Passau is a small town at the confluence of three rivers (well, 2.5 according to our tour guide, but 3 sounds better). The guide was again fantastic, full of humorous stories – somehow, she was in love with the bishop of the town. Again, as on our previous tour, she set us free to run around on our own after we learned the basic stories of the town. On the tour, we saw the little river that comes down from the mountains filled, with glacial flour (very fine sediment that reflects light, so the water looks turquoise). And a baroque church, with onion shaped domes on top, reminiscent of Russian churches (copied, we were informed, not because the Russians took over the town at any time.)

The church here had big differences from the Gothic church yesterday.

The colors on the houses indicate the wealth of the residents. More intense colors are more expensive, in part because the paint came all the way from Italy. But to my eye, the house colors are all still pastels.

The most. Interesting stories were about the floods, most recently in 2013. Our guide told us how stubborn the German people are: when the flooding seemed most dangerous, they decided more firmly to stay.

Then they spent the next few years cleaning up the mess of the flooding.

When we got back on the boat, we floated to the confluence of the two larger rivers.

Now the Danube is a slightly different color than before!

The rest of the afternoon we were on the border between Germany and Austria. They looked similar on both sides! As always, political boundaries are just human imagination.

We decided to see the Walhalla monument? (trying to figure out a word for this place) which is a replica of the Greek Parthenon built around 1857 to celebrate the German culture. The idea was to acknowledge the contributions of the German – speaking people long before there was a country of Germany. Busts of famous scientists, artists and innovators are displayed in a huge room.

So we got on bicycles with a group of about 20 and rode down the Danube to below the building and then walked up about 350 steps. Yikes. Heat and humidity were strong, but fortunately the marble structure was cool inside. Then we went back downstairs and rode back to the boat.

Einstein was the only one (we noticed) that has a signature instead of block letters for his name.

Women were holding up the ceiling.

After lunch and a short nap, we walked around the town of Regensburg. We found Johannes Kepler’s house!

This is a famous stone bridge from the 12th century. The story is similar to Romeo and Juliette, except across the river instead of political enemies (although they were different city states at the time).

The cathedral in Regensburg was gothic.

I did not find a confessional there. ☹️

Thoughts flash through my mind.

What did the creators of the cathedrals and churches we have observed want to say to us, now in 2018? (Did they think about us at all?) As you walk in, the ceilings are arched high above you, with gold and colors and grandeur, so are we we meant to become small? That was what I thought as a child.

OR – and this is what I hope is true – did they hope to make beauty to last a long time? Do we see the work of individuals and groups of people, humans, creating different truths, together, beneficial for many, leading us to their idea of greatness? Leaving their marks on the world, even if their names are no longer remembered?

When I see the statues, the stained glass, the fountains, I think about the artisans who created them. Some probably worked for years on one artifact. The churches shout “hooray” to architects and engineers who were involved in their fabrication. These are gifts that humans centuries before us created – why? For us? For God? To express their own yearnings? To be remembered?

I don’t know. But I like thinking about this.

This city is famous for two surroundings walls, with a moat between them, as you saw in the picture with the map from our previous post. The tour guide was delightful, with stories about everything. We started at Nuremberg Castle and wandered downhill with the group.

The statue of a rabbit (in honor of an artist – scientist – author who painted one like it in 1502 to call attention to human’s destruction of nature.

Nuremberg skyline, showing one of the round towers that was designed to repel cannon fire:

Famous sanitarium in use in the Medieval times, taken from a bridge over the river that flows through the city.

Lots of interesting fountains:

This fountain was to celebrate hydro-engineering:

We listened to a trio of street musicians for a while. They were good!

And, this statue represents the “ship of fools”

We arrived back at our cruise boat for lunch as the boat left for Regensburg; no fools are we!