We left Scottsdale and began driving to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. On the way, we made a lunch stop in Sedona, Arizona. Sedona is famous for its red rocks. I found this explanation of how these beautiful formations came to be. Before the red rock was turned into rock, it was all soft mud and sand. Over a 320 million year period changes in nature helped transform the sand and mud into something more beautiful than we…
We took Tauck’s America’s Canyonlands tour in October of 2022. On this tour we would visit the Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon, Lake Powell, and both Bryce and Zion National Parks. We arrived a day early for our tour and booked an independent, half-day tour that introduced us to the Scottsdale/Tempe/Phoenix area. We first visited Papago Park and the Sonoran Desert where we saw the iconic Saguaro Cactus. The Saguaro is a tree-like cactus that can grow up to 40 feet…
After leaving Vienna, we sailed to Bratislava, Slovakia. Originally known as Pressburg, it was annexed by Hungary in the 11th Century and served as the capital of Hungary for nearly 250 years. In 1919, the city was annexed to the Czechoslovak Republic and at that time its name was changed to Bratislava. The Nazis and then the Soviets controlled Bratislava until 1989. With the split of Czechoslovakia into two nations in 1993, Slovakia became an independent state with Bratislava as…
On our second day in Vienna, we toured the Schönbrunn Palace. Together with the Hofburg, the Schönbrunn Palace is the other major palace in Vienna. The Schönbrunn Palace and its associated buildings, gardens, fountains and statues are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Schönbrunn’s history extends back to Middle Ages. In 1569, Maximilian II acquired it for the Habsburg Dynasty. Emperor Matthias used it for hunting and, while hunting, discovered a “fair spring” which in German is translated “schoner brunnnen”…
Our next port of call was Vienna, where we would spend two days. Vienna is the capital and largest city in Austria. It has been inhabited since 500BC when the Celts first settled here. The historic City Centre was placed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2001. Vienna, situated on the Danube River in the eastern part of Austria, developed from early Celtic and Roman settlements into a medieval and Baroque city, eventually becoming the capital of…
After touring the Cesky Krumlov Palace, we made our way back to Linz and then departed for Dürnstein in the Wachau Valley early the next morning. Brunch was served on the riverboat so we could make our way to the sun deck in the early afternoon to enjoy the beautiful sites. The Wachau Valley is considered one of the most beautiful parts of the Danube and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, both for its architectural and agricultural history. It…
Our next port of call was Linz, Austria. From there we took a bus to Cesky Krumlov, a small town by the Vltava River in the Czech Republic. It was a feudal town founded in the Middle Ages. It attracts tourists because of the Cesky Krumlov Castle complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The first castle was established before 1250 by the Lords of Krumlov. This family line died off in 1302. Other families that followed included the Rosenbergs, who…
The day following the Passion Play, we travelled to Vilshofen, Germany to board our ship. On the way, we stopped for lunch in Landshut. It was founded in 1204 when the Duke of Bavaria built a fortress here. Today it is the capital of Lower Bavaria. These pictures are of the Gasthaus Zur Schleuse’s beer garden where we had our lunch and a view along the Isar River, just across the street from the restaurant. Our first port of call…
We visited Oberammergau in 2015 as part of our Alps and Dolomites tour. We were able to tour the Passion Play theatre, but of course there wasn’t a play that year. We booked our Blue Danube tour with Oberammergau in 2018 and now – in 2022 – it was finally going to happen. The play has a several hundred year history. In the 1600s, the Thirty Years War was raging in Europe. As the war moved into Germany, the bubonic…
We drove through the Bavarian countryside on our way to Ettal and Oberammergau. We stayed in Ettal, only ten minutes from Oberammergau. From our hotel grounds, we could see Ettal Abbey. It was founded in 1330 by Emperor Ludwig of Bavaria and is still a working monastery today. The current building was constructed after a fire destroyed the previous abbey in 1744. I have included pictures of the Basilica and the Abbey complex. Ettal Abbey is more than just its…