Passau

Passau is a wonderful small city.  It would be one that would surely be worth spending some time if ever the opportunity arises.  We took a walking tour of the not ever badly damaged town.  The cobbled streets all led up hill past the Town Hall which in Germany is a Rathaus.  'Haus' is  a house or building and 'rat' translates very well.  Ironically it is the Tax or Tax Collector.  I think that is very funny.

Our included walking tour in the morning focused on the pennisular portion of this City of Three Rivers.  At the top of the hill was the Cathedral of St. Stephan.  This tour has been what we are calling the ABC tour.  Another Beautiful Cathedral...although at times it is overwhelming and you might hear 'beautiful' substituted with 'bloody' or blasted!  however overwhelmed you are by churches, cathedrals, castles, and palaces you must not miss a noon time or evening concert by the Organ of St. Stephan's Cathedral.

The details are mundane until you focus on and realise the uniqueness of this instrument.  Truly you cannot fathom it.  The pipes are in five banks but all played by one man (or his only substitute) from one organ which is not visible while he is playing.  The statistics you will have to read twice to take in.  5 manuals, 327 ranks, 17,774 pipes.  There are 233 registers, 233 stops.  It was built by Steinmeyer, 1928; Eisenbarth, and reworked by 1978-1981.  The Passau Cathedral Organ was for many years the world's largest church organ, but it has now been superceded by First Congregational in Los Angeles.

This is only the portion of the organ which is centered over the main entrance.  If you look carefully you can see how tiny the head of the man playing appears in the lower left in the sort of indentation between pipe sets.  The largest pipe is the size of a bus and the smallest less than one centimeter in circumference!  And the sound!  Yes it could be very loud but was not played in an ear splitting manner and at times was like the gentle tinkling of a wind chime on a starry night.  Our Noon Concert (I do not have a way to test if this is a good sample of the concert but I did take a little filem of my own when I get home I can add it if need be!)

But this tour was only the norning of our day in Passau.  After lunch aboard the ship we went by bus with our delightful guide Eva out to an open air museum.  Beyerischer was founded by a very wealthy local who wanted to have some hotels in an area where there were no really big things to do.  The founder of Rotel was also interested in the changing way of life in the Bavarian woods.  As late as the 1970's people still lived in the old cottages with no plumbing, low ceilings, and primative tools. 

He bought first the old mill and fifty acres and let it be know he was interested in more.  Soon people even just gave him things and even old farm buildings so that they did not have to tear them down.  The collection includes some 150 homes, barms, schoolhouses, chapels and at least 60,000 examples of tools, utensils, and art works.  Do not miss this.

At the end of the tour we viewed our boat from hig atop the castle hill and could easily see the differently colored waters of the the River Danube and the River Inn.  (You will see this clearly from the first link in this post.) 

After returning to the ship we had a great question and answer session with the Captain and the various Officers of the Viking Euope and line dancing lessons!  Take a moment, if you did not, and click on the link to rotel.  These are fascinating vacation options.  And available in the States as well.