PASSAU, GERMANY!

We woke up just in time to see our arrival to Passau, Germany!

We had another morning tour scheduled, and our guide had us take a look at a map that showed the town, surrounded by three rivers, the Danube, the Inn and the Ilz.

We passed by cute coffee shops, 

an area for artists, 

and beautiful buildings!  We all agreed that Passau was delightful!  

John and I are pictured here in front of the (murky green) River Inn!

St. Stephen’s Cathedral was in the middle of town.  It was a majestic structure!  (With a little bit of scaffolding in front!)

And look what we found parked right outside!

After our tour ended, we went back to see the inside of the cathedral, but mass was going on.  So we  found the CUTEST cafe and enjoyed brewskis and coffees while we waited to go back.  The windows were open, allowing a gentle breeze inside (not to mention a bunch of sweat bees)!

Flat Mary joined Jan and I (she slept in this morning after her long hike yesterday) for a nice cuppa!

After getting refreshed, we went back to the cathedral to see the inside.  WOWOHWOW, it was unlike any church we have ever been in! (And, as you know, we’ve been in A LOT of churches!)  Would you believe we waited too long and yet another mass was underway!  So, no pictures were allowed to be taken in the main part of St. Stephen’s.  But we were allowed to take these…

WOWOHWOW, just didn’t do it justice!  It was literally breathtaking to see.  (But not enough so to go back a third time!)

We decided to stroll back to the artists’ area, which we had found delightful during the tour.

A colorful path was painted in the cobblestones which led to each shop!

It was an adorable area (too bad most of the shops were closed) and Flat Mary was happy to stroll slowly with me and Scho!

Ahhhh, Passau, we sure found you to be a charming city on the Danube!

Back on board, we listened to a presentation about the Danube River while enjoying our daily Happy Hour.  Champagne was distributed to everyone for a champagne toast given by our Captain.

  

(Joe missed out as he was at the desk booking another Viking cruise!)  So we toasted Joe as well as another successful vacay.

And last, but certainly not least, our Program Director, Mario, gave us last minute instructions on our morning departure!

Even with August and Jonah’s rain dance, the Danube was too low to sail several legs of our journey.  But we all felt that Viking (led by Mario) did an outstanding job at making it the best possible trip for everyone on board!  Thank you, Viking!  Thank you, Mario!  (We sure missed you, Steve!)  Thanks, Mare, for joining us for the afternoon!

We have received photos and videos from family and friends back home in Indiana.  It seems our town of Noblesville (a suburb of Indiana) is currently under the worst flood conditions in decades.  Please pray for all of those affected.