Hotel Atrium Passau

Well, it's been a lonnngggg while.....here is a rundown of what I've been doing since London-

Took a weekend trip to visit girlfriends in Dublin. I love Ireland! Had a great time with my friends and their friends.

Flew from London to Berlin, stayed one night then went to Dresden to meet with my Great Grandmother's Niece's Granddaughter (got that?!?!?!). She was so good to me! Stayed with her in Dresden then went to Zwickau to stay with family and see some places where ...

... concert, especially the final number as it echoed through the cathedral.

After the concert we were free until 4:30. Jack, Suzanne and I looked for a place to eat. We ended up at . Ristorante Bilancia d Oro, an Italian restaurant in a Bavarian town Very good and not expensive; I was able to stay under the 15 Euros the ship gave us for lunch. Ordinarily the ship would be docked here and available for lunch, but since it had gone on they had to give ...

... cke gewonnen, dass wir noch gar nicht Zeit hatten, sie zu verdauen. Und wir wissen jetzt beide, dass wir auf Dauer nicht in den USA leben möchten, daheim ist es viel schöner.

Unser Fernweh ist fürs erste gestillt. Mal sehen, was uns nächstes Jahr einfällt. Bis dahin haben wir dann auch schon wieder eine gefüllte Reisekasse... Ich hab gehört die Ostküste soll auch sehr schön sein, oder Australien, wir werden sehen bis dahin alles Liebe und schönes Fernweh...

... between 17,000 and 18,000 pipes.  What a great sound, Mac was able to put some of it on video although it wasn't allowed and he was tapped on the shoulder but managed to get most of it.  Back to the boat for lunch and then much to the amusement of Mac and Kevin, Lois and I decided to go on a 3 hour bike ride along the river Inn (no we don't have any photos to upload but Mac has 45 seconds of Video at the start ...........).  We rode all the way to ...

... gives me a bed in the annex a further 30 metres up the hill. On the fifth floor. And no lift. Thats seven bags and I'm wrecked. Worst of all is the knowledge that I'm only here one night and have to bring it all down in the morning. The key deposit is a hefty £10. Dinner is £6.70 for sausage and chips, some salad, yoghurt and coffee. But the hostel setting and rooms are fantastic with views over the three rivers and the town. The walls are huge and the layout is labyrinthine. Wifi ...

... next morning (2nd) down the Danube, stunning scenery through narrow valley with steep ( vertical sides) for almost whole day. Lunch stop reminiscant of Hawkesbury river. (fresh water) Lots of Barges both people and freight. Second night at Aschach.

13th June Linz/Salzburg/Passau Gary was not keen on the Sound of Music Tour to Salzburg, so I hopped off the ship in Linz with the girls. The boat cruised onto to Passau where later I rejoined it. My tour took me through the Lakes District, stopping at Lake Monsdee to see the church where the wedding scene from the film was made. I wandered down the aisle humming "How ...

... his bike but it did look comfy, although he struggled on the climbs and generally was slower. Apparently its whizzo on the downhills (70kph top speed! I get to about 50 and chicken out). Anyway given that he was heading off to China speaking bugger all foreign languages and with a ton of luggage so I wished him luck. Riding in the morning was freezing cold but sunshine came out for the last couple of hours which warmed ...

... route clearly taking pleasure in thwarting my plans. I decided to try to blag my way onto the express anyhow, and would have done so if I'd understood the platform-change announcement as I stood waiting for the IC ! So I ended up taking the slow route, and arrived at Passau too late to get a meal and ended up patronising McDonald's....

... The trip allowed us to interact with the locals because most of the hotels were bed & breakfasts so we got to talk to the owners even at some points they only spoke German, we made do by pointing to the wall of mounted animal heads to tell us what we were eating. It was a great experience and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting an adventure off the beaten path.