Passau

May 30, 1996

For the first time in a week we were not awakened by the chiming of church bells - a virtue of our location in the country rather than the heart of town. We had a rather spare breakfast as we chatted with our curious hostess - who had enough English at her disposal so that collectively we were able to get a few more points across than usual. The most memorable exchange was her comical attempt to explain the word schnecken (snail) to us by pantomiming a gingerly walk through a mine field of snails; and her descriptions of several snail variations: schnecken mit hause and schnecken ohne hause (presumably meaning a slug). She also provided interesting commentary on the Czech Republic which seemed to impress her primarily as a source of cheap cigarettes.

After tearing ourselves away, we headed west and upriver along the donau Ratweg toward Passau. This stretch of the bikeway is an exceptional ride, along traffic-free paths on the bank of the river. Along the way we passed a constant stream of bicycle traffic, consisting of tourists of all shapes, sizes, ages and fitness levels. This is probably the most heavily trafficked bike route I've ever encountered. At one point I estimated the rate and concluded it might add up to about a thousand riders per day. It took awhile for it to register that we were seeing hardly anyone traveling in our direction, which caused me to wonder if I had misanalysed our route for this tour and that we were biking the wrong direction.

About 30k into the ride we came to a river crossing supported by a bicycle ferry (radfahre) - a small, canoe shaped motor craft with about a 15 bike capacity. It arrived at our bank completely full, , and left with only the two of us, the ferry master, and his lovely, well tempered German shepherd. On the other bank, Rachael stopped for a bit while I changed the camera battery,, and the dog walked over to us and lay down to rest on Rachael's feet.

A bit further down the road we stopped in at a roadside attraction for a delicious cake and coffee, and chatted briefly with a British couple touring on a tandem. We then continued on to Passau, crossing an unassuming, unmanned border crossing on the cycle path into Germany.

Passau is lovely and dramatic. Most of the city sits on a spit of land between the Inn and the Danube. A large castle holds down the ridge to the north of the Danube. Passau's old town has its share of colorful churches, towers and building facades. After finding a reasonable (100 dm) room with breakfast, we spent the rest of the day exploring the old town, climbing to the castle for a stunning view, eating pizza and calzone, and sitting on the shore of the Danube reading books and watching the sun go down.

(Ed: for some reason the journal doesn't mention my favorite memory of our stay in Passau. We had a second story room in the hotel, and the hallway ceiling was low and crossed by yet lower wooden beams. On our first trip to our room, I didn't see this coming and brained myself. Why is this my favorite memory? Three years later we revisited Passau, and stayed in the same hotel - which I didn't realize at the time until I brained myself once again. Same hotel, same beam - I'm certain of it.)

Today's ride: 65 km (40 miles)
Total: 500 km (311 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0