CROSSING THE DANUBE RIVER

Thursday, September 18th, 1997 Lenz, Austria

Went downstairs for breakfast at 7:30 AM Met the owner of the hotel who introduced herself to us. She had stayed in New York and San Francisco and her English was very good. Jim asked her if it was okay to make sandwiches to go from the lunchmeat and breads…much to our embarrassment as we had already made and stowed our sandwiches for lunch! She offered to bring more meat and cheese for us to make sandwiches. Who knows whether or not she was serious about not minding!!

The owner gave us directions from the large map on the wall in the lobby for a walking tour around the town of Bamberg. We brought our luggage down and stowed it under the staircase and proceeded on a two hour walk around the town. First we went up past the Dom (which was still closed) and found the rose garden. Not very large but pretty. Then we climbed the hill to another Cathedral which was also a Benedictine Monastery. Then down the hill to the river where we took pictures of the area known as Little Venice where houses sit right on the edge of the river. Everywhere we looked, both in houses and business buildings; there were flower boxes in the windows full of colorful flowers…mostly geraniums but also others with various colors. Back through the town, past the City Hall which is on the bridge that straddles the river; then to the post office to mail a birthday card to Shari’s mother which we had just purchased at a local shop. I bought enough stamps for twenty more postcards. The cost is 2 DM per card.

In the car and we drove down the road to Nürnberg in less than two hours. We found the old part of the city with the walls still intact around most of the old city. Found a place to park and walked around the area before having lunch on a bench near our car. Not nearly as impressive as Dresden and Bamburg. But, in all fairness we really didn’t get very far into the old part of the city. Before leaving we put gas in the car and Shari found a place to purchase a bag of Gingerbread Cookies from the Lebkuchen Shop…a must for Nürnberg per the book! They were very good and made a great snack later in the car on the road to Lenz.

Crossed the boarder into Austria without a hitch…didn’t even need our passports. Wonderful countryside as we kept crossing the Danube River. Arrived in town and found our hotel right in the center of the old section and many coffee shops and restaurants nearby. We’re about a block from the Danube River. Jim & Dave were gone for an extended period of time to park the car. Shari was locked in her room and was really concerned about how she would get out in case of an emergency. You needed a key to get out of the room and Dave had taken it with him. But the boys finally returned and they’d taken the time to get a recommendation from the Hotel for a restaurant called the Etagenbeisl which was located nearby. We arrived and had a wonderful dinner. Before we left the place was full; all of the customers were in the 20-40 age group. Price was very reasonable. Much cheaper than Germany, but they did charge us 1 Shilling per piece of bread.

After dinner we walked to the river and part way across. We saw a castle high in the hills across the river. Will try to find out if we can tour it tomorrow. Shari & Dave treated us to ice cream cones as we sat and enjoyed the scene outside. There was a violin and guitar players serenading the crowds. Back to our rooms about 8 PM and a nightly call to the office. Updated the computer and watched CNN. Hope they turn the heat on in the bathroom. We’ve done some laundry in hopes of stretching out the time for another couple of days until we have to find a Laundromat. Another day without e-mail! We’ve decided that the quaint hotels don’t have modem access. Oh well, can’t have everything.