Friday was a leisurely day. Most of the passengers took an all day excursion to Salzburg including Pat and David. The rest of us had the boat to ourselves to rest, do laundry, read and work. More beautiful scenery as we sailed through valley …green forested hills on either side, small towns every now and then.
We stopped at 2pm in Passau and spent a few hours exploring. Passau is near the Austrian and Czech borders. After a huge fire in 1662, the town was recreated as a unique Baroque city with an Italian flair – the inside of the cathedral as a prime example.
The St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Passau was a worthy stop. It is another amazing Baroque church with a famous organ – the largest in Europe. They host free organ concerts each day at noon but we arrived too late for that. The town is filled with cute shops, well maintained homes, and many green spaces. Bill, Bonnie and I walked to the end of town to stand at the confluence of three rivers – the Danube, Inn and the Ilz. There is a lovely park and playground where locals gather in afternoon. It looks like this town has lots of concerts and music festivals in summer and fall.
Bill, Bonnie and I stopped for a quick beer at a waterside restaurant. Back on the boat I tried out the hot tub where I had an interesting political conversation with a Mormon couple from CA who can’t stand Trump. We had another lovely dinner on the ship with Pat looking gorgeous as always in a different outfit each night. Lamb chops.
Finished a book, The Paris Bookseller. Good read for a water journey in Europe.
