December 14

December 14:  Linz - Český Krumlov

Last night we sailed off from Passau and late in the evening we arrive in Linz, Austria.  Part of the evening program allowed each passenger (or couple) to take a Viking Cruises Christmas ornament and customize it, then hang it on the Christmas tree in the lounge.  And at the end of the cruise you can take the ornament with you.  For our "customization" we listed all the ships from our seven Viking Cruises.....

In the morning as we were eating breakfast there was a light snow, which made for a picture-perfect holiday excursion.  We boarded buses for the nearly ninety minute plus trip to Český Krumlov, Czech Republic, which had been explained to us as one of the best stops on the trip.  Well one thing we did not know was that the drive there would turn out to be one of THE best "excursions" of the trip.  The snow covered landscape was just magical.  I only posted three (including the selfie of me at our brief stop), but I actually took about forty photos/videos.  It was truly amazing to watch these kinds of vistas go by for the duration of the trip.

Once we arrived inČeský Krumlov you had the option of taking the provided tour or the "leisure tour."  The difference was that on the provided tour the bus drove you to the top of the castle and you walked down a gradual incline all the way to the town; the "easier" version had you get off at the bottom of the hill and you walked around the bottom of the castle hearing a similar narrative.  Obviously we went to the top.  There are five different "castles" making up the complex.  We walked from one passage-way to a adjoining courtyard, then to another passage-way, to another courtyard making our way down.  Clearly, CLEARLY the most impressive vista came at the top as we looked down on the town with the river winding through it.  The pictures capture what we saw pretty accurately but what is NOT captured is the fact that it never reached 30 degrees all day.  So as we walked around for over two hours it was cold......no, not cold but C-O-L-D!  I will be the first to admit that one of the "draws" for us was to enjoy the winter/Christmas weather.  And we did, but being outside in the elements for such an extended time became a bit more than we wanted.  And to be fair, we all - and I mean every guest on the tour we talked to - agreed that the fact that we were given two and one-half hours of "free time" to explore the town square, very under-sized Christmas Market, and have lunch was at least an hour too long. 

The view of the castle from below, in the village

The river from village-level

Panoramic view from the top - THE photo op of the day

One of the courtyards with the original artwork still very much visible

One section of passageway as seen from the village/bridge level below

The panoramic view from the top, following the river to the other side of the castle

As soon as the guide turned us loose we ALL agreed the first thing to do was go into one of the many restaurants....not because we were so hungry, but because we were so very cold!  When we left after a light lunch the plan was to see the Christmas Market (which took less than fifteen minutes) and and then go from shop-to-shop to get out of the cold until it was time to meet our guide to return to the warm buses.  Tomorrow morning we have well over two hours of scenic cruising as we travel through Wachau Valley.  We have sailed through here on our first Viking Cruise and it is very similar to the Rhine River Valley with many castles lining the river banks.  Very much looking forward to that - though howmuch of it we'll enjoy from the top deck is very much in question!

The carousel in the Christmas Market