Day 9—Passau—“That comes with ice cream, right? Right?!”

View from our bed this morning

Ahhh…finally a morning we could sleep in!  The ship pulled away from last night’s dock at about 4-5AM, which woke a number of people on the ship, but it seems like most of us got back to sleep.  At least 100% of our suite did!  Theresa opened the drapes so we could see outside as we chose to wake up, so we awoke to a beautiful “river-scape”.  Lolling out of bed, we ambled down to breakfast and enjoyed not one, but two Mimosas! 

We headed up to the top decks to watch the scenery, since we were to go through a few nice spots and a lock or two.  There was a narration, and we scrambled about seeking the best pictures.  Finally, we crossed the line into Germany.

Austrian countryside

A bend in the Danube

A drink in the Danube!!

Just chillin'

The Border to Germany (marker)

Leaving Austria...

Now in Germany!

Entering the lock

One of the lock doors

Someone trying to get pictures!

Almost through!

Mittagessen!!! (Lunch!)

Lunch was…GERMAN!!!!  There were Brats and Beer, and other delicious foods from this wonderful country!! (Yeah, I’m partial!)  After lunch, we got ready to head out.  Theresa took the City Walking tour with MaryAnne, and Bill and Mike took the “hike” to the castle on top of the mountain.  It was some spectacular  views, but the narration was…not.  Still, it felt good to get a little exertion after such a big lunch!

One of many narrow alleys for which Passau is known.

(From Theresa) -- The city walk was...average.  It wasn't until we got to St Stephen's cathedral that even had an idea why we might have stopped at Passau.

City Hall

Inside St. Steven's Cathedral

The dome in St. Steven's

The Nave ceiling.

The altar and apse.

St. Steven was the first Martyr, being stoned to 
death.  Just before he died, he saw the sky open
and Jesus welcoming him "home".  This sculpture
represents that moment.

The town as we started our hike to the castle.

After the climb, we went back down and met up with Theresa and MaryAnne in the city.  We walked back into the cathedral, and they were practicing the organ, which was pretty amazing…for the 15 seconds we got.  We admired the incredible décor on the upper levels, and tried to ignore the reconstruction work which seemed to focus on making noise!

The destination!

There were a lot of steps!

On the way up, we were in the trees, which was very nice!

Passau from across the river and up the hill.

A panorama of Passau.  Note the two rivers are different colors, and don't mix right away.

Looking up the Danube.

A closer look at the two river colors.

The pathway back down.

A view of the city.

I like the wall tops, it reminds me of Rooks!

After the hike, we met up in front of the Cathedral.

Theresa and I headed back to the room to begin sorting and pre-packing before dinner.  Our last supper on board was mostly German fare, which was good!  It culminated with strudel of course!  SOMEONE in the party confirmed “That comes with ice cream, right?”  The waiter said it came with some crème sauce or something, so we redirected him to ENSURE there was ice cream.  I added on, and quickly our whole table to eight insisted on there being ice cream on our strudel!!  We might as well end this show properly!  Tomorrow we disembark!

Our basic trip (had we driven).  (We make it to Oberammergau Friday.)