Another day in Vienna began with a walking tour of the city. Rich didn't go with me because we learned that a main water pipe at the lake had burst, and he wanted to see about taking care of it. I went ahead by myself and enjoyed hearing about the city again. We had about an hour of free time, so I viewed the church I had not seen before and just relaxed. We had signed up for a behind the scenes tour of the Lippanzer horses, so left for that after lunch. It was quite hot by this time, but our guide kept us in the shade as much as he could. Joyce and John, people we've met from Michigan, were also on this tour. We sat with them and had cake (dry), and coffee, then more free time at the Spanish riding school's gift

shop. We FINALLY were allowed to begin and were told all about the horses...they are free to play for the first four years of life. Then they begin training and it's not until they are around 14 that they perform. They work until around the age of 25, then they are able to retire. We got to see them, but no pictures were allowed. Not quite the tour I thought it would be, but I loved seeing the horses up close.

The next day we were in Melk, Austria. Our cruise included a guided tour of the Abbey which has been around for a long time (I can't remember now how long, but seems like about 1,000 years). It looked New because they are constantly renovating!! We got to go through the museum and library, which was all interesting. We saw many historical garments and replicas of jewels--crowns, scepters, etc. Beautiful view from the balcony of the Abbey.

That was pretty much the highlight of Melk. :)

We've been sailing through the Wacchau Valley, and it's just gorgeous. Lots of mountains and colorful villages.

Our next city was Passau, although our ship wasn't allowed to dock there, so we had a short bus ride from where we did dock to the city center.

Our guide, Sebastian, was an absolute hoot! He made learning the history of the city fun and entertaining. We are actually in Bavaria, which is NOT part of Germany (according to Sebastian). They have their own food, language, customs, etc. They also had a terrible flood back in 2013, but the city is once again restored to all its glory. (Gave me a lot of hope for Houston). He led us all around town and left us at the St. Stephens Cathedral. We were able to go in and hear the worlds largest organ played. It was a 30 minute concert and sounded like a kid was let loose on the machine! I didn't enjoy it at all. :( Maybe it was the build up but I've heard better organ music played at my former church in Katy!

We were informed last night that we might have to change to another ship if it didn't rain--but it began raining around 9:30 pm, so chances are good we can stay on this ship.

One of our new friends had to change rooms due to bed bugs!! Ugh!! She was all bitten and it's been a real mess. Felt so badly for her!!

We are in Regensburg, Germany today. Still raining but we didn't let that stop us. Had to be bussed to the city an hour away due to low water, but it worked out ok. Met up with our tour guide and walked all around the city. Would've liked to have had better weather--prettiest city we've been in so far--but with the rain, we took the first available bus back to the ship. Did I mention it was 59 degrees??

The food has been excellent on the ship--it's open seating, so you can sit with anyone. We have a small group that we tend to sit with each meal. Fun getting to know everyone. Not much in the way of entertainment at night--one night I joined a trivia group, and we came in 3rd out of about 15 teams! Dinner finishes so late that we usually just come back and watch a movie.

Tomorrow we will be in Roth for Nuremberg. And since it's been raining all day, we won't have to change ships! :)