October 13-14 - Passau and Durnstein

October 13 & 14:  Passau & Durnstein

This morning we got to sleep a wee bit longer with our departure planned at 9:30 am. It was overcast and raw and everyone had on the layered look. Our guide was brigitta, a very lively, witty woman.  It always delights me when you find a German with a real sense of humor.  She had it, along with very powerful knowledge.

Passau is at the confluence of three rivers: The Ilz, the Inn and the Danube.  So it gets flooded and like other towns these high water marks were shown on the side of buildings located near to the river.  We walked up hill through narrow lanes (gasse in German), being told about the signs on buildings to identify the tradesman within, the dates on top of doors done at the Christmas time; and of course we landed at the town square where there was the bishop’s home (very baroque with huge painted ceilings) and the cathedral.  We were given a small lecture about the cathedral, and then wandered around for 30 minutes until we were to return to the church to hear an organ recital. The organ here is the largest cathedral in Europe with over 1725 pipes. 

Gay had stayed at the boat having not slept well, and it was just as well since there was a lot of walking and the organ recital, while it demonstrated the organ, was not a very interesting concert.   These concerts are given every day at noon, and every seat in the pews was taken. We sat in the front row so we could study the modern altar piece and the ornate decoration on the ceilings, and of course we all felt quite holy.

After the concert we were urged to walk quickly down the steep alley ways back to the ship so that we could head off to the next site. We sailed further down the river to the tiny town of Engelhartzel with a population of 1000, and a Trappist monastery known for its beers, cheese and bread.  Our first stop was a small children’s park which lays out the whole river system in miniature so children can learn about locks, rivers, flooding etc.  IT was the size of a small mini-golf area but very well done.  Next to it was a small aquarium which is freshly fed by fresh water and contained a variety of local fish. I kept wondering how you could employ enough people to support this aquarium and park and learned that the fish are fed automatically, and the school parents supported the park. (The school had 35 students from 1-6 grade and 25 pre-school).

Next into the monastery which was beautiful but very sad.  Trappist monks are a quiet sect that simply work and pray. They are not ministers, but they work very hard making their cheese and beers….all FOUR monks.  It turns out that before the war there were 78 monks, but Hitler sent them all off to Dachau, and only 15 returned.  Those have been dying out, and of the four left the ‘youngsters’ are 52, and the others above 80.  Not many people want to join the Trappist sect and yet who will maintain this elaborate church and its associated beer business?  They are not allowed to make a profit so all proceeds from the beer are poured back into the monastery for repairs and maintenance.  But to see how elaborate the church was, you wondered how it could keep going.

Having gotten somewhat depressed, we headed to THE bar/hotel of town where we sampled the Trappist beers (not my favorite), ate some cheese and then headed back to the boat ready for a warm shower and dinner.

Our gang of Ian and Rosemary, Jerry and Sue dined together and off to bed being promised a rainy day tomorrow.

October 14 – Durnstein

A wet soggy day. I stayed on board all day watching castles pass us by as the rain dripped away on the windows.  Instead I planned our Vienna days and watched the movie The Woman in Gold since it had lots of pictures of Vienna and the Belvedere.

Tonight is the official gala reception followed by the gala dinner, and tomorrow we sail into Vienna for a full day on the ship and a concert in the evening.