PHOTO: Google spokesman Ulf Spitzer aboard Tauck's Treasures riverboat. (Courtesy of Tauck)
Tauck, the Norwalk, Conn.-based tour operator par excellence, can add another illustrious partner to its list of collaborators, which includes the BBC, Ken Burns and Celia Sandys (Winston Churchill's granddaughter), among others.
Tauck collaborated with Google Maps to provide 360-degree images of the Danube River to Google's vast inventory of street views.
Google's Street View project, launched in 2007, has logged more than 7 million miles in 66 countries compiling street views using Google's special Trekker camera, which has 15 lenses it uses to create composite 360-degree images.
With the Trekker camera mounted on Tauck's Treasures riverboat, Google was able to add the lower Danube to Google's map inventory as the ship passed through Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.
Among the sights captured in the views were the Chain Bridge and the Parliament Building of Budapest, Hungary; Bratislava Castle in Bratislava, Slovakia; and the Franciscan Monastery and Church of St. Philip in Vukovar, Croatia.
Tauck CEO Dan Mahar took obvious pleasure in Tauck's new alignment with Google.
"Google is a true innovator and an undisputed leader in their field, and we like to think of ourselves in similar terms," said Mahar. "We're both continually pushing the boundaries in our respective industries, and it was great working with Google to chronicle Europe's most iconic river - a place where Tauck has already brought great innovation."
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