Cruising along the river I was as much surprised to see a MacDonald’s sign as I was to see a man polling a skiff along the river’s edge.

“A flat-bottomed barge is called a Punt that is propelled by a pole. A traditional punt has no tiller nor any provision for oars, sails, or motor; instead it is propelled and directed with a 12’ to 16’ pole. These barges are now manufactured for sport and pleasure in Europe, but the concept of the flat-bottomed barge has been used in Mesopotamia for 5,000 years.”

http://nephicode.blogspot.co.at/2013/07/another-look-at-jaredite-barges-part-ii_19.html

Our overnight stop that became a 2 night stop as we waited out the rain.

Hard to tell from the photo, but again we tower over all the river boats.  Randal is becoming an expert in maneuvering into small spaces.  Mary scours through the cruising books to find yacht havens with berths deep enough and docks long enough  for DoraMac.

http://www.turul.at/  in German only

The very helpful manager getting us signed in.  We pay 20 Euro each night which is about what we pay in most yacht clubs that include power and water.  Those where you pay extra for each of those as well as for showers charge less upfront fee.

Mary and Rick stayed here in 2011 and found where they’d signed the guest book.

Next door there a group was sponsoring a barbeque so we walked over for lunch. 

We all ordered the half-chicken which came with a roll. 

I washed down my food with mineral water but most folks had beer.

Oom Pah Pah  music

The complex had a soccer field and a playground.  I loved this colorful multi-kid swing.

I think many of the barbeque rolls ended up with the ducks though I didn’t think to do that with mine.

With its 2,800 inhabitants Grein is one of the smallest towns in Austria. All Gothic buildings were destroyed in a fire in the 15th century. The houses around the city square mostly date back to a time between 1550 and 1600. The city hall houses a magnificent rococo theater. It has largely remained unchanged. It now features summer plays and concerts. On the west side of the town, you will find the Castle Greinburg on the Hohenstein Peak. In 1597, a Renaissance courtyard was added to the building, which is now used for annual concerts and operas in the months of August and September. Grein’s history is closely tied to the Danube River. The city became very wealthy over the centuries, which is evident in its elaborate and beautiful architecture.

http://www.signaturetravelnetwork.com/=

The Danube as it passes through Linz : the red arrow pointing out the city marina on the outskirts of town.  It was a heft walk on a very hot afternoon. 

A map of the Old Town

Our first Austrian Lock, we were given a “rules and regulations” book and told life jackets must be worn while working in the lock.  All I could get out of it was “right ticket” but he was saying “life jacket.”  Luckily Mary studied German so can understand most of what we need to know. 

There’s lots of ways to get any place, but Rick and Mary had different recollections of their visit in 2011 so we stopped to ask directions. 

A Chaplin-esque street performer makes balloon creatures. 

Light and shadow; historic and contemporary an interesting mix.

I didn’t see a plaque for Beethoven, but I did find one for Franz Schubert and the very young Mozart. 

Schubert was a visitor to Linz in 1819, 1823, and 1825.

The Unfinished Symphony came to my mind though NPR didn’t pick that as his most famous.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mnrHf7p0jM  has one rendition that I definitely recognized

   Franz Schubert may be the least understood of the great composers. For decades after he died in 1828, at the age of thirty-one, most of Schubert’s work was unknown. And when hundreds of Schubert’s compositions were first published in the late 1800’s, romantic legends about the composer suddenly became popular. Schubert was often described as a tortured but amiable genius–a nearsighted, portly cherub of a man who lived in abject poverty and found comfort only in a glass of wine.

As with many aspects of history, the truth is more complex. Schubert certainly had a difficult life, but he appears to have been happy simply to create music. He once said "I have come into the world for no purpose but to compose."

Ever since Schubert’s death, historians and musicologists have looked for clues to his musical genius in his bohemian lifestyle, his prolonged illnesses, and even the dozen or so houses in Vienna were he lived. Commentator Thomas Kelly made the pilgrimage in search of Schubert, and found a certain unevenness in how modern Viennese treat the memory of the great composer. Schubert’s birthplace is now a museum, but the house where he died is now a Volkswagen repair shop. Kelly suggests that the Volkswagen corporation might want to use as a theme song one of Schubert’s most famous melodies: "Das Wandern," or "The Rover," from his song cycle, "Die schoene Mullerin."

http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/milestones/991208.motm.schubert.html

Our second beer joint had a plaque hidden behind the white umbrella

Mozart and October 1762 are all that I can understand even with google translate. 

During Mozart’s youth, his family made several European journeys in which he and  Nannerl  performed as child prodigies.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart#Early_life

In late July of 1783, Mozart and Constanze Weber, who had been married in Vienna in August of the previous year, to the great displeasure of Mozart’s father, made their way to Salzburg. The principal aim of the trip was to bring about a reconciliation between father and son, which happened to a degree – but not to the degree of Leopold accepting Constanze into the bosom of the family. Wolfgang’s sister Nannerl – who found Constanze “unsuited to her brother,” for whatever reasons – remarked in her diary that on October 23 a mass by Wolfgang was performed in the Collegiate Church of St. Peter, the “Great” Mass in C minor, K. 427, large parts of which Mozart had composed earlier in Vienna, but had brought with him to Salzburg unfinished and had been unable to complete even there (or anywhere else, ever). Constanze, it should be noted, sang the exacting, high-lying first-soprano solos.

On their return trip to Vienna, the couple spent several days in Linz, at the invitation of an old family friend, Count Thun-Hohenstein. “When we reached the gates of the city,” Wolfgang wrote to this father on October 31, “we found a servant waiting there to drive us to Count Thun’s, at whose house we are now staying. I really cannot tell you what kindnesses the family is showering on us. On Tuesday, November 4, there will be an academy [concert] in the theater here and, as I have not a single symphony with me, I am writing a new one at breakneck speed.” The first performance of this new symphony, which has since been given the nickname “Linz,” took place as scheduled.

http://www.laphil.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwxNp-LzDYo

I definitely prefer the Schubert!

Can’t you just hear the Budweiser  tune……

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwxNp-LzDYo   “Here Comes the King” with words

http://www.stltoday.com/  is the instrumental ball park version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osKJwQO5-iE&feature=kp   Sonny and Cher take off “When You Say Love.”

“The main street "Landstraße" leads from the "Blumauerplatz" to "Taubenmarkt" (Pigeonmarket) near the main square.  In the middle of the main square the high "Pestsäule" ("plague column", also known as "Dreifaltigkeitssäule" (Dreifaltigkeit means Holy Trinity)) was built to remember the people who died in the plague epidemics.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linz

Some folks I found interesting….

They rinsed their face and arms in the fountain do I walked over and did the same thing.  It was very hot.

Lovely “real red” hair

Ever see  the blog http://advancedstyle.blogspot.co.at/    The woman in black with her white hair, sun glasses and wonderful outfit would fit right in.

Hallway to the art college

http://www.lentos.at/html/en/    covered entirely with the words lenoskunstmuseum  written in the glass.  We only had the time to pass by. 

Some outdoor sculpture along the river

From this angle it looked like a person sun bathing

With mostly no trees along the way it was almost too hot to enjoy the walk back to the boat.

Two ways to enjoy life , reading and painting.  Are they aware of each other?

The artist had her original drawing in the small book she refers to while painting the wall art. 

I don’t love it, but love the idea she’s doing it.  Taking the Alternative Art Walking Tour in London really opened my eyes to street art.

High water marks on the Town Hall, the building with the red-topped tower.

http://www.spiegel.de/  flooding in 2013 was the worst in 500 years.

I took this photo standing mid-way between the Town Hall and the river. 

Conjunction Point : The Danube, Inn and Ilz

We spent the night at a Heining Yacht Club just the other side of Passau.  The next morning, while waiting for the okay from the lock keeper, Randal fed this group of duck.  But it was whole meal bread so maybe not so bad. 

The next morning we cruised past Passau our final day in Germany

Looking back at Conjunction Point and the towers of Passau

The water became much muddier looking

“The Ilz is a small river, but the Inn adds a substantial amount of water to the Danube.  The force of the water brought down by the Inn is such that its brown waters can be seen pushing into the Danube for several hundred metres before merging.”   The Danube, A River Guide by Rod Heikell

Our final lock in Germany: enter in Germany and exit Austria

Replacing our German courtesy flag with the Austrian courtesy flag.  Rick and Mary had all the flags we’d need from their river passage in 2011. 

The Austrian border flag was reallya bit further along and about as big as our courtesy flag.

Early morning fog in Deggendorf : we got out while the getting was, if not good, at least possible. It certainly wasn’t going to improve any the next few days.    There were places on the river where we just squeaked by, and places along the way where we had to pass barges going up river and there was just enough water depth for both boats in the narrow channel.  Then the channel deepened and we were home free.

Our overnight spot was Heining at a the Yacht Club.  From there we caught a bus to Passau where we ate lunch and then explored for several hours.  Americans had invaded by way of all the huge cruise ships that lined the public dock.  Funny enough, as we’ve been in Germany so long, I felt like a “local” looking at all the “tourists.”

Passau is charming with lots of light and shadows which I tried to capture. 

“The setting of the Old Town” has picturesque squares, soaring towers, romantic lanes and enchanting promenades.”  Passau Tourist Map

On the German side of the border, Passau (km 2227 on the Danube) is a solid old bishopric that has always enjoyed the good life, celebrating its religious festivities with plenty of music, beer for the men and hot chocolate for the ladies.  Historically prospering from trade in wine, wheat and salt,  it is an inviting city, from the bulbous onion domes and graceful arches of its baroque monuments to the rounded promontories separating the waterways.”  JPM Guides  The Danube 

An “arts and crafts” area surrounded the Dom plaza.

The map calls this area “art alley” for all the shops selling local crafts.

Steep alleys led down to the river

A mime got my coin because you just don’t see many women street performers.

Some young men who sounded pretty good

A young girl balancing on a modern “thinker.” 

A statue of poet and writer Emerenze Meier whose work was published in Passau.  For economic reasons she emigrated to Chicago with her parents.  Her life was not happy…

If Goethe had to prepare supper, salt the dumplings;

If Schiller had had to wash the clothes,

If Heine had had to mend what he had torn, to clean the rooms, kill the bugs-

Oh, the menfolk, none of them would have become great poets.

Emerenz Meier

http://www..born-in-schiefweg.de/en/emerenz-meier.html  is the website for the Emerenze Meier Society and Museum. 

St Steven’s Cathedral and Church Organ

To the south, the town’s core stands on the ridge of land between the Danube and Inn Rivers.  Towering over it is the cathedral of St Stephan, with its onion domes, the flamboyant gothic chancel and baroque interior.”  JPM Guides The Danube.

We went in to see the organ…

According to the Passau Tourist map info, St. Stephan’s Organ is the largest cathedral organ in the world with 17,974 pipes, 233 stops, and 4 carillons.  We certainly didn’t see anywhere near that many pipes.

“Until the 1990’s, the Passau Domorgan was the largest church organ in the world. Presently it is "only" the largest Domorgan (and third largest church organ) of the World.” http://mypipeorganhobby.blogspot.co.at/  where you can hear the organ being played.

Asher and Sharon, you know I had to see this for you!

St Paul’s Church was a contrast of white walls and dark decorative sculptures.  It is supposedly the oldest parish church in Passau with dates of 1050 and 1678 connected to it. Actually it looked and smelled as if it had just been repainted.

Art along the “shopping street.”

The shop on the left had beautiful hand-made paper and journals. 

Roses are blooming everywhere.  And in the town center this flower map of Europe. 

“The Old Town Hall with its gothic tower was erected in 1535, and is one of the emblems of Deggendorf.  The flagstones bearing the Bavarian crest on the stepped gable are noteworthy, as is the town crest dating from the town’s founding, as well as the window ledges with their fascinating mythical animals and gargoyles.  The two stone balls connected with chains (medieval torture devices) and hanging from the southern façade are also steeped in history.  The historic tower warden’s lodgings can be viewed during a guided tour.”  (None in Englisn)   Deggendorf Tourist Map

The information office where I got the map and town brochure is housed in the Old Town Hall

Window ledges with the gargoyles  was hard to find until I stood directly underneath.

The stone balls were definitely disappointing and I’m not sure these are they except there were no other choices.  The other one is on the other side of the building but no chain joined them.

The original sundial was from 1535 when the southern and representative part of the Town Hall was erected.   A new sundial replaced that one in 1926 and was renovated in 1956. 

The Sundial inscription offers this advice: “Do it like the sundial, just count the hours of sunshine. 

I walked all around the Old Town Hall not finding either the stone balls or the gargoyles.  Across the way was a book shop with post cards.  I thought I’d ask if there was a post card of the stone balls so I’d match it up to the building and know where to look for them.  The book seller had no postcards of the gruesome objects, but was really nice and came with me to look for the stone balls.  We both agreed they were the round things on the side of the building up near the clock.  She said she was a native but hadn’t really looked for either the stone balls or the gargoyles. 

The helpful book seller helped me more than the woman in the Information Office.  I did buy some postcards and the weekend International Edition of the NYT.

Sunday we’d eaten lunch at one of the restaurants  now  housed in part of the Old Town Hall.  This billed itself as camembert but I think it was fried mozzarella covered with bread crumbs.  It came with salad, cranberry sauce and white toast.  I ate it all except for the white toast. 

The temptation of ice cream is everywhere in Germany. 

Want to trade?  Me either.  Randal had a banana ice cream cone which didn’t tempt me to ask for a taste at all.  I took the photos while they all ate ice cream.  I’m trying to make my cholesterol go down, not up. Thankfully ice cream isn’t a real temptation.

Neighborhoods just off the main square.

The Merchant Shipping Master’s House just a 5 minute walk from DoraMac

“….. a listed building and one of Deggendorf’s oldest residential buildings.  Its foundation date back to the Middle Ages.  Its present appearance dates back to the 18^th century.  A variety of exhibitions on the topic of water, health, the environment, and energy takes place here.  It also provides a rest area for cyclists.”  Deggendorf Town tourist map

Shipmaster‘s house

www.schiffmeisterhaus.de

Much of the focus in the exhibits is about the past flooding of the Danube.  It is flooding further along in Serbia and Bulgaria but here it’s lower than normal.

Teaching school children about the flooding and responses.

2002 floods

1924 floods

Ernst Erdl’s bike on the grass verge overlooking the harbor area just off the Danube and Ernst and Randal on our flybridge.

Ernst was also waiting for enough water to continue to Vienna and then Greece.

This is where we were tied up our first two nights until the visitor berth became available and we realized we’d be here a while so needed power and water available at the dock. 

Bow to the rock and attached with lots of lines.

A high stone wall and railroad tracks separates the yacht club from the club’s shower block.  You must also climb up, over and down the wall to get to town.  The gate is kept locked when no one is around but we have access to the visitor’s key as well as the keys to the shower block.

The small, square, sparkling clean building is the shower/toilet block.  Randal and I always shower on DoraMac but Rick and Mary prefer marina showers where there is an unlimited amount of hot water.  When 4 people shower as we did when Charmaine and Linda visited us, you have to use the water more sparingly or wait for the hot water tank to refill.   In the heat of Israel, you really didn’t need much hot water anyway. 

The club building where many of the members gather to eat their meals or watch the World Cup now.  On June 26^th Germany and the U S face off.  We all might have to go watch that game.  The weather forecast is just for sunny weather until the very end of the month and the beginning of July!

Randal, Rick and Karen

Karen is a member of the yacht club and kindly offered to drive us to the “too far to walk to, big supermarket.”

Later in the day she and her husband and the “harbor master” and his wife came on board for a tour. 

Everyone here, and they’ve been together for about 20 years, are very friendly and welcoming.  We have definitely found that cruising communities around the world are very supportive.  Our Diesel Duck is really the “odd duck” along the river so helps us make friends.  Everyone is curious and wants a tour which we’re happy to oblige. 

Deggendorf Library

“The town library is one of Bavaria’s most architecturally beautiful libraries.  Around 70,000 items and a variety of events invite one to linger.”  M-F 10 to 6; Saturday 10 to 12 noon.  Deggendorf Tourist Map

The library seemed pretty busy which was nice to see.  Wonder if the evening and Saturday hours change during the school year? 

No hands needed door!  It senses that you’re there and opens. 

The main desk over which is a sky light and the sculpture of a tight rope walker.  Not sure what’s upstairs but I’ll look next visit.

A wonderfully decorated kids room. 

Next door is the Town Museum.  Across the road is The Museum of Crafts and Trade is just near the round fountain but nothing is available in English so we didn’t buy the ticket needed for entry. 

Funny art : ice cream advert and someone’s “treasure” in a window. 

Around town are different sculptures so Randal and I set off to find them.

Sculpture of Sammer Xidi who is described as a “mushroom expert and colorful Deggendorf character.”

You can drink the water from the fountain at his feet.  During the week there are food stalls set up in the town square.  On Sunday it’s just Sammer Xidi.

Dumpling Fountain 

She saved the town but is still only referred to as “the Mayor’s wife” rather than by her name.

A fountain in the old town centre commemorates the legend of the “dumpling hurler“.  In 1266 Deggendorf was saved from being overrun by Ottokar of Bohemia after the mayor‘s wife drove off an enemy spy by throwing a dumpling at him.  After hearing that the inhabitants were using food

to bombard their attackers, the enemy troops concluded a siege would be useless and withdrew.”

http://www.deggendorf.de/ official town brochure.

Reading about the dumplings made me think of a similar latke story.  I thought I remembered something about throwing latkes at the enemy but this more interesting legend of Judith and the Assyrians is what I found.

The Latke Tale

Did you know that latkes were originally made with cheese? Legend has it that in the 16th century, a young widow, Judith, fed the Assyrian general Holofernes salty cheese latkes so he would thirst for more wine and become intoxicated.  It worked and she beheaded him in his stupor, which allowed the Jews to defeat the leaderless Assyrians. It wasn’t until the mid-19th century when potatoes began to be farmed that latkes were made from potatoes. However, the most important element is the oil that is used to fry the latkes, which symbolizes the holiday miracle in which one day’s worth of oil illuminated the Holy Temple for eight days when the Jews recaptured it in Jerusalem in 165 B.C.

http://www.lindasgourmetlatkes.com/latkisms.html

“Rosa” the Sow with the shiny spots where she has been rubbed. Her shoulder and nose.

“Called “Rosa” by the citizens of Deggendorf.  This location in the Pfleggasse is a reminder of the piglet market once regularly held here.”

Deggendorf Tourist Map

Schorsch Karmann Glassmeisier 1884-1959

http://axinte.de/persona_eng.htm  website of the artist of the glass maker; the sculpture was sponsored by the town of Deggendorf Savings Bank.    This was added in 2012 and wasn’t on the map or mentioned in the tourist booklet.  We found it looking for the Post Office.

     “The first glassmakers in Germany were brought here by the Romans, but after they left, it wasn’t until the Middle Ages that Germans rediscovered the art of making glass. By the end of the 17th century, there were about 60 glass factories and the area in the eastern part of Bavaria gradually developed into an important center for glassmaking.    http://discoveringbavaria.com/The-Glass-Road.html

We followed the buzzard path.

Trails are very well marked especially when 3 pairs of eyes are looking.

We passed this tree covered with what looked like very solid fungi and it reminded me of the artist I’d talked to in Bayerisch Eisenstein at the art gallery just near the trail.  I believe he said it was ash.  He has spent time in the US with different tribes of Native Americans.  Unfortunately the gallery wasn’t open when we passed by. 

The long awaited art gallery, Kunsträume grenzenlos,    https://de-de.facebook.com/KunstraumeGrenzenlos   opens its doors on Sunday 28th July 2013. With over 600 m2 of gallery space visitors will be able to enjoy works by contemporary painters, graphic artists, sculptors, glassmakers and more from both sides of the border as well as retrospectives of older artists from the region.

The first exhibitions, until 11th November, are by reknowned artists; Walter Mochizuki (1913-1999), co-founder of the Donau-Wald-Gruppe (artists association), Czech painter Jindřich Bilek, Vit Pavlik and the sculptor Václav Fiala.

There is also a gallery shop with a selection of local produce, regional craft products in glass or wood and more.

The gallery is located 100m from the German/Czech border next to the village train station at; Bahnhofstrasse 52, 94252 Bayerisch Eisenstein.

http://bavarianholidays.co.uk/

We’d left DoraMac and walked to the train station which was a hike itself.  The train trip was 50 minutes.  We spent a bit of time looking for trail information, buying water, visiting with the sculpture and finally starting our hike at 10:40.  We hiked through the woods aiming for lunch at the Schwellhausl Inn. 

Schwellhäusl Inn for lunch.

“In our historic inn "Schwellhäusl", a popular destination among Zwieselerwaldhaus ArberLand, Bayerischer Wald, in the middle of National Park Bavarian Forest, you can wonderfully relax from everyday stress.

We pamper our guests with bavarian "Brotzeiten*", spicy lunch, coffee and cakes. (*=little solid bavarian snacks)”

http://www.schwellhaeusl.de/en/

There was a huge lunch crowd so we shared a table which is lots of fun because you get to chat with people who are usually quite friendly. 

This glass sculpture had both Hebrew and German and my guess, “The Ten Commandments.” 

Carved wood and deer antlers.  A German version of the Peaks of Otter and Maybry Mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Not Maybry Mill Buckwheat Pancakes.

Heavy duty buckwheat pancakes to start off an 80 mile bike ride weren’t a good idea and neither were these dumplings.  I was trying to avoid the heavy meat dishes!  None of us was exactly sure what it would be except for the vanilla sauce and the marmalade.  I was thinking it might be some kind of noodle.  But it was really three large servings of steamed bread with marmalade in the center surrounded by a thin vanilla pudding.  I ordered it “by mistake” but the couple sharing the table ordered it on purpose.  An acquired taste maybe.  Or maybe this wasn’t such a prime example. 

Germknödel ([ˈɡɛɐ̯mˌknøːdl̩], Austrian German for yeast dumpling) is a fluffy (mine was definitely not fluffy) yeast dough dumpling with a mix of poppy seeds and sugar, filled with spicy plum jam and melted butter on top, occasionally – even though less traditional – also served with vanilla cream sauce. It is a culinary speciality of Austria and Bavaria. The dish is served both as a dessert and as a main course.

Germknödel is usually a spherical or bun-shaped dessert. The dessert’s main ingredient is a yeast dough with sugar and fat, usually butter, added to the dough. The dumpling is filled with Powidl, a sweet and spicy plum jam. The dumpling is steamed and then served still hot with either melted butter or vanilla dessert sauce, and topped with crushed poppy seeds and sugar.

The main difference between Germknödel and a related dish, Dampfnudeln, is that the former is either steamed or boiled whereas the latter is cooked in a deep pan.   Wikipedia