In the city center is this precious little church of St. Nicholas, from 1256.

It was the first church where I've seen an "ALARM" sign before the altar.

Perhaps that's why they can keep it open all the time?

But it's the Vianden Castle that is its main attraction, as you'll soon see.
It's one of the largest fortified castles west of the Rhine, built in the 11th-14th centuries.
And you can see it from all over town, as well as the Hockelstuerm tower nearby.

Lucky for tourists, there's a chair lift that will take you to the top to see it all better!

Look at that!  It was a perfect day to be there, though hot.
An iced coffee was just what the doctor ordered at the café with a view.

Going down was even better because we could see the castle without obstruction of the chair lift.

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And just like that, we were on the road again!  Still on a mission...

...and always with something for which to stop at a moment's notice.
Talk about older than dirt.

As I recall, this old DDR firetruck was on sale for €1,000.

You'd think a museum would want it, right?

Which reminds me...we're now back in Germany.

And this is Bollendorf, a town of circa 1600 inhabitants.

A river runs through it, of course...the Sauer, with the Bollendorf Castle/hotel at the bend.

Did I mention it was a hot day!

St. Michael's Church, built in the 1830s, stands tall not far from the river banks.

I love that so many of these churches are open during the week at odd hours.

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And at that point we went searching for the Irrel waterfalls where we ate our picnic supper before heading back to our B&B!

I told you I was going backwards!  

Next up...Luxembourg City.

Viking's Grand European River Cruise: Melk & Krems, Austria

Viking River Cruise, Day 11:  Melk & Krems, Austria (Facebook collage)

(click any collage to enlarge)

I'll tell you right now from the get-go that this day is divided into 3 parts, starting after breakfast and ending before dinner.  Another full day!

The main excursion of the day was the Melk Abbey, after docking in Melk, Austria...a town of 5K+ population...while we were eating breakfast.  By 9:30 a.m. we were raring to go.

 And YES, we awakened to snow!

It was a short walk from the ship to our buses...with the Abbey already in view from the ship.

This is what Melk is known for:  the Benedictine Melk Abbey, founded in 1089.

The golden yellow against the white snow was magical...like a fairytale.

Sitting high up on the hilltop, the views to the town below are spectactular.

I am such a fan of archways and long corridors like this, both inside and out.

Part of the Abbey is a school for approx. 900 students, and I can picture walking these halls every day!

Our guide took us through several rooms, including the Green Room, the Abbey museum....

...the Marble Hall with its magnificant ceiling paintings...

and the library (where taking pictures was sadly prohibited).

Then it was down the famous spiral staircase from the library to the church.

Upon entering the Abbey church, we were then on our own to explore at will.

And to just stare!

I pictured myself as a student there, going to chapel every morning!

Don't you wonder how such an environment affects school kids!

And on that note...we left the Abbey and headed down the hill to the town.

It was an easy walk down, surprisingly.

The Abbey was visible from the town square as we looked back up.

What a sweet little town.

See what I mean?

And that little church we first saw from the Abbey...was open!

It was the last thing we saw before heading back to the boat...(and as of yet has no name!).

But it forever sits in the shadow on the Abbey up above, our last views...

...before crossing the brige to meet up with our boat, waiting for us on the Danube.

It was time for lunch!  We had worked up an appetite.

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Part 2 of the day happened after lunch when we cruised through the Wachau Valley.

On that freezing cold day, yes, we went up to the sunroof.

It sure beat running back-n-forth across the lounge to see the sights.

THIS is what I expected Austria to look like!  

  These were some of the churches we saw along the way...and vineyards, too.

And castles!  All in the span of 1.5 hours.  I don't think we could have lasted longer.

It so happens this valley is between Melk (think Abbey, our morning stop) and Krems, our afternoon stop.

It's 40 km (25 miles) in length and perfect for a scenic tour, no matter how cold!

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And now Part 3, Krems...or as you're about to see, it's neighbor, Stein.  It's a funny story, actually.  We were on our own to explore the city any way we wanted until suppertime...about 2.5 hours....

As plain as day, the sign said Krems.

Unbeknownst to us, we were supposed to turn right and walk about a mile to city center.

Instead, we turned left and within minutes were in THIS wee town...which we found out later, after the fact...
was Stein.  Kinda like a suburb?  A neighborhood of Krems, Wiki says.

 But there was method to our madness, you see.

From the boat we could see the high tower of this Frauenbergkirche.

Wouldn't YOU assume that was where we were supposed to go??!! 

Apparently this was St. Michael's church from 1081 but was desecrated in 1785

and restored 1963-1965 as a war memorial.  

Right next door is the St. Nikolaus Church.  Look at how close here.

Did you know St. Nikolaus is the patron saint of sailors?
This church is from 1400, hopefully helping sailors ever since...a short walk from the Danube.

We are gluttons for these small towns in Europe so close to the main rivers.

Did I mention it was the Tuesday before Easter, March 26?

 I don't remember seeing a single soul--or not more than a handful--that late afternoon.
(Everyone else must have been in Krems!)
But we sure got an eye-ful, and that was enough before heading back to the boat.

It was the only cruise day in which we made TWO stops.
And totally worth them both!