Day 5: Regensburg in Prague and the Danube Travel Log

Today was the first excursion with the cruise proper, and I was struck again by how large the Viking ship is. Shipping off 200 people (actually 180, since the ship is only sailing at 90% capacity) to 1.5 hours away is an operation, and we spent a good 15-20 minutes on the bus just waiting for people to get on and get ready.

I planned to sleep on the bus but did not; on the drive to Regensburg we passed through beautiful countryside; a lot of wheat and corn fields and quaint little villages. The bus would detour into small villages sometimes to drive through the center of town so we could catch a glimpse. The autobahn goes over Danube several times, and the guide would point it out and we all see how low the water level is… maybe to convince some people why we can’t sail into Regensburg?

We had booked an excursion to the Danube narrows, which got cancelled because of low water level, so we were stuck in Regensburg the whole day. That was just as well because we got to see sights we didn’t see last time, when the stone bridge was getting renovated and it was drizzly and we spent our time looking for warm clothes. This time we went into the old town via the countryside instead of the river, so we really got to appreciate just how large the city is. And this time it was sunny and warm, so we saw a lot more. We ended the walking tour in the cathedral, and got lunch at the roof of a department store where we were told has a terrace with a nice view. It turned out we went to the exact apartment store during our honeymoon to look for jackets.

I also got to try out my German ordering food. I found out I could make out maybe 3-4 out of every five words in the signs, but to try to reconstruct the meanings on them, the 60-80% word recognition rate does not help much, if most of the words are “but, with, therefore”. I take it as a good sign that after I ordered, the cashier said in fluent german that my dish comes with fries so he has to make a new batch, and I could get yourself a soda while he does that, which I totally didn’t get and had to get him to repeat it again slowly. He was very nice and patient. I’m not sure he still felt the same later when I did the typical annoying American thing of asking for ice though.

We got back early, and enjoyed our suite (the shock hadn’t worn off yet). We had our safety drill later in the day and the captain’s welcome toast. But the boat hasn’t moved yet. It’s not going to move tomorrow either because it was Passau day. It will move on Monday and dock at Budapest on Thursday. When I look at the map, I think we cover twice as much ground travelling on buses than on the river.

This was halfway through our vacation, and I had been notified three times by Verizon that I was using their data plan (it automatically activates every day that I use their network, and costs $10 per day). I only meant to use it one day; and the other two times were automatic messages. I only realized now that I could have switched off my sim card.

Last updated August 27, 2022