Advertisement
Published: October 9th 2023
Edit Blog Post
The ship has finally sailed! At 6:30 this morning we started down the Danube River towards Passau. I was having coffee on our little veranda when she started to move. How beautiful it was watching the lights on the shoreline glide past in the dim pre-morning. It wasn’t very far to Passau and the ship spun around in the middle of the river so we could disembark onto the Old Town side.
Following a delicious buffet breakfast, off we went on a guided walking tour. I love the audio receivers because I wear my headphones to hear the guide clearly without any background noise. Old Passau isn’t very big but it sure is old. It was founded 2,000 years ago by the Romans but archeological excavations found artifacts that were considerably older. In pre-historic times it was settled by the Celts. Passau is on a peninsula formed by the confluence of the Danube, Inn and Ilz Rivers. It is on the southern border of Bavaria next to Austria.
A meandering stroll took us through cobblestone streets, up tiny alleys past the artists district on painted cobblestones and into the square facing St. Stephens Cathedral. A Baroque church, St. Stephens
Competing churches
there are 4 churches in the picture - one on the very far right, two in the centre and one on the far left, all very big churches. was built in 1688 but there were many previous churches built on the same site since 730 AD. The church was famous for having the largest pipe organ in the world with 17,774 pipes played with 5 manual consoles.
Most of us purchased tickets for the 12:00 p.m. organ concert which is an ingenious way for the church to raise money for its ongoing restoration. We were immersed in the most beautiful music for 1/2 hour. Because we were close to the ship we scurried back for lunch on the Aquavit Terrace. Needing a hot drink before we started out again put us on our veranda right when it started to rain which dampened our enthusiasm to return to the streets. Every time we thought we should head out it rained again. Finally the best place to sit and enjoy the rain is in the lounge where we were able to watch the shoreline slip away behind us. The ship is moving again towards Krems, Austria.
Tonight’s entertainment was the best! Michael who is the maître ‘d of the ship put on a show entitled Germans Are NOT Funny! Well let me tell you he was out to
prove them wrong and did a magnificent job of doing it. Everyone was laughing hysterically at his explanation of the German language compared to other languages. And he ended his performance by doing an perfect impersonation of Louis Armstrong’s song It’s A Wonderful World. Wait he’s not done yet; he sings two more songs and it’s not just the singing. He performs silly actions along with the songs. The man is a natural performer and entertainer. A great night but it’s time for bed. Early tomorrow we are passing through the Wachou Valley of Austria with castles and amazing scenery. Have to get up on the top deck by 8 am to start seeing it.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.229s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 11; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0293s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Nancy
non-member comment
Sounds great
Marian it sounds like you are enjoying your cruise. It brings me back to our cruise I Egypt. I guess you don’t have Iman with you. Hi Annie!