Voyage to Durnstein

As the Mozart sailed West, I noticed we came to a stop. Sure enough, we were in one of the many locks we'd encounter on the trip, and each one was a mighty cool experience. We'd watch as the ship started dropping in place, and then the huge doors in front of us would open, and off we'd go. I think we passed 18 locks on the cruise, and each one took about 20 or 30 minutes. I marvelled at the engineering of these things each time.

Monday morning I awoke at 530, and went up on deck. The Danube was covered in mist, and was dream-like. After breakfast, the girls and I set foot on Austrian soil, in Durnstein, a small village out of "The Sound of Music." We strolled through the medieval streets, and bought some apricot jam. Durnstein is very into their apricots --most of the restaurants and cafes have them everywhere, and the bars have them soaking in vodka. It was too early for that.

The girls and I started a hike up to an old fortress on a bluff, a place where supposedly Richard the Lionhearted came to rescue his favorite minstrel, who had been taken captive. We made it about 3/4 of the way, when the incline and footing became a bit much for my less than adventurous daughters.

As we were aborting our climb, we encountered a pleasant fellow, who I knew right away wasn't a German or Austrian. He smiled and said a hearty hello. He was Gordon, an affable Northern Irishman from the cruise. We chatted, and learned we shared a love of "Fawlty Towers." Whenever we'd see each other later on, we'd ask if we had enjoyed the "Eva Braun" salad. We both poked fun at the temperments of our German and Austrian fellow passengers.

A few days after we met, Gordon was rejoicing that "Southern Ireland," as he called it, had rejected the EU's attempt to strengthen. "Last thing we need is a bunch of Belgian elitists telling us how to make love to our wives." Gordon was one of my favorites.

On the way back to the ship, we walked through a hilly vineyard, right on the Danube. The sun was shining, and the peaty smell of the soil was in the air. My girls and I ran a bit, and broke into "The Sound of Music." No one heard us.

Back on the ship, I fell asleep after watching "The Third Man." There was one English TV channel (CNN Europe) but every two nights or so, the crew would also play an English movie germane (ha!) to the trip. "Third MAn" was set in Vienna, and designed to put us in the mood. It did.