Passau, Germany --Final Stop

We got into Passau about 3 PM--it was getting dark. By 4 PM it is completely dark. All of the river cruise ships dock on the side of the Danube where passengers can get off the ship and walk everywhere--our ship however was late getting in and we had to dock on the other side of the river. This meant we had to get a taxi to go to town. Our taxi was a new Mercedes. The road was snowy and was it ever a wild ride--even more exciting than taking a cab in Mexico. We made it to the main part of town safely though.

Passua is a very old city but most of it had been rebuilt after WWII so it is more modern looking than the other places we had visited. The streets were still naqrrow and cobblestone--I kept forgetting that they were st

reets and thinking they were sidewalks.

As with all little towns in Eastern Europe, Passau had its share of beautiful old churches.

When a church has a windvane with a rooster as well as a cross on top, it means that the church was originally a Catholic Church but has become Protestant. Many time these churches will date back to the time of Martin Luther.

Some of the name brand shops were open but all of the "Mom and Pop"shops close at dark--4 PM.We stopped at a little shop to buy some collectible German ceramic buildings that Renie and I had seen and liked. The lady working in the shop was Austrian but did speak English very well. She told us that she didn't get much chance to practice it . While talking to her we noticed it was dark and went out to find Jim and Jeff. We had been told we could stop at any cafe and they woudl call a cab for us but instead we asked the lady in the shop to call one for us. We realized that the cabbie probably would not speak English. Jim had taken German in college and had been reading and trying out his German as much as he could. The lady helped him figure out how to say Danube ship is over the bridge, or "Donau shiffe uber de brucke".

Our ride back to the ship was just as exciting as the trip to Passau. Renie, Jeff and I in the back seat, whispering, "Did he say it yet?" Jim had, and we got back "Donau shiffe uber bucke" with no confusion.

The next morning we got up at 2 am or 8 PM Texas time to ride the bus to Munich to catch our flight. Since Jim's mom was German he wanted to have a picture of himself by the Munich Airport sign.

Day 6 Linz

New Years Day. We had sort of a free day in Linz since it was New Years. I guess this was the only disappointing part of the trip. We were supposed to go to Salzburg, but it being New Years all the stops there were closed. I had looked forward to going to the Mozart Museum at his birthplace. Jim had the right outlook though--that just means we have to go back!!!

On our way to Linz, as we were going through the locks on the river, it started to snow. It snowed for the remainder of our trip. The swans seems to like the snow too--they were flying around the ship and landing in the river in front of us.

Sitting on the ship in one of hte locks on the Danube.

Melk

As we cruised to Melk, this imposing mansion was on the river. It was breathtaking.

You can see the Melk Abbey at the back of the picture. It was originally the home of the Habsburgs, the ruling family of the Austrian Hungarian Empire. Built in 1089, it has 500 rooms. It was donated to the Benedictine Monks to use as an Abbey. It is still an active Abbey. It also houses a Catholic school.

The most intriguing part for me was this library. Well there are actually 12 libraries and the house 100,000 books, many of them hand written manuscripts from the middle ages. Being baroque in style there are cherubs all over the room. It was unbelievable and the desire to take one of those books off the shelf almost overcame me. The books can still be used--under supervision.

The Abbey church is in all red, orange and gold. The gold is 14 ct gold leaf--of course. The pulpit is hand carved.

And of course what would be a church----without----a mummy?

Frescoes on the ceilings, well this isn't' exactly a fresco but it was beautiful beside the fresco.

This was the stairwell--I only had a quick second to snap this (illegal) picture when the nun wasn't looking. It seems to go down and up forever. I have no idea how many floors down or up it went. It was intriguing.

Jeff and Renie were our very special cruise friends. We met them on the first night of the cruise. They were so much fun--haven't laughed that much in ages. We are planning another cruise with them.