Passau is an ancient community of about 50,000 people that dates back to very early years AD. It was first inhabited by the Celts and followed by the Romans. St. Stephens Cathedral in the City of Passau is the parent church to the St. Stephens in Bucharest and Vienna. It was built originally in 980 AD in the Gothic Architecture and then after a fire it was restored in the 1600’s with Baroque Architecture. It has the largest Organ in Europe and the 4^th largest in the world with the other 3 being in the US. We did a walking tour of the city in the morning which included a tour of St. Stephens and at noon a ½ hour organ concert. Passau is also the location of the confluence of the Inn, Danube and Eiz rivers.

After the concert we found a quaint restaurant overlooking the Danube and had lunch with our group of 8. After lunch we split up and Ken, Ken, Kay and Julie Ann sought out an internet café and connectivity. Then we wandered the streets of Passau for a while and caught the bus back to the ship. The days go pretty fast especially when you sit in the coffee shop for about 2 hours but it is really relaxing.

We woke up in a lock again this morning at about 6:30 am. Some of us got up early and checked into the internet slow functions while others slept in a bit. We all gathered about 8 am and met for breakfast. It was announced that due to a lock problem during the night that we were going to arrive in Regensburg about 2 hours late. No problem, we just relaxed and visited with other guests on the top deck as we cruised to our next port. Just before we get to Regensburg, we see an Acropolis like structure high on a hill alongside the river. The tour conductor then came on and announced that this was Valhala, which was another of the crazy King Ludwig’s construction works. Ludwig also did the Disney look Castle also in Bavaria along with many more.

We docked in Regensburg and immediately set out on a hiking tour. Regensburg is a city of about 150,000 people. It began in the first century as a Roman Empire border defense structure. There are portions of the wall remaining that date to 179 AD. We visited St. Peters Cathedral that was started in 1250 AD and took nearly 300 years to build. It was built in the Gothic Style. There are many of the medival building structures in the city still remaining. There are numerous narrow cobblestone streets that are lined with 3 to 4 story buildings. There are arched crossways over the streets and opening up to numerous courtyards along these walkways. There are many shops and restaurants along the streets also. This is also home to a 20,000 student University so there are many youth in the area. A common form of transportation is the bicycle and others go by foot. Not many cars in the area and very little parking. It is interesting to see the number of bicycles parked together. If we were in the US those would probably be Harleys.

The city of Nuremberg has an urban area of 1,020,000 people. It was the rally headquarters for Hitler in WWII. However, long before that it was considered the unofficial capital of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1532 the Peace of Nuremberg was accepted that provided Lutherans gained important concessions to their independence. Following WWII it was the location for the Nuremberg Trials and later the prison for those sentenced.

We began the day like the trained rats that we are, heading right for the dining room as they opened the doors for breakfast. We were in the Danube-Main Canal. This is a man made waterway that was commissioned by King Ludwig for allowing marine traffic to pass all across Germany. There are a number of locks on this stretch but shortly after we reached the top of the canal (the watershed) by going through a number of locks, we then began down the other side towards the Main River (Pronounced Mine). We sat on the top deck and watched as we passed through the first two locks which are the deepest locks on this system. The drop of each lock was 78 feet.

Again like the trained rats that we have become, we gathered in the lobby of the boat waiting to board our bus for the ride to Nurenburg. It was about a 45 minute drive to the first stop. That stop was the stadium that the Nazi’s were in the process of building for their fall rally every year. It was copied to look like the Rome Coliseum and was a huge facility, but never completed. We then went to the Zeppelinfeld which is the parade ground that Hitler used to display his strength of the Nazi party. It was being used by roller bladders and skate boarders and is decaying away quickly. These are things that the residents of Nurenburg are not very proud to show. The new Documents Center is also located here which has a lot of the details of the war but we did not have time to see it.

Fortunately the door to the dining room opened promptly on time or I think the horde may have taken the door down. We boarded the buses at 8:30 am for the 15 minute ride to the City Center. Our guides took us on a two hour walking tour of the city. It is a beautiful old medieval village that had only minor damage from the war. It is the largest remaining old town of Germany. It is a walled city of large stone construction and was well protected. We walked around the old town area with the guide and saw many of the ancient buildings dating back to around 1007 St. Peter/St. George Cathedral which was another magnificent piece of construction that was a combination of Romanesque and Baroque style. The church is 600 years old. It was Sunday and services were happening at the time we were there so we did not go in. There has been an Arch Bishop present here that are still standing. The Riechness river runs through the center of town. In the center of the old town was the since 1817. There are 45 churches in Bamberg.