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Caption: Passau The Town on Three Rivers
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Caption: Passau Passau-the city on three rivers, with its six river banks, always beckoned me, especially when I looked up river cruises on the Danube. I was familiar with the queen of the Danube, Vienna and the Empress Budapest and even with Bratislava, yet somehow did not get a chance to visit Passau. The Alps beguiled us on every visit to Munich and Lower Bavaria stayed just a little out of reach, till fate took me to Straubing, close to Passau and having some free time on my hands I felt Providence had gifted me a day in this interesting town. A boat trip on the Danube was the best way to see the meeting of the rivers, where the dark Ilz, the Danube and the much lighter Inn converge and become just the Danube. Enjoy moments of my day.
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Caption: I did not have enough time to explore all the river banks but still there was time to take a boat trip, walk around on the banks of the Danube and the Inn and also explore the Old town, eat a delicious meal in the historical Rathaus restaurant by the Danube and even visit a mall.
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Caption: The Danube At 2800 km the Danube is the second largest river in Europe after the Volga. It originates in the Black Forest in Germany and flows through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and the Ukraine before flowing into the Black Sea.
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Caption: The Inn The Inn carries almost the same amount of water as the Danube. It originates in the Swiss Alps and flows through Tirol in Austria entering Germany at Kufstein. Its particular green colour comes from melted glaciers.
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Caption: The Ilz The Source of the much darker Ilz lies in the border areas between the Bavarian forest in Germany and the Šumava in The Bohemian part of the Czech Republic. It is also called 'the black pearl of the Bavarian Forest' due to its colour and the presence of a rare, freshwater mussel.
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Caption: My first glimpse of the river bank.
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Caption: St. Stephen's Cathedral dominates the townscape
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Caption: The Schaiblingturm or Schaibling Tower, located at the banks of the Inn River in Passau, it was a fortified tower dating back to the 14th century. It was part of the old salt boat harbor in Passau.
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Caption: Forested hillsides lie on the banks just out of the city
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Caption: The old town lies on the banks of the Danube and the Inn. This is the bank of the Inn.
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Caption: The Veste Oberhaus in the background, is a 13th-century hilltop fortress housing a city museum and observation tower.
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Caption: The darker Ilz meets the Danube under the Fortress. All three rivers can be seen from the here.
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Caption: A river cruise boat on the Danube stands moored before the Rathaus, while its passengers explore Passau.
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Caption: The steeple of St. Paul Church the oldest parish church in Passau.
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Caption: St. Paul's Church
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Caption: Walking through the Altstadt. The buildings visible in the background stand on a small hillside across the river Inn
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Caption: Shop for Cuckoo Clocks
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Caption: Path led downwards towards the river
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Caption: St. Stephen's Catheral
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Caption: Artifacts displayed in the compound of St. Stephen's Cathedral
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Caption: Artist's Alley Follow the Coloured Brick Road....Running parallel to the Danube is a small cobbled street known affectionately as Artists’ Alley, which is home to a grand number of small local art shops and exhibitions. Local artists have adorned the cobblestones in bright colours and the path usually leads to a shop selling art.
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Caption: Arches galore
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Caption: Cathedral St. Stephan from Residenzplatz
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Caption: Storm clouds gather
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Caption: Emerenz Meier, still stands on the bank of the Danube. She was the daughter of an Innkeeper Josef Meier, and a local writer and poet in Passau, she is one of the most important Bavarian folk poets. She later migrated to the US. Housework though seems to have been the bane of her existence and perhaps what prevented her from being prolific as I gather from the poem on the next page.
Caption: “If Goethe had had to prepare supper, salt the dumplings;
If Schiller had had to wash the dishes;
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
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Caption: Visible Meeting of the Inn and Danube
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Caption: Where the Ilz meets the Danube
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