December 13

December 13:  Passau Walking Tour / Christmas Market

Today was the first day of our actual Christmas Markets cruise and it could not have been better!  In fact all four of us raved about how cool it was to be here, with the Christmas weather, the Christmas decorations, AT a European Christmas Market!  And despite the 27 degree chilly temperatures it was a fabulous tour of Passau.  We all agreed that this was a very cool market, but we are certain that the later ones will be bigger and better and we'll look back on this one and think it was so simple and small.  But for today.....FANTASTIC!

As soon as we got off the ship we did a selfie to commemorate the first day of the trip and headed with our guide Andrea (who was excellent!) into town.  She walked us around explaining the history of the town and buildings with the first stop at a coffee shop where we watched them make home-made gingerbread, three types!  Which we sampled AND we had some Christmas punch.  Kim and I shot a "CHEERS!" video for our grandson Oliver who ALWAYS does cheers with cups and mugs.

The walk all around town was about two hours total and we were along side the Danube, in town and then along side the Ils River....Passau is located at the confluence of three rivers - the Danube, the Ils, and the Id.  Loved the photo ops along the riverside.....

We arrived at the center of town where the city fountain was converted into a gigantic advent wreath - that was pretty amazing!  Then we walked inside the "Old Bishops Residence" and onto St. Stephens Church.  Pretty amazing buildings both inside and out.

The final stop was at the actual Christmas Market.  After a few comments Andrea bid us good-bye and EVERYONE had a generous tip for her.  Then we explored the market itself.  Sooooo many cool crafts and a LOT of local food.  Really wonderful.  Nearly every market has a carousel so Kim and I had a photo op.  I had heard that one thing you MUST try at a Christmas Market is the "gluwhein" which is warm/hot wine.  And when you purchase it at a Christmas Market you get to keep the souvenir mug.  Well duh, yes, I did that!  And we had planned to purchase something small and "crafty" at every Christmas Market to take home and forever more display at Christmas time at home with our decorations.  So today we purchased a hand-carved, wooden Santa.

Today

After lunch we had the obligatory muster drill for safety (though if the ship would "sink" it would simply sit on the bottom and we'd all remain perfectly dry on the top deck! :)  Then we sailed from nearly 3 pm to 10 pm before arriving in Linz, our second stop of the cruise.  What a GREAT DAY!

Sailing out of Passau (at confluence of Danube, Ils and Id Rivers)

It was very chilly (ok, cold) on the top deck as we sailed away, but I got some photos.  But the real highlight was the fact that we were ACTUALLY SAILING.  After my river cruise with my sister was cancelled due to low water levels in late October and the many, many reports of continued problems along the Danube we were very anxious about getting to have a full 8-day cruise.  So it looks like we are going to get our wish - so delighted!