Saturday 20 April 2024

I neglected to mention our delight in Dresden at the proliferation of white asparagus. It’s the season to consume this delicacy and we love them. Fat, white and delicate, they are delicious and we eat them as a main course. Yum.

Today we fly from Dresden to Munich, and once others had arrived we were bussed to Passau to board our Viking cruise on the Egil, 137m long. We have a very comfortable room with a little balcony. Unfortunately it is pissing with rain and 2 degrees. I did not pack well, but at least my raincoat sleeves reach my wrists.

On the bus we pass a nuclear power plant

which has been decommissioned. It shut down last year after a decision by Government, under Angela Merkel, to halt the use of nuclear power, following the Fukushima disaster. But Germany does not produce enough power to service the country and so they buy nuclear power from France!

We drive past beautiful black soil plains, which remind us of Cherrie’s family seat in Quirindi

To make up for the use of nuclear power, there are lots and lots (but not enough) of solar panels.

Not much use today though

We drive through Bavaria and past the BMW factory. I did not know that BMW stands for Bavarian Motor Works. Did you?

And we drive past a white asparagus farm

As we pulled into Passau, we are reminded of Bergen

The tours start tomorrow but following a late lunch on board we take the shuttle bus into town to have a nose around, as the rain has stopped. Coinciding with our leaving the bus the heavens open with a vengeance. We re-board the bus and return to the boat, quite wet.

An orientation, a talk from the over verbose ‘Hotel Manager’ and a few wise cracks from the Entertainment Manager, we are required to put our hands up when our country is mentioned. No hands are raised for England, Wales, Scotland, 188 hands raised for USA and 2 for Australia. We are on an American tour, with food to match, owned by the Swiss.

Sunday 21 April 2024

We join one of those tour groups we said we’d never join. The ones led by the man carrying the paddle with a number on it, and us with an ear piece and a walkie talkie Our boat carries 190 passengers and I reckon all of us were out on this walking tour, in several groups. It’s very overcast but no rain today. Very cold though, 1 degree. We were led by an English speaking Greek who had all the jokes. But at least he wasn’t in costume.

Passau is known as the City of Three Rivers, because this is where the Rivers Inn, Ilz and Danube meet.

Back in the day, that is the medieval days, Passau was the heart of the salt trade, the white gold, transported from the Alpine salt mines.

St Stephens Cathedral

Was built in the 1600’s and is not quite finished yet. You see, a tax is applicable once building works are finished, and the Catholics have not finished this one. Good tax dodge eh?

St Stephen’s is home to the largest cathedral organ in the world, with 17,974 pipes. Most of which have been removed for restoration. Of course.

The tour finished in the town square

Passau feels like a wealthy town

We might have bought a hat if the shop weren’t closed

We wandered the narrow streets before returning to the boat

And by the way, it’s not blue