Passau and cruising to Linz, Austria

Today there were three choices for tours, two involving long, winding bus trips. Jan and Steve took the trip to see the Austrian City of Salzburg (where much of the 'Sound of Music' was filmed), others took the trip to Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic.

We stayed in Passau, where the ship had docked in the morning, wanting a quieter, more leisurely day for a change. We took the 1 hour guided tour of Passau, then briefly wandered around the shops. I wasn't in a shopping mood, but did pick up a couple of little music novelties that Michelle and I usually look out for. My goodness, it sure was sunny and hot, and we were later told the temperature had been 28 degrees.















Passau was the last German, and Bavarian, town we would visit on this cruise. With 50,000 inhabitants it is located at the confluence of three rivers; the Danube, the Inn, and the Ilz. The main part of town sits on a tongue of land, squeezed between the Danube and the Inn. In the centre of the town is the famous St Stephen's Cathedral. Unfortunately, most of the cathedral was covered in scaffolding because it was being cleaned. Inside is one of the largest church organs in the world. We both felt a little sad when the guide had us exit to the Square outside, which she called "Cathedral Square". We also saw a staircase inside the former bishops' residence. The streets, like most we have seen, are mostly cobblestone, so you have to watch your footing. I use my walking pole in these towns.



The town has an Italian Baroque appearance because it was destroyed by fire twice in the 1600s. Dominating the town is a former fortress of the prince-bishops, named the Oberhaus Fortress.


Only about 52 passengers had remained in Passau, and we had fabulous views back over Passau and the confluence of the rivers as we left and continued our journey down the Danube towards our next port of call, Linz, the third largest city in Austria. At the end of WWII this was the border between the Soviets and the Allies, with the main bridge across the Danube forming "no man's land".

The scenery as we sat inside and ate lunch was beautiful - green, clean, forests, scattered with green jewels of fields. We noticed that the style of housing had changed to a more "alps" style, as I imagine it anyway. All the little towns have their church steeples dominating the scene.

After lunch (see the photo of the fish I had, everything is so beautifully presented), we went and sat back up on the sun deck. But the sky had clouded over, and we could see lightning in the adjacent hills, and hear crashing thunder. It had cooled down so we made ourselves comfortable back in the lounge. The boat had organized tours of the wheelhouse, for those who were interested, but we just relaxed. Likewise with a later cooking demonstration with the chefs on how to make strudel.

After a while the weather turned drizzly and low mist covered the along the sides of the Danube. The river zig-zagged its way down the valley, and we wondered what picture would be around each corner. It was absolutely beautiful and so peaceful.



I read my iPad book, sipped cappuccino, and ducked out now and then to capture a moment on camera. The drizzle didn't last long but the sky was still cloudy. Eventually we made our way to another lock (there had been a big one just after leaving Passau, in which we sat with 2 barges). From then on the landscape was a lot more open.

We arrived in Linz at 7 pm. After dinner there was an operatic performance by a group called 'Sounds of Austria", comprising a pianist, soprano, and a tenor. They sang a lot of Mozart, and got people up from the audience to join in some of the theatricals. David got taken up by the woman and put on a very good performance that I'm sure he'll love to tell you about if you ask ;-)

Before heading to bed, we popped out on deck to look at the lovely lighting along the shoreline.