Uniworld River Beatrice, Enchanting Danube: Thoughts, pictures, and menus

[AttilaTheFun]

Passau (cont.)

 

After the tour, we had some free time before lunch, so we explored the shopping area on our own. It was fun to browse some of the restaurants and stores and feel thankful that prices are so much cheaper in the U.S.!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some incredible flowers

 

 

 

 

After lunch, the ship set sail for Linz and we crossed our first lock of the trip

 

 

 

 

The Viking Legend joined us in the lock

 

[Kathie859]

Great photos! Thanks for the review, too.

[H2Otstr]

Very nice photos. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

[AttilaTheFun]

Is it just me or is this entire River Cruise section just threads complaining about Viking now? :D

[Cruzin Terri]

Is it just me or is this entire River Cruise section just threads complaining about Viking now? :D

It sure seems that way. Love your pictures.

Terri

Edited July 4, 2013 by tbrein

[AttilaTheFun]

Linz/Salburg

 

After we received our luggage around 11pm when docking in Linz, we were very relieved. We had to wear our same clothes to the Captain's Welcome Dinner earlier that night and it was embarrassing showing up in jeans and a sweatshirt! With clean pajamas and clothes, we rested up before our big day in Salzburg the next morning.

 

The Salzburg tour day started early as Salzburg is about a 2 hour drive away from Linz. The views during the ride were stunning though! We stopped at a gas station for a pit stop for about 20 minutes before arriving in Salzburg. Our tour guide narrated some information about Linz as well as Salzburg and of course The Sound of Music.

 

Gas station

 

 

 

 

We had a lot of fun exploring the mini-mart foods

 

 

 

 

The gas station actually has a restaurant that overlooks a beautiful lake

 

 

 

 

At least 5 of these buses were from Viking. Not pictured - two more Uniworld tour buses!

 

 

 

 

A bit blurry, but the real-life Georg & Maria von Trapp vs. the movie

 

[AttilaTheFun]

Salzburg (cont.)

 

We started our tour of Salzburg with the Mirabell Garden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AttilaTheFun]

Salzburg (cont.)

 

From the Mirabell Gardens, it was a short walk across the Salzach River to the main pedestrian area of Salzburg

 

 

 

 

Can you see how crowded it is? Salzburg is definitely overrun with tourists and some of the locals showed their annoyance when large groups would block walkways.

 

 

 

 

A lot of Salzburg is made up of pedestrian-only streets, which is really nice. The shops along the main street all have olden-style signs, including this McDonald's

 

 

 

 

In case you're curious what sorts of things McDonald's offers in Austria....

 

 

 

 

Salzburg is also famous for being the birthplace of Mozart. The tour guide pointed out his birthplace home - the gold crest is above the floor where he and his family lived.

 

 

 

 

On our way to the Salzburg Cathedral

 

[AttilaTheFun]

Salzburg (cont.)

 

The Salzburg Cathedral dominates a very small square and it's very hard to take a photo of the entire thing. The gates in this picture have years above them - major years of when the cathedral was built/restored/rebuilt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This strange art piece is just outside the cathedral

 

 

 

 

You can take a funicular up to the Hohensalzburg Castle

 

 

 

 

[AttilaTheFun]

Salzburg (cont.)

 

Next up was the cemetery where the suspenseful final scene from The Sound of Music takes place (but was not actually filmed on location)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That concluded our tour and we had free time to wander around Salzburg. This was also the only day where we had to pay for lunch, as there was no way of getting back to the ship in time. We ended up dining outside at Restaurant Zipfer Bierhaus and found the food to be nothing special, but the service to be RUDE when you could actually FIND a waiter! I would not recommend it to others.

 

 

 

 

However, we did enjoy a giant pretzel from a nearby stand. We tried both the pizza and chocolate raspberry varieties - yum!

 

 

 

 

Another quick dining option would have been one of the numerous sausage stands where you get some bread and mustard and stand to eat the meal/snack

 

[remydiva]

It sure seems that way. Love your pictures.

Terri

 

agree with your thoughts about these threads becoming one topic only...enough!

 

And Attilathe fun, i may have asked you this already on your Grand Med review but what is your camera and what do you post your pics here on CC with to make them so big?

 

I did the Danube in Dec/ Jan and tour pics are WAY clearer than mine or maybe they just look better on my ipad screen.

 

My camera is a Canon Powershot A720 IS with imagine stabilizer but yours of the cathedral in Passau just look so much better!

[AttilaTheFun]

Salzburg (cont.)

 

Our tour guide had recommended trying the original "Mozart chocolate" at Furst. Every souvenir shop in Salzburg (and most of Austria...) sold similar chocolates, but Furst still makes theirs by hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the most fun we had was simply wandering around the town. The main drag is connected by many covered walkways, some of which had small shops or restaurants and some which were residential areas.

 

 

 

 

Check out the smallest house in Salzburg (now a store), squeezed in between two other buildings!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The "horse fountain" where Maria sings "I Have Confidence" in The Sound of Music

 

Edited July 4, 2013 by AttilaTheFun

[AttilaTheFun]

And Attilathe fun, i may have asked you this already on your Grand Med review but what is your camera and what do you post your pics here on CC with to make them so big?

 

I just used my iPhone, but had to take multiples of some pictures as they turn out blurry sometimes, especially in low-lighting. I haven't carried a "real" camera in a while as it's another thing to lug around and possibly have stolen.

 

I use the Auto Backup feature in Google+ on my iPhone to wirelessly sync all my pictures to Google+ and just post from there. They have an auto-enhance feature that I use on some of them, which usually just lightens the picture a bit. Hope that helps!

[remydiva]

I just used my iPhone, but had to take multiples of some pictures as they turn out blurry sometimes, especially in low-lighting. I haven't carried a "real" camera in a while as it's another thing to lug around and possibly have stolen.

 

I use the Auto Backup feature in Google+ on my iPhone to wirelessly sync all my pictures to Google+ and just post from there. They have an auto-enhance feature that I use on some of them, which usually just lightens the picture a bit. Hope that helps!

 

Not to sound like beating a dead horse or hijacking your thread, but what steps are needed to upload from google + to CC?

 

When i click on the paperclip and " upload" pics whether from my hard drive of PC ( yes , gasp , not a mac) or from shutterfly, they only come across as those tiny thumbnails seen at the bottom of so many peoples posts.

Thanks!

[H2Otstr]

Remy, check out this thread. Maybe it will answer some of your questions:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1714741

[remydiva]

Remy, check out this thread. Maybe it will answer some of your questions:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1714741

 

thanks for the link...i read it and thought it looked pretty simple but...

Clearly I am doing something wrong...I followed the bring up in shutterfly (album) and right click to 'copy image' then right click to 'paste' and nothing..

Help?

 

Get a hosting site like Shutterfly or Photobucket

2. Upload your pictures there.

3. When your pix are there, bring one up on the site by itself. You can resize it, work with it if you want. Put your mouse pointer over it, right click to copy it.

4. Come to CC, and respond to a post, in the response, place your mouse pointer where you want the pic to appear, right click again, this time, paste it.

__________________

Edited July 4, 2013 by remydiva

[remydiva]

 

The right click copy and paste way did not work for me and judging from other posters on that link, not for others too.

But another poster suggested copying the imagine link also available on SF then pasting into the 'square with a mountain' button after taking out the already there 'http:// and that worked like a hot damn!

 

yeah!

 

Now I hope I can remember. I always just used the paper clip or the globe with the google button and they did NOT work.

Edited July 5, 2013 by remydiva
Oh! Now THIS way works

[H2Otstr]

thanks for the link...i read it and thought it looked pretty simple but...

Clearly I am doing something wrong...I followed the bring up in shutterfly (album) and right click to 'copy image' then right click to 'paste' and nothing..

Help?

 

 

Bring up your photos on Shutterfly. Click on the one you want to use (it will enlarge). Right click on it to Copy Image. Go to CC and paste it there. Try a test one before hitting the Submit Reply button. The photo should fill the screen.

[marysb]

Passau (cont.)

 

After the tour, we had some free time before lunch, so we explored the shopping area on our own. It was fun to browse some of the restaurants and stores and feel thankful that prices are so much cheaper in the U.S.!

 

[

 

Really!! That is great news. Any examples of what was cheaper?

Loving the review- we are doing the Danube in September.

[AttilaTheFun]

Not to sound like beating a dead horse or hijacking your thread, but what steps are needed to upload from google + to CC?

 

When i click on the paperclip and " upload" pics whether from my hard drive of PC ( yes , gasp , not a mac) or from shutterfly, they only come across as those tiny thumbnails seen at the bottom of so many peoples posts.

Thanks!

 

Once in Google+ (which is the same as Picasa or any other image hosting site), I right-click the image and choose "Copy Image Location". In the reply box of Cruise Critic, I click the square icon with a mountain in it (right below the left swoopy arrow for Undo) and I paste the image location there.

 

Really!! That is great news. Any examples of what was cheaper?

 

Basically everything - clothing, food, souvenirs. Europe is not a good place for bargain-hunting!

[marysb]

 

 

Basically everything - clothing, food, souvenirs. Europe is not a good place for bargain-hunting!

 

OOPS - I misread. I thought you said you got bargains. Just wishful thinking I guess.:D

[remydiva]

It's no bargain - even the $1 store is 3€!

 

Atilla, I'm interested to know if you took the Bratislava tour, and if so, what did you think?

 

 

I took the Bratislava tour and it was just an intro to the town and stop at the castle with some history tossed in. Slovakia and Czech republic separated into democracies on Jan 1, 1993 so we happened to be there on the 20th anniversary of going from communism to democracy.

 

The guide was very helpful in answering questions about how the change affected the citizens and that in itself was worth the tour.

 

After the tour, you had the choice of staying on the bus back to the ship or continuing on a walking tour with the guide through the downtown area.This is where the fabulous bronze statues are (google Bratislava bronze statues).

[AttilaTheFun]

Atilla, I'm interested to know if you took the Bratislava tour, and if so, what did you think?

 

We did not go on the Bratislava optional tour, which was 45€. Instead, I used the afternoon sailing to catch up on sleep while my sister enjoyed the scenic views of the river.

 

Uniworld's itinerary includes an overnight in Vienna, which gives you an additional half-day to explore, which we really appreciated. We went to the Schonbrunn Palace on our own using public transportation, rather than taking the Uniworld optional tour, which cost 39€. We saved about 35€ each and it was very easy to get there and back.

[whatnot]

Please continue with your cruise pictures and commentary when you get time. We are doing this cruise in reverse in September. I have learned so much from your previous posts. I want to know about the other ports you visited including Budapest.

[AttilaTheFun]

Please continue with your cruise pictures and commentary when you get time. We are doing this cruise in reverse in September. I have learned so much from your previous posts. I want to know about the other ports you visited including Budapest.

 

I'll try to add some more thoughts, but please keep coming back and letting me know that you're following along! At some points, it feels like I'm just babbling to myself and it takes quite a while to compile all these posts. Glad that my ramblings have helped you prepare for your trip!