Slater Family Europe Trip 2016: Day 9: Cruise

The first full day on the cruise began with dense fog over the river and Passau Germany. The excursion for today is a walking tour of Passau followed by an organ recital in the Passau cathedral.

Viking excursions have a unique way of broadcasting the audio portion of excursions. Each cabin comes with 2 small wireless transmitters on a lanyard with a earpiece. When you meet your tour guide they have a sign that you touch to calibrate your device to the correct channel. Easy peasy!

We met our guide Andrea on the shore for the walking tour. As we walked we heard her description of the city and interesting facts about the city's history. Passau was the bishop's location so it has the largest cathedral in the area. It also controlled the salt shipped along the Danube so it became quite wealthy. During the middle ages the plague was a serious problem so Doctors work a mask that resembles a bird's long beak. It was filled with herbs to protest the doctor as they examined ill patients.

Tower used to store salt

View outside the cabin showing the fog over the river

Cobblestoned streets of Passau

Most European buildings have stucco exteriors

Marilyn admires the mini Smart car

Local gasthaus

Since Passau is a part of Bavaria, the women wear dirndls (aprons). The location of the tied bow indicates the women's marital status. If the bow is in the back, the woman is a widow. If on the front right side, the woman is married. If on the front left, the woman is available. Finally, if the bow is on the middle of the front, the woman is a virgin. Andrea said when she met her husband at an Oktoberfest, her dirndl's bow changed location. She didn't specify how.

Floods on the Danube are a major problem in Passau. On the side of the Rathaus (City Hall) are the high water marks and years for all the major floods. The second worst ever took place in June 2013 where most buildings had the bottom floors completely submerged. None of the buildings have apartments on the ground floor for this reason.

Passau Rathaus (City Hall)

Murals on the side of the Rathaus

Andrea shows the high water marks of floods

St Stephen's cathedral is on the hill in the old town. It is a baroque style that has onion shaped domes like in Russia. It features a pulpit covered in gold leaf and the largest pipe organ in any church in the world built in the 1920's. It has 17934 pipes that range from a few inches to 17 feet long! The concert showed the skill of the organist and the impressive level of sound the organ can produce. It created goose bumps on many people. The high altar is a recent addition (1950's) and shows the stoning of St Stephen.

Museum showing artifacts from Passau Cathedral history

St Stephen's bell tower

Gold leaf plated pulpit

The cupola of St Stephen's

The organ with 17000 pipes

We left Passau at 1:00 and cruised down the Danube through 3 locks to arrive at Linz, Austria just as the sun was setting. It was a pleasant trip to see the rolling hills on either side and many small towns and villages. Just think, as I was enjoying a drink on the sun deck, many of my friends in Canada were at work!