Passau, Germany

Known as the City of Three Rivers, Passau lies at the confluence of the Inn, the Danube and the Ilz rivers. It is the first major German city on the Danube near the border of Austria.... Dating back to Celtic tribes, later the site of a Roman camp; in the year 739, a Celtic monk founded the diocese of Passau. Our guide told us of how Passau was an important medieval centre for the salt trade and later famous for the making of high-quality knife and sword blades. The old town, with its baroque churches and patrician houses, is crowded onto a narrow point separating the Danube and Inn rivers. St. Stephen's Cathedral, built in 1688, is one of the town's most important landmarks and boasts the largest pipe organ in Europe. From our view, we look up to see the Oberhausen fortress. I found it interesting that our brilliant young guide made no mention of the significance of Passau relative to Adolf Hitler growing up here, learning the distinctive lower Bavarian dialect that marked his speeches, nor the fact that Pasau was the home to three concentration camps during WWII. For us it has been a delightful visit to an old German town, where we were entertained with a wonderful tour and audience to a truly powerful organ concert.
A final thought about this part of our visit... It is amazing how accepting of the power of the river and the damage of resulting flooding earlier this year was to our guide. We saw the height of flood waters from June of this year, the highest water lines on buildings ever recorded. Complete sections of the old town were in the midst of reconstruction. Many shops, particularly in the artisan section are replacing complete first floors. Because of the strength of the structures and doors, exterior damage was minimal; whole interiors are needing complete replacement.
We are ready to depart this afternoon for a Saturday visit to historic and vibrant Regensburg, one of Germany's best-preserved medieval towns.
I've commented very little about the cruise itself... The quality of the staff of the Viking Bragi is unbelievable! Everything is first class, for sure. Our meals, their preparation and the serving of same are top notch. The six of us, Garnet & Shirley, Jim & Pam and  Marion & I are together at a table for
6 both at lunch and dinner. The staff that takes care of us goes far and above what would be expected. The chef is a young man with 9 years experience, this being his first cruise experience.  The quality of his daily menu is a really special. I had the pleasure to travel to the farmers' market with him in Vienna. What a special treat that was. Service is exceptional...humour and class go a long way to adding to the pleasure of our travels! At the conclusion of this experience, increased exercise and attention to diet will be high on our respective 'to do' lists!