Europe summer of 2023 - fifth segment

 Continuing on down the Danube, we came to one of my favorite cities in Germany, Passau. Near the border of Austria, Passau is located at the confluence of the Inn, Danube and Ilz rivers. Notice in the first picture the color of the water; the darker color on the bottom is the Danube and the lighter color on the top is the Inn. Some believe the reason for the color difference is that the Danube has more traffic and keeps the water stirred up.

Perched high above the city is a fortress and observation tower. Notice all the decorative trim on the windows. Actually, that is not really trim but rather 3D paintings to make it look like trim and all the windows are not actually windows but artistic paintings to make it look like windows.  This was a common practice because windows and trim were expensive so to save money, it was painted on the building.  Some of the fake windows are painted to look like the windows are open.

A view from atop the fortress

Passau is also home to the onion domed St. Stephen cathedral which houses a pipe organ with just under 18,000 pipes. They have a daily musical organ presentation that we attended.

Next stop, Melk, Austria famous as the home of the Melk Abby. 

Continuing on in Austria

June 30, our anniversary day going to Vienna, Austria. A gift from Viking River Cruises along with a bottle of champaign. Bonnie's sister Connie, spread the word amongst the people with whom we became friends, that today was our anniversary. So, people were coming up to us all day long congratulating us. Connie told them we had a tradition of Bonnie wearing her original wedding dress so many of them told Bonnie they wanted to see her in it. So, she put it on, the keyboardist played the wedding march and we danced on the dance floor. It was really funny because several people wanted to take a picture with us.

Two people we befriended were Eddie and Bonnie Bond from Virginia. Eddie is quite an accomplished musician particularly on the fiddle and his wife Bonnie plays the base and sings. You can check him out on YouTube. I had asked them to sit with us for our anniversary dinner. They are a delightful couple.

Europe summer of 2023 - fourth segment

 We continued on to Bamberg, Germany, a city founded in 902, which I think qualifies as old. The city entry gate was still rigid and standing.

On this whole trip, we went through 67 locks, but most were not as high as this one.

After Bamberg was Nuremberg, and the walls around the city are still standing from the 14th century.

We cruise on down the river to Regensburg, Germany and while it looks similar to some of the other cities, some of the art work was exceptional.  Notice this painting of David and Goliath on the side of the building that looks like Goliath is leaning on the top of the window.  If you noticed, all of these cities still have cobblestone streets to maintain the old world charm.

Europe summer of 2023 - third segment

Cruising on down the Rhine river, our next stop was in Miltenberg, Germany. Due to the number of half timber buildings, Miltenberg is said to be the "most Bavarian" city in Germany. The beauty of the timbers was stunning.

This is looking down on Miltenberg from the castle.

The gate to the castle.

Here is a very small monument but HUGE with regards to historical significance. It was what each Jewish prisoner was allowed to take along when they thought they were going to a resettlement place. The train journeys they boarded were disguised as "labor deployment" or "resettlement in the east". The provision of luggage let these people hold onto a sense that they were still connected to their old world, and there was a promise of life at their destination. This was a real gut check. 

A little further down the river was the Wertheim castle that was very well kept.

On to Wurzburg, the Residenz Palace that is now part of the university system.  It is pretty interesting, if you can speak and understand German, and you have the qualifying academic achievement, you can attend Wurzburg University free of charge, not just for German citizens but worldwide.

Inside the Residenz Palace. Opulence comes to mind.

The Residenz also had its own chapel.

Here is quite a spectacular architectural designed cathedral in Wurzburg.

Then back to cruising down the river with the view of small towns and vineyards.

And another castle perched on the hillside along the river.

A little bit of flora and pizza delivery vehicles.