Canadian World Traveller Winter 2018-19 Issue

52
Nuremberg to Vienna with AmaSonata
by Olivia Balsinger
Irecently had the opportunity to discover
Europe’s powerful Danube River
aboard the AmaWaterways ship,
AmaSonata, which first launched in 2014.
This was my first river cruise and I quickly
understood why this cruising trend is so
popular. AmaSonata offers not only topnotch
amenities, but also has a considerably
relaxed vibe.
True to AmaWaterways philosophy, all daily
excursions were covered in the cruise price,
with the exception of a few optional tours. In
their effort to promote an active and adventurous
lifestyle and attract passengers that
are more physically adept, the excursions
usually consisted of hiking, cycling, and
long walking tours. On this Danube cruise,
for example, passengers had the option to
hike to the hilltop castles in Passau,
Germany, and Durnestein Austria. It also
has longer excursions like a full-day tour of
Salzburg, Austria, or a half-day tour of the
medieval Czech city Cesky Krumlov.
AmaWaterways makes it easy to stick to
your pace by dividing the activities of into
three levels. And now let me tell you a bit
about my adventures.
Nuremberg
I embarked in Nuremberg the first day, settling
into my temporary home-at-sea before
setting out to explore. Nuremberg, a city
marked by its prolific place in history’s most
historical moments, shows its complex layers
on the facades of its buildings; medieval
churches are harmonious, adjacent neighbors
to post-modern buildings. As a powerhouse
of the German Industrial Revolution,
the city had a particularly influential role in
the World War II era, serving as the stage
for Nazi rhetoric to infiltrate the ideology of
Germany’s working class. Desiring to delve
into the thick chapters of this era, I decided
to take the World War II tour offered as an
excursion, which took me to the specific
locations where history was made.
Regensburg
After a comfortable night’s sleep on board,
I woke up the following morning in
Regensburg — a city situated at the northernmost
point of the Danube River, known
to some as the most Italian city north of the
Alps, as well as “Germany’s medieval mir-