Friday, November 1, 2019. Linz, Austria and Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

Friday, November 1, 2019;  Linz Austria, Cesky Krumlov Czech Republic

We initially awoke to find our balcony completely obstructed by an adjacent river cruise ship, but as we had breakfast in the Aqua-Vit Terrace, we had a view from the bow, and a quick trip to the sun deck revealed a lot of activity on the river with boats coming and going.  The cruise ship that had been on our starboard side was soon on its

way, and we soon found ourselves shuffling like a deck of cards with other ships on the river, moving up and back, in and out.  The ship’s captain and crew were keeping busy in this very crowded and busy part of the Danube outside Linz Austria.  As we had breakfast, we met another couple from western Illinois, who appeared to be traveling with the couple we had met last night at dinner who were also from western Illinois because the husband soon joined us.

After breakfast, we returned to our stateroom to find we now had a lovely view of the mist on the river.  Across the river, we could see locals walking their dogs and jogging along a path paralleling the Danube.  

The sky’s were clear and the air was crisp with an Autumn feel.  Temperatures today were forecast to be in the 40’s.  The foliage in this pat of the world turns golden in the fall, and as the oak trees shed their leaves, balls of mistletoe are left decorating the branches like carefully groomed French poodles.   Mallard ducks and swans were swimming around the boat at it’s moorage.

The Viking included excursion gave a choice between a 2 hour walking tour of Linz, Austria, or an 8 hour excursion to Cesky Krumlov, a medieval town in the Czech Republic, which is a UNESCO world heritage site.  3.5 of the 8 hours were a round trip bus trip through the Austrian and Czech countryside.  There were also 2.5 hours of free time at Cesky Krumlov after the guided walking tour for lunch and self exploration.  The crew highly recommended the Cesky Krumlov excursion, and most passengers opted for that option, since all the shops and government offices in Austria were closed today for All Saint’s Day, which is a national holiday in Austria, but not in the Czech Republic.  

As we drove out of Linz, we saw that Linz is a highly industrialized city with heavy manufacturing, including a steel mill that had been bombed by allies in WWII, rail car manufacturing, chemical plants and many other industries.  The population is about a quarter million.  We learned a bit about two of Linz’s famous sons, including Adolf Hitler, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.  We also learned a little about life in the Czech Republic both before and after the Velvet Revolution of 1989 from our guide, Vladimira.  

The medieval village of Cesky Krumlov had largely been turned over to transients after the Communists seized all private property, and expelled all people of German descent from the former Sudatenland, which included much of the countryside between today’s Austria and Czech Republic.  Under communist rule, the village fell into disrepair and was in quite a sad state.  Then, after the Velvet Revolution, property ownership was restored to former owners, and UNESCO funds became available for the restoration of Cesky Krumlov.  It now represents one of the finest examples of a medieval village in Europe, with Italian Renaissance and Baroque architectural features favored by it’s former ruling families.  

The Austrians have recently completed a new expressway between Linz and the Czech Republic which includes 33 miles of tunnels, completed in just 2 years.  Considering it took Seattle 5 years to build it’s 1.5 mile long downtown tunnel with Big Bertha to replace the Alaska Way Viaduct, it shows the Austrians know how to build tunnels and get major infrastructure projects done.   The Austrian and Czech Republic countryside is covered with fields and forests.  We say a number of hawks in the fields, along with cattle and canola as far as the eye could see.  

We crossed the former iron curtain between Austria and the Czech Republic, marked by the rotting hulks of Soviet era buildings and a truck inspection station.  There had been tall electrified razor wire fences along this border, but all signs of this legacy has since been removed.  

There was a bathroom rest stop on the way to Cesky Krumlov.  Across the street from the gas station and convenience shop where we could use the bathrooms was a large Vietnamese run gift shop.  Vladimira explained how during communist rule, Vietnamese and Cuban students came to study in the Czech Republic’s universities.  After the fall of the Soviet Union, Fidel Castro forced all the Cuban students to return to Cuba, afraid of what would happen should they get a taste of freedom and democracy.  The Vietnamese were allowed to stay, and now throughout the Czech Republic, most of the grocery stores are owned and operated by Vietnamese, who now are one of the most visible minorities in the Czech Republic.  This mirrors what we had learned in Prague as well.

As we descended into the valley where Cesky Krumlov is, we could see some large industrial stacks in the distance.  Volkswagen and many other large manufacturers take advantage of low labor costs in the Czech Republic to produce cars and other industrial products.  Consequently the unemployment rate in the Czech Republic is remarkably low- about 2-3%.  But wages in the Czech Republic are as much as a third of what wages are in Germany and Austria, so many Czech’s who live in border regions cross the border to find jobs in Germany and Austria with higher wages.  

We passed a thoroughly modern large hospital on the way to Cesky Krumlov, and found the village nestled in the crook of a double “S” turn in the Vltava river, the same river that eventually runs through Prague.  The scene is dominated by a large castle tower, and spires of the St. Vitus Church near the center of the medieval town.  

The whole village is beautiful, with narrow cobble stone streets, shops, restaurants and museums.  It is so clean that it feels like Disneyland, although it is probably the other way around, in that Disneyland is trying to replicate what is present at Cesky Krumlov.  The village is very much like the Prague Castle district, but not being swallowed up by a huge surrounding metropolitan area like Prague, Cesky Krumlov has its own unique charms.  The drive from Linz was absolutely worth it.

Life in Cesky Krumlov is just ducky!

Look out for bears in the moat!

After returning to the ship in Linz, we had the opportunity to hop on a shuttle to the Linz historical town square.  We made a quick trip since the sun was setting, and the Linz town square had much more of the feel of a suburban shopping mall than all the other ancient town squares we have been seeing so far on this trip.  

We had excellent steaks for dinner followed by the local specialty dessert of Linz cake, which has a ginger spiced pastry and jam like fruit filling.  We both skipped the evening entertainment- a lecture on Vienna Coffee-house culture, which we had seen before in 2015 on our prior Budapest to Nuremberg river cruise.  There was a reception for the Viking Explorer Society serving champagne and samples of a new Viking product- Viking branded Aqua-Vit.  Aqua-Vit is a traditional Scandinavian liqueur aged in oak barrels that must cross the equator twice and spend at least 4 months at sea.  Between the Champagne, Aqua-Vit, steak and red wine at dinner, we were well ready for bed as soon as we finished our desserts.  

Tomorrow we sail through the Wachau Valley, famous for wine grape production and scenic cruising.  We’ll end up in the town of Krems, Austria and will tour an Abbey in the hills which promises samples of apricot schnapps and wines.