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Cobblestone streets and graceful arcades welcome you in the beautiful city of Passau.
Passau in Germany is home to Europe’s largest church organ which has more than 17,000 pipes, sitting inside St. Stephen’s Cathedral with it’s amazing baroque architecture. On this morning’s walking tour, stroll through the old town’s narrow alleys and cobblestone streets and admire the hilltop Oberhaus Fortress from the town below. Return for lunch and an afternoon cruising along the Danube River.
Today’s “extras” tours covered Salzburg – “if you are a fan of ‘The Sound of Music’ or Mozart, the excursion to Salzburg is a must!” (which we visited in 2011) and also Cesky Krumlov (which we will visit on our “Post-Cruise” finale tour).
Today’s setup was probably the best of the cruise so far. We arrived early morning in Passau and were docked right in the town centre. The two “extra tour” groups headed off for their excursions not long after breakfast. We then had a walking tour of Passau – which was very good. The inside of St Stephen’s church was truly spectacular and then we had a little extra time to wander before we were back on board and setting off again.
The castle in Passau, above the Danube River
On our walking tour – the Town Hall down near the river. The markings show the worst flood levels – the second highest one was only in 2103
Part of the massive organ in St Stephen’s church
Since fairly early in the cruise, the top deck has really been “off limits” as the number of low bridges and locks meant that everything had to be removed from the deck and there was no access. In Passau, all the chairs, tables and sun shades were reinstated and with the day nice and sunny it was a good place to be as we set sail again. Soon after leaving Passau, we came to a lock which was quite low. The crew had to lower the sun shades and everyone on the deck had to make sure they were seated as we arrived at the lock – to avoid losing our heads ! Safely through, we enjoyed the river views as we headed toward our actual final stop for the day in Linz. Through that dock, we entered Austria also.
Looking along the Inn River – which joins the Danube from one side and the Ilz River joins from the other side
Now enjoying the sundeck again as we enter Austria
Nearing the low lock
Steve testing the height and Gae taking no chances ! ?
With the sun shining, we took advantage of the pool area during the afternoon – which we basically had to ourselves – as we sailed toward Linz. On the way we went through a couple of very deep locks – its quite an experience to be at the bottom of these massive structures !
Hairpin bend panorama on the Danube
We arrived in Linz about 5pm and again we were docked right in the town centre. We were able to head off the boat and have a look around a bit – we walked through the town square and looked at the cathedral. The day tourists arrived back at the boat just in time for dinner. Bob & Therese had done the Cesky Krumlov tour which they said was excellent – despite being subjected to two brief hailstorms whilst they were there !
The town square in Linz
After dinner, we were psyched up for another trivia night – “Name That Tune” – and were quietly optimistic of another victory. However, conspiracy theories abounded when the tunes seemed to be pitched at the “older demographic” ?and alas there was to be no champagne flowing despite our best efforts ! It was still a fun evening which we finished off with a bit of dancing – I must say the resident DJ/musician – “Mr Reno” – has done a great job with the music throughout the cruise.
In Linz – photo thanks to Bob – the Electronica building gave a light show in the evening
About 11pm, just as we headed for bed, we set sail for our next destination…. more tomorrow…
Today’s “Tour Trivia” – what happens in 2 years ? – Adolf Hitler’s family lived in Passau between 1892 and 1894 and Heinrich Himmler’s family lived in Passau between 1902 and 1904 !