Wednesday August 25th, 2010 - Passau

This morning arrived with a beautiful blue sky and comfortable temperatures. We arrived in the city of Passau which is located at the junction of three rivers, the Danube, the Inn and the ILZ. This results in an environment that is subject to flooding which is graphically displayed on the walls of several buildings including this scale which shows the height of various years. Prior to disembarking the ship for our walking tours we had a very interesting session on the European Union given by a guest speaker (who later led one of the tour groups.)
Our tour this morning was simply by foot. The majority of the group were with Bridgette who gave us a wonderful commentary of the sights and landmarks of this very old city. Some of our members took a more leisurely tour which involved a little less up and down, a little less standing and a little slower pace. We all got to spend time in St Stephen’s Cathedral and later to enjoy the magnificent organ recital. The organ in St. Stephen’s is actually 5 different organs connected by electronics to enable it to be played by one central player in the back balcony of the church. The organist was Dr. Hors Buchholz from Cleveland Ohio. The recital was to say the least absolutely amazing. The sound that came from those 27,974 pipes was wonderful, and could be felt deep inside ones chest. The concert lasted only 30 minutes, but there was complete silence in the cathedral during the recital, and the artist was met with thundering applause at the completion of the performance.
At the end of the concert most of us returned to the ship (only 10 minutes away) for a light lunch, then we were off on our own to explore Passau. This delightful town met all of our expectations for shopping and general sightseeing. We were also able to get a bit of exercise by walking around the town, to explore the connection point between the three rivers, and explore some of the many shops and museums, or just spend a quiet afternoon on the ship.
This evening we had an International Dinner with dishes from China, Egypt, Russia, Austria and several other countries served by Viking Tours. After our great dinner we rushed up to the presentation on the Viking tours which was ably introduced by our own (Liar) Lila!.
Now back for a quiet evening to prepare for Thursdays adventures.