July 20 Sailing over night to Regensburg

During the night there was a lot of noise coming from the bottom of the boat so not sure what it was. I am sure we were not scrapping the bottom of the river....As it turns out we were scrapping the bottom. The bottom is mostly sand. Apparently many boats were stuck in Passau and can not continue as they are too low in the water. This boat has a pool which they drained, lightening the load by 40 tons and raising the boat by 7 cm, enough for us to pass.

Clear sailing now except that the bridges are very low. So the pool is full again. Also this boat as ballast tanks and the Captain was filling different sides so cause the boat to lean to one side or the other to allow passing over some shallow spots. The boats that are not able to pass are busing people and putting them up in hotels to finish their tour. We are very lucky to be able to continue to cruise.

Did a 1 hour walking tour of Regensburg. This is a very nice city and one of the few that was never bombed during the war. There is a stone bridge across the Danube that dates back to the 12 century and was the only bridge for 800 years. It has withstood several floods which destroyed many of the wooden bridges that were put across the river. Unfortunately we could not get a good look at it as it is behind a lot of scaffolding.

Also visited another church! St Peter's Cathedral. This one originates in 800s but has been rebuilt since. The stained glass dates back to 1200s. There is a crypt in the basement dating back to the 800s. Interesting as the columns are external to the building itself.

Back on boat and off toward Kelhiem to pick up those that went on a tour and then cruising on to Nuremburg.


July 19 Sailing over night to Aschach, Austria for stop and then onto Passau Germany

Arrived about 7.30. Just a quick stop at Aschach for those heading off on an all day tour. We will catch up with them at dinner.

Cruising through several locks this morning, heading to Passau, Germany. Another country.

A city tour of Passau for about 1 hour. It is Sunday and all the shops are closed, so don't have to worry about too much shopping! St Stephen's church ( another one) is huge. This church has the largest pipe organ outside the US with over 17000 pipes. It is massive and has 5 different sections of pipes with the main part at the back of the church. Too bad we did not get to hear it.

Snowballs (cakes)

This town is located at the corner of Germany, Austria and Czech Republic as well as the meeting of the Danube river and Inn rivers. Here the Danube is fairly clear and the Inn has a greenish colour, similar to what is downstream.

Everyone had to catch a bus back to the boat as it was passing through some very shallow water. They even drained the pool to lighten the load.
Spent some time on the top deck watching the river as it has become very narrow and shallow.


July 18 Sailing over night to Durnstein Austria

The double americano in the morning is becoming a great habit!

Arrived about 8 am but when I got up, the top deck was closed as some of the bridges were too low. It opened shortly and then another bridge that was low. The Captain's Bridge actually got lowered a bit. I could have stood up straight but would have been able to touch the bottom of the bridge.

A short walk through the little village of Durnstein. There was a castle high on the hill. This is supposed to be where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned. It is apricot season so everything is apricots. They are very good! You can get some strong alcohol, liqueur, roasted pit in salt (like peanuts) or in chocolate, jam, jelly and even BBQ sauce. The BBQ sauce is pretty good. Took a hike part way up to the castle. I needed to save my strength for a 30 km bike ride along the Danube River.

Only got to 38 degrees today so hot riding. The ride was great. Some small hills but nothing serious. We rode through several little villages. Stopped at an Austrian camp ground on the Danube for lunch.

Waiting for us on arrival at the boat was a cold drink and a wet cloth. The staff think of everything. It took 4 hours which is pretty slow but some people were slow on the bikes.

We arrived just in time to take the tour to the Melk Abby Austria. A functioning Augustine Abby. There are still about 15 monks in residence.
A late dinner tonight as we were watching the boat go through a lock. We have been through several but all the others have been at night. Amazing as the water levels are about 50 feet different. 2 cruise boats were in the lock together with only about 2 feet of clearance! Quite the sight to see the boat slide in between the wall and the other boat