Down Day in Passau

We had an easy day in Passau. Took our time getting up and then spent the day just wandering around the old city. It was nice to actually have a day where we had no time table and just did pretty much what we wanted. It is not hard to tell that Germany has a very strong economy, lots of shoppers spending money. We are going to have another quiet night as we prepare to board the MS My Story late tomorrow afternoon. We have learned that we will be able to leave one of our suitcases at the hotel for the week we are on the boat. ( spending one more night here when we get off the boat ) It will make it easier for the time on the boat and won't have to haul around all our bags. We are both looking forward to next week, travelling through and getting to see Bratislava, Vienna and Budapest. Can't wait to see more places we have always heard about but have not yet seen. This will probably be the last blog until we get off the boat as we won't have internet access. Looking forward to sharing stories and photos in about a week.

Regensburg

Today we took the train to Regensburg which took about 2 hours (with one transfer). Regensburg is a UNESCO Heritage Site. It is one of Germany's oldest towns and was founded by the Romans in 179A.D. It contains many landmarks from the Middle Ages such as the Cathedral of St. Peter, the Old City Hall and the Stone Bridge across the Danube. Regensburg was largely undamaged during World War II and today is a bustling city of 137,000 people with 3 universities. There are a lot of young people about, mostly on bikes presumably going to and from their classes. We had a great day exploring this beautiful medieval city. The old buildings are quite beautiful and even the new ones blend into the old look very well. Most of the windows had flower boxes with still colourful displays of flowers. For lunch we joined the crowds to experience the best sausage and kraut Regensburg has to offer. In an old quaint building from the 1300's down by the edge of the Danube, the Wurstkuchl restaurant offers up Schweinsbratwurst vom rost mit sauerkraut and a Jacob Kleines Pils vom Fass for about 10 euros a head. The kitchen looks very old indeed but they were cooking up the sausages non-stop for the hungry hordes who kept coming down to the restaurant. What fun! Must say they were delicious and served with caraway seed buns. The buns are in a basket on the tables. When you pay they ask if you ate any bread from the basket -- that's when you find out it costs extra to have the bread!! Caught the train back to Passau about the same time as all of the students were coming home for the weekend so it was very crowded. Having stuffed ourselves with bratwurst at lunch we opted for a bit of fresh salad and fruit and yogurt for our dinner. We were still stuffed full by the time we got back to Passau. Tomorrow a sort of down day in Passau before we board the boat Sunday. Don't imagine there will be internet on the boat so we will be quiet for a time. Tchuus! P.S. Noah - Papa took a photo just for you today. Can you find it?

Guten tag!

At 8 o'clock this morning we were in Croatia. By noon we were on a train travelling to Passau in Germany. Our flight from Split was very good and we had no problems finding the bus from the airport to Freising where we boarded the train. But first we had to figure out how to buy a Bayern Ticket - which we found at the airport. This ticket allows unlimited travel for 24 hours on any bus or regional train in Bavaria. Cost for two people is 26 euros which is a super deal. We will buy another ticket tomorrow when we take the train to Regensburg. Wow - the contrast between the two countries is phenomenal. There is such a huge difference between the have and have-not countries. Here in Passau it is very obvious what a booming economy is in Germany. It seems a very consumer driven society from a quick impression as there are shops, shops, shops everywhere. In contrast the shops in Croatia dealing mainly with selling to the tourists - just a different economic base I suppose. So interesting to be here this evening after where we were this morning -- culture shock, really! Croatia reminds us a bit of Portugal in its landscape of olive groves, oranges and lemons. Even the houses and apartments share a similar architecture. Large tracts of land are seemingly left untended which often makes the are look more depressed than it may really be. As we travelled past the German countryside on the train it was very well maintained and used extensively for agriculture with nothing really left barren. Very green and lush. What we did not see in Croatia was a North American-type food franchise which are already in full view here in Germany. So Croatia hasn't yet been spoiled in that regard. Germany, in contrast, has many such fast food places which makes you feel not quite as removed culturally (as perhaps you would like to be in a foreign country). Just an observation. At any rate, we are here. We are looking forward to our next biking adventure. We went down to the harbour by the Danube today so we know where our boat will be docking and how far it is from our hotel (very close luckily). German skills are very poor so noticing the language barrier already. Also seems our "tour guide/interpreter" who was so handy on the boat in Croatia didn't accompany us on this leg of the journey. Damn!! Tschuss!

Dovidenja!!

A fond farewell to Croatia. Dovidenja! Hvala!! Vidimo se!

Art From Dubrovnik

Our last day in Dubrovnik, weren't sure what we were going to do as we have seen lots over the last 2 days. Not a problem, we found more beautiful sites. Along the way we found a really great local art shop and just happened to fall in love with a print by a local artist, Neda Dimnic (Dim-neech). The painting is so Slavic - multimedia collage. It is on it's way to Vernon via Croatian Post. We felt it was the best to get it home without worrying about it's safety. Tomorrow morning it's off to catch a bus to Split,a bus to Trogir and then on Thursday we fly to Munich,bus it to Freising and then a train to Passau. Lots of travelling, but it will be worth it once we board our second boat to bike the Danube starting Sunday. And so continues a wonderful adventure.

A Portrait of Dubrovnik