Kylin's European Grand Adventure: Day 12

Another 6 a.m. wake up call so we could catch a 8:21 train. Today we grabbed breakfast at the train station; I had Bircher Museli (grains, sliced fruit and some milk) and John had a baguette. The train was a commuter train with just a few first class seats so we ere glad to be a little early. We were surprised how full the train was. Today's ride was only 2 hours.

We walked to the Hotel which is across the street from the Danube and where our boat is docked. That's convenient. We quickly put our bags in the room and went to St. Steven's for the organ concert. St. Stevens has the world's largest cathedral organ with 233 stops, 4 carillons and 17974 pipes. All five parts of the organ can be played together from the main keyboard. The concert was magnificent.

We wandered around Passau's centrum, eating lunch at an outdoor cafe next to our hotel and going through several shops. We met a younger couple from New Albany, OH, at lunch. They were finishing a cruise from Budapest to Passau and were headed to Prague.

What we liked about the little boutiques is that the artists own the shops so it is locally made. Not all churches are open for touring -- :( -- some have the main door open but a metal gate so you can see in but not get in. One was having a wedding! The streets are filled with mouth-watering aromas from all the restaurants. It will be hard to pick one for dinner. We saw where they were setting up for an open air concert next to a music school so we went back for it. Since they spoke only German, we weren't really sure if they were all students or students and faculty performers. Some looked pretty old to be music students and to play so well. Anyway, there was a small orchestra (20) which did some classical music, classical pianist, classical clarinetist, harpist who played Spanish classical (awesome), soloist who did well with an opera type song (la boheme) but not as well with my Funny valentine or fever and a jazz pianist.

We had one of the best pizzas since Vancouver. It was right up there with one of our all-time favorites -- prosciutto with fresh tomatoes, fresh arugula and mozzarella (tonight was the same combination as Vancouver).