The other great past time in Vienna is drinking coffee. The Viennese obviously use cafes as their lounges. The setting are quite luxurious and the waiting staff are immaculate. It would be lovely to return to Vienna at Christmas time,.....apparently they go crazy with their lights and decorations.
By contrast our next day was spent on Bratislava in Slovakia. We were taken around by a local lady who gave us a great insight on life under communist ruling. Now that they are liberated their average wage is still way lower than their neighbouring countries. In answer to the question "how come there are some beautiful mansions?" she replied "some Slovaks are good at laundering"!!! Although Bratislava was not as graceful as Vienna it was a pleasure to wander around without being jostled by swarms of tourists.
Into quieter waters now and we couldn't help falling in love with Durnstein (Austria). It's specialties are wine, apricots and chocolate!!! From here we jumped ship and biked for 34km to Melk, mainly along the riverside but also through a small forest and about six little villages. It was around 30 degrees so just a few buckets of sweat were released. The day ended with a thunderstorm!
Yesterday in Salzburg our weather luck ran out and we were soaked for most of the day. The highlight though was a Royal experience........a trip in the Majestic Imperator train, which once served Emperor Franz Josef. Something NZ rail could aspire to!!
Meanwhile back on the riverboat, the captain was battling with the rising waters of the Danube. The crew had to remove all the railings around the top deck and the wheelhouse had to be lowered to allow enough headroom to go under the bridges. Now we know why there is a clause about schedule changes if the river became impassable! Looks like we dodged a diversion, but the boat looks really weird without its superstructure!!!
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