Home Stretch

We spent our last day on the ship in Passau, Germany. As we were eating breakfast, it looked like it was going to be a pretty rainy Saturday, but as soon as the tour began, the rain cleared, and came back only as we were heading back to the ship that night.

Passau is known for a few things. Firstly, it is home to three rivers, which create a confluence, similar to Pittsburgh. The Danube, Inn, and Ilz Rivers join here, but the colors do not blend fully for about 80 kilometers. The Ilz is a small, black river, coming from the moors and bogs in the forest. The Inn has a turquoise, green color, and as we've mentioned, the "Blue" Danube is a nice murky Ohio River type color.

Passau is also the home of the second largest church organ in the world, located inside (yet another) St. Stephan's Cathedral. After the walking tour of the town, we got to hear the organist perform. People came from everywhere, and nearly filled the large church just to hear it play. I most enjoyed the Bach of course, but even the pieces I'd never heard of were very impressive. It didn't get really loud until the finale, which gave me goosebumps. The Beede women and Belinda/Momma would've really loved it.

The streets in Passau are mostly cobblestone, not to mention steep and narrow as they lead up to the main shopping square. Our guide lead us through the Cathedral, and into some Archbishop residence (the name is escaping me right now). We saw three couples having wedding pictures taken (dress & tux and all), which was cool.

We made our way over to the other side of the peninsula, and took the sidewalk along the Inn River. Our guide said that the rivers in Passau rise very quickly when it rains, especially the Inn. The storm from the night before, and Saturday morning's rain didn't help matters. The Inn was rushing, and starting to come up onto the sidewalk in a few places. The waters were cold, too; you could only last 3 or 4 minutes before hypothermia set in, according to our guide. So much for July.

We headed back to the Cathedral for the concert, and then back to the ship for a Bavarian lunch. We had the afternoon to our disposal, so headed back to town, but this time we headed for the shopping square. Papa and I were both surprised with what we found hiding only a few blocks from the Cathedral, and enjoyed meandering up and down the quaint, but crowded streets. Of course, I bought a little something before heading back to the ship.

At 4:30, Papa had a turn with Balazs, the masseur. Meanwhile, I wrestled with the ship computer for an internet signal, packed a little, and ran on the treadmill. Later that evening was the Captain's Farewell Dinner onboard. After a gourmet seven course meal, all the employees paraded around the dining room and were introduced before being recognized for their hard work throughout the week. Our cruise was pretty small, so we got to know all of the employees (some more than others), and couldn't believe that it was time for them to be seeing us off already. But, even as we headed to breakfast the next morning, the crew was already preparing for the next group which was set to arrive only a few hours after we left for Prague.