Engelhartszell, Germany

 We woke to rainy skies....not enough to change water levels....just enough to be annoying.  Buses ready to carry us 2 hours to Regensburg, Germany. 

On the bus, we drove thru several small towns, the on an interstate type road.

Lovely countryside along the way.

Lots of solar farms -our guide said Germany  uses about 60% renewable energy! 

Arrival to the old part of Regensburg.  The town was not damaged in WW2 so many 1000 year old buildings remain.

We walked over the oldest stone bridge in Germany,  built in 1135!

Buildings on a branch of the Danube.

We had a guide again, so enjoyed 90 minutes of narrated walking.

This building was built in the year 197 by Marcus Aurellius. Pretty old!

Lots of the usual cool street scenes.

Last stop on the guided tour was the St. Peter's Cathedral. 

Inside was beautiful  but not quite as ornate as some we've seen. 

After the guided tour  we had a few hours on our own.  The guide had pointed out a sausage house that had been in constant operation for 900 years so we had to try it out.  I had to opt for a vegetarian dish but Duane said the sausages were very good.  Here is a view we had of the kitchen thru very an old wavy glass window.

More wandering as we found a couple of postcards, then found the post office to mail the postcards to our kids like we do every trip.  

Stopped by a bier garten for a cold beverage before it was time to head back to the bus. 

Back across the old stone bridge.

The ride back to the boat was a little longer with some traffic.  But nice sights along the way.

More agricultural land.

And very well groomed forest land. 

Back to the boat for the evening,  we were informed that we will have a "ship swap" tomorrow  due to low water levels.  Unfortunately,  we will have to pack our suitcases  and put them out for collection by 7am in the morning.   We will then ride a bus 4 hours to Nuremberg where we will board a different boat.  Not great but we were aware of this possibility  when we made the decision to continue on the trip.  Viking is making it as painless as possible.  

Sailing towards Engelhartszell, Germany

 We were tied up overnight at Passau, Germany,  a lovely old town.

It's located at the confluence of the Danube,  Ilz and Inn rivers.

Some happy ducks on the Danube.

We took a guided tour of the town....

Nice well kept streets.  Buildings were mostly rebuilt after fires consumed most of the Town in the 1600's. 

Super nice local tour guide.

The huge Veste Oberhaus castle overlooking the town, we'll  climb up the hill for a tour later in the day. 

City Hall

Just cool street scenes.

Leading to the St. Stephen's Cathedral. 

Another ornate church.  This houses one of the largest pipe organs in the world.   Unfortunately it has been under restoration for over a year now.

Not sure what you call these little alcoves....but they all have a different theme. 

I guess Kris needs to get out her binoculars  and look at the details of all these beautiful  frescos!

Just incredible details.....

Walking on, more interesting  street scenes. 

After our guided tour was complete, we walked across the bridge and up the zig zag pathway up to the castle.  

View from the path. 

The castle dates to the 1200's. 

View of the Viking ships and Passau.

Very well preserved  and maintained. 

View back towards the Bravarian forest land.

The structures housed the prince-bishops of the time. 

View of Passau from one of the battlements. 

Lots of interesting  museum  displays. 

A small on site chapel.

Views from the very top of the tower.

Walking back down the far side pathway, lots of original structure. 

And Walking back to the boat along the Danube.

We'll be moving back to Engelhartszell in the late evening  after supper to stage for a day trip to Regensburg, Germany  for more scenic touring tomorrow.