WERRA, INN, AND DANUBE

Passau

Introduction and Itinerary   Quincy to Berlin   Obernfeld and Duderstadt   Weratal Radweg   Schärding and the Inntal   Passau   Danube Bike & Barge: Day 1   Danube Bike & Barge: Day 2   Danube Bike & Barge: Day 3   Danube Bike & Barge: Day 4   Danube Bike & Barge: Day 5 plus Vienna   Danube Bike & Barge: Days 6 & 7   Munich, Berlin, and home      Return to Main Page

After catching a late morning train for the 12 minute ride back to Passau, we walked toward the ship landing site where we expected our cruise ship, the MS Diana, to be. The landing site was near the confluence of the Inn and Danube, about 1.5 miles downstream from the train station. So the walk took us through the heart of the old city of Passau.
One of the squares in the old part of Passau
Square behind the cathedral
Passau street scene. It was a hot day and there was a big difference in the temperature, depending on whether you were in the shade or not.
Passau with its narrow streets and asphalt, stone, and stucco everywhere and no trees was not designed for hot weather.
Getting our bearings in the shade
Passau's main claim to fame is its baroque cathedral boasting the largest church organ in Europe.

By the time we reached it, we were hot and tired; so we spent quite a while here.
Part of the organ
Cathedral ceiling
Main aisle
Old main altar
Pulpit
One of the simpler side altars
A more elaborate side altar
One more
After cooling off and resting up, we continued on to the ship landing site. It was getting close to the time the schedule said we could board.
Looking toward the fortress Veste Oberhaus on a hill across the Danube.
But when we got there a luxurious, much larger ship was occupying the place where ours was supposed to be. I went aboard and asked someone sitting at a desk near the entrance if they knew anything about the MS Diana. They didn't. Unfortunately, I didn't think to ask when this ship was scheduled to leave. I knew that our ship was due to arrive back in Passau the same morning from the previous week's cruise, and presumed it would dock at the same site it would depart from, and be refitted. Remembering the flooding on the Inn, I started worrying about our ship. It didn't help that someone had told Jeanine that their ship wouldn't arrive because it had gotten stuck at a broken lock in Hungary. I knew that there was a bike and barge trip from Passau to Budapest and back, and wondered it it were our ship.

So we trudged back to the train station where a bus would transport you to the ship. Fortunately, there was a place to sit in the station while we waited for the bus (most large European train stations don't have a waiting room like we expect). The bus arrived and left for the ship right on time and let us out several block from the dock because buses couldn't get any closer. Of course our bus driver didn't know anything about the ship; his company was simply contracted to transport us to the dock.
Our bus left us out here several blocks from the ship.
Veste Oberhaus up close.
This is our dock, but not our ship. When we arrived at the dock, still no ship; and no one knew anything. So we just stood around. By this time, I think I was getting heat stroke. You would think that there would a sign at each of the many ship landing sites telling you which ship would be docking and when. But that isn't the way they do it on the Danube.
Waiting to board. Finally, our ship came into view from upstream. But it still took quite a while to actually dock and for us to board.
By this time I was expecting the worse, but we were assigned our A/C equipped rooms and given the key very quickly and efficiently. Later we were had a complementary glass of wine during a welcome address in the lounge and later a very nice supper in the dining room. All the frustration disappeared; and we settled in for a great week of bicycling and cruising.
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