Tuesday, 2 July 2019
Ferry from Passau to Linz, train from Linz to ViennaAccommodations: Pension Dr. Geissler, night 1 of 2. A double room (Ken and Josh) and a twin room (Meghan and me) with a shared bathroom. The pension is older but nice and included a big breakfast. Although far from the train station, it was close to the old town center and the river.
A big traveling day. Ken and I left our bikes in Passau--we would return in a few days without Josh and Meghan, and continue our cycle journey to Budapest. We had to return J2's rental bike to Munich, so it came with us. We ate breakfast on the ferry from Passau to Linz, watched as we passed small towns and villages along the shore, and went out on deck to see how the locks operated as we went through them.
In Linz, we had Linzer torte (what else?). Ken watched the bike and our bags while Josh, Meghan, and I explored the town. We were in search of Mozarthaus and Legos for Josh to buy for Konur. We found the Legos, didn't find the house where Mozart composed the Linz Symphony and Linz Sonata. After we rejoined Ken, Meghan struck off on her own and found the house. Missions accomplished!
J2 was pretty happy because it was Fanta giveaway day in town, and he got a free soda.
We boarded the train from Linz to Passau and arrived in Vienna about 7:30 pm. It was a long hike to our hotel--about 2.5 miles. After checking in, we went out for a snack, then fell into bed.
Wednesday, 3 July 2019
Sightseeing on footAccommodations: Pension Dr. Geissler, night 2 of 2
Dinner: Meghan and I ate at a small restaurant not far from the pension. We had smoked salmon on potato pancakes with sour cream sauce, a mixed salad, and dessert.
After breakfast at the pension, we took off across old town to the Habsburg Palace complex and spent the day being tourists. We toured the Sisi museum, imperial apartments, imperial treasury, palace grounds, and stables (where we saw one royal Lipizzaner horse in its stall). We had wurst lunch in a cafe near the palace.
Meghan and I decided we needed a girls' night out, and Josh thought he and Ken should have a boys' night out. So we separated at the cathedral and went in different directions. Meghan and I hiked back up to Belvedere Castle (near the train station) to see Gustav Klimt's The Kiss. We finished the evening with a fantastic supper. The boys said they found pizza. We were all happy.
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| Habsburg Palace grounds. |
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| Habsburg Palace grounds. |
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| Cathedral. |
Thursday, 4 July 2019
July 4th!Sightseeing in the morning, train to Munich in the afternoon
Accommodations: Hotel Adria Munchen. Nice hotel in a quiet neighborhood not far from Marienplatz. Several nice cafes and small grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants with a few blocks. We shared a double room (the boys), twin room (the girls), and bath.
Dinner: Neighborhood family restaurant with traditional Swabian food.
With our last few hours in Vienna, we visited The Albertina, focusing on the state rooms, Impressionists, and Albrecht Durer. Josh's favorite work was Durer's Young Hare, a 1502 watercolor.
By 1:30 pm we were on the train to Munich, and by 8 pm we were checking in to our hotel in Munich. After showers and dinner, we walked around Marienplatz until it was dark, and went in search of red, white, and blue ice cream for J2, who was a little sad to be missing his family July 4th celebration. We found red, white, and brown ice cream--a triple scooper--and Josh FaceTimed his family while we ate it outside.
Lovely last day together in Germany and Austria.
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| Josh loved his rented bike. We chained it to a pole outside the hotel, and Steffen collected it while we were at dinner. |
Friday, 5 July 2019
Josh and Meghan took a train to the airport and then flew home to Minneapolis.Ken and I took a train back to Passau to rejoin our bikes and continue our journey down the Danube.
Accommodations: Art Hotel, Passau.
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| Passau. |
