One of the places we wanted to see in the Czech Republic was Cesky Krumlov. We looked into going there from Prague, but decided it was a more challenging trek than we wished to make (at least two train changes each way and little English spoken outside the capital city). Since our river cruise offered Cesky Krumlov as an optional/added excursion, that sounded like the better plan.
As originally scheduled, we were to leave from Melk for our excursion to Cesky Krumlov and meet up with our ship again in Passau at the end of the day. Because of all the low-water concerns on the Danube, our captain had put together a revised plan. So, instead of the original plan, we sailed at dinnertime on Tuesday evening, arriving in Aschach, Austria, in early morning. There were a series of day-long excursions planned from this spot, removing a goodly chunk of the passengers from the boat (making it, therefore, lighter). I don't think that's why so many excursion options occur at this point in the trip, but when there is low water, it turns out to be fortuitous.
Three different excursions simultaneously headed out around 8:00am--ours to Cesky Krumlov (Jerry, Kathe, and me), one to Salzburg, and another to the Austrian Lake District (Chuck). Those who had not opted to take any of these excursions stayed on the boat while it sailed to Passau. There, they got off to take a walking tour of the city, at which point the Impression sailed on to Vilshofen, Germany. All three excursion buses and the Passau folks on yet another bus were all to meet up with the boat right after it arrived in Vilshofen. Once all the buses arrived, we were to sail in order to get to a series of locks well ahead of all the boats in Passau.
The cruise director had alerted us to this change of plans Tuesday evening, explaining that this next stretch of river is the diciest portion in these low-water circumstances. Even in Vilshofen, he told us we had only about 1 foot of water below our ship. Eeyikes! Glad we could do our part to lighten the load while the captain got us through. But think of all the reconnoitering the crew must have had to do--different docking places (and the attendant changes in taking on water and fuel and food supplies and offloading garbage and so forth), plus changes in where buses picked us up and dropped us off and where the tour guides started and ended, etc. It was probably a noticeable increase in workload for the crew, but it was completely seamless as far as we passengers were concerned. Quite impressive.
So off we want in the morning, driving through Austria and some of the prettiest countryside I have ever seen. Rolłing hills and deep valleys, as far as the eye could see, dotted with tidy houses and barns. It was also the center of hop cultivation for a multi-country area. Think about the importance of hops in the center of several countries (the Czech Republic, Germany, and Austria) that pride themselves on their beer culture. So this part of Austria being the major hop-producing area is no small thing.
Hops, and lots of them!
We had been repeatedly warned/urged to carry our passports on this excursion. We would be departing in Austria, spending the day in the Czech Republic, and returning to Germany. Given all the border closings, etc., because of the Syrian refugee issues going on in this part of the world right now, it was highly likely we would be required to show our ID at the borders. There were police at the Austria-Czech border. Our guide explained that the bus was filled with Canadians and Americans and that everyone had a passport. After a few minutes, we were ushered on through. (On the return trip, we didn't even see any police or presence at the Czech-German border. We were prepared, but spared the experience of having to prove who we were.)
After a 1-1/2-hour bus ride, we arrived in Cesky Krumlov, the premier city in Southern Bohemia. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and considered one of the most beautiful towns in Central Europe. The old town is reasonably compact and is surrounded on three sides by the curving Vltava River. We started our walking tour at the top of the hill by the castle and worked our way down through the upper part of the old town and then crossed a bridge into the heart of the town. This town is definitely on the tourist route, but is eye candy from one end to the other. Cobblestones, sgraffito on buildings, towers and spires, bridges across the river, and a large central square--and standing above it all, a confection of a castle tower.
After about an hour and a half of structured touring with a local man, who was excellent at explaining history (and was very funny to boot), we had a couple hours on our own to wander, shop, and have lunch. Then we made our way back to the bus and drove to Passau and on to Vilshofen, where we rejoined our ship around 5:30pm. A rather long day. Everyone was a bit subdued on the trip back to the Impression, and more than a few people got in some napping.
We sailed quickly after returning to the ship. We went through 4 locks before arriving at our next destination. I was unaware that we would be encountering so many locks. They turn out to be a fairly controlling aspect of the river journey. We have to get to them at prescribed times or perhaps have to wait for hours for another opportunity. And you have to move aside to let downstream traffic have the right of way (they're moving with the current, which makes them harder and less likely to stop or move aside for those ships swimming upstream, so to speak). This, too, can slow us down. Our cruise director has warned us that the planned itinerary is just that--a plan--and that we should anticipate that there will be changes caused by the river conditions and the locks.
At this point, we're still on the Danube and are still climbing to the high point in our river journey, Nurnberg. That means that each of the locks we're going through is raising us higher and higher. From Nurnberg on, we will be descending through the remaining locks. This is a very complicated process, and we're certainly learning more about it.
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