We had a long day today. We arrived in Passau, the wetest Austrian city, then trained to Salzburg and Linz before reboarding the ship.

Back to the beginning though we had an "early bird" breakfast then on the bus to the railway station to board the Majestic Imperator for a "majestic and relaxed royal experience". Originally built in the 1890s the train was owned by Emperor Franz Joseph. It had the usual dining salon, smoking salon, sleeping compartments etc but today was set up with sleeping salons and dining rooms. There are only 2 of the original carriages left and these are in a museum. Each carriage was uniquely decorated and furnished. We got on to a glass of champagne (bit early but still accepted) and some traditional 'google hoop cakes'. If you are thinking of doing river cruising and really want to do the train trip then you need to know that APT have exclusive access to this train for at least 2 more years.

Upon arrival at Salzburg station there was a large security presence and as we left the station we saw why. Behind some temporary barriers were about 100 or refugees, from Syria we presume. It was not a high security thing as their kids were able to run around outside the barriers. We imagine the adults would need to be supervised if they needed to get out. Everything seemed quite relaxed under the circumstances although it all felt odd to us..

Onto the buses and a tour around the city then in to the old town and Mozart Square. Mozart was born in Salzburg and continues to be revered here although much of his music was written in Vienna. We were driven around for a while to view some key sites we would not have time to walk to and to see where some of Sound of Music was filmed. The other thing Salzburg is known for is salt! Apparently 240 million years ago it was part of an ocean and as the land moved part of the ocean got land locked.

After a bit of free time it was back to the train station where the number of refugees had reduced. We presume they were being put on trains to Germany. While we were in Salzburg the ship had moved on to Linz where we were headed. During the continuation of our train trip we were entertained by 3 really good opera singers who moved between the carriages singing traditional Austrian songs and of course a couple from Sound of Music. It was very entertaining and helped the trip back pass by quite quickly. A long day but a very enjoyable and informative one.