Passau, Germany

Our 2 1/2-hour afternoon cruise from Vilshofen to Passau was perfectly lovely.

After lunch, Julie and I took seats on the sun deck and took in the gorgeous views of the passing shoreline.

As we approached Passau, skies darkened a bit more, and the rain forecast looked to be unfolding as expected.

Nonetheless, we would never let a little rain stop us from enjoying a vacation.

Most people went on an introductory tour of Passau, visiting all of the important sites in the downtown area and learning stories behind the structures.

We had signed up for Ama's "Active Walkers" excursion, in this case a hike up a hillside to a fortress founded in 1219, Veste Oberhaus.

We noted that the Level of Difficulty was 5, or the highest, but quite frankly, we had never been on a shore excursion that came close to being too much for us to do.

While rain looked imminent, we brought an umbrella --- AmaWaterways provides sturdy umbrellas in the room and also by the ship's doorway for use during the cruise ---  and assumed that wouldn't slow us down appreciably.

Our group was soon pulling rapidly away from those on the city tour,  hearing brief descriptions as we walked briskly through town, though at this point I can't remember about what.

I was mostly thinking about how fast we were going.

We crossed a major street, somehow avoiding anyone in our small herd getting run over despite a few laggards walking on red, and then we began scaling the 200 flagstone steps of the ancient staircase to the fortress as a light mist began to fall.

Did we have any trouble climbing up those 200 uneven steps?

Not really, but it was surprising how fast we did it, even including occasional stops to take in the truly magnificent views of the "City of Three Rivers" below.

In addition to the Danube, the Inn and Ilz rivers converge in Passau, which made it a valuable transportation hub in medieval times.

Precautions must be taken to defend anything of value.

While this fortress founded in 1219 undoubtedly served that defense function, it also signified the wealth and power of Prince-Bishop Ulrich II, for whom it was built.

Ulrich II --- as I pronounce it in my head it sounds a lot like Old Rich Too, which in a way is appropriate in Europe where royals lived lavishly in multiple enormous castles, some of which they hardly visited, while most serfs struggled to get by day to day in the Medieval Age and beyond --- was the 34th Bishop of Passau when he took office in 1215, but he became the first Prince-Bishop in 1217, presumably for his outstanding service to Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (not to be confused with Frederick the Great of Prussia).

In the year 1221, just a few years later, Prince-Bishop Ulrich II died in the Fifth Crusade in far-away Egypt, but his successors maintained the title, wealth and power of being Prince-Bishops until the Napoleonic Age, when Secularism finally brought an end to Bishop rule of Passau in 1803.

The fortress successfully withstood several sieges, with fortifications enhanced over time to take advantage of new technologies.

By the eighteenth century, however, military seize techniques had also advanced considerably, and in 1704, Veste Oberhaus was overrun for the first time during the War of Spanish Succession.  While it continued to hold a strategic location, it would never be considered insurmountable again.

Our tour included entry to the fortress grounds and limited access to a few rooms.

The 17th Century pharmacy exhibited the types of early scientific tools used in making medicines.

Beautiful porcelain statuettes made in Passau until 1952 were displayed in another room.

A vaulted chapel was subtly pretty, with an ancient fresco which had been restored.

There was limited time to visit the Veste Oberhaus Museum for anyone who might be interested in paying for admission, but as a cloudburst thundered its arrival, a greater concern became how to safely get down the mountain.

A van was just about to leave as we finished our tour of the fortress, and Julie was able to get the last seat, which was good because we only had one umbrella for the two of us, which would obviously be less than ideal for hiking downhill in the rain.

As it turned out, the rain let up enough for a safe walk down the slick flagstone steps, although Roberto from Brazil, who always seemed to be racing the group leaders in "Active" excursions, slipped near the bottom.

I could hear the crash in my earbud over the microphone of our group leader, who was close enough to pick up the sound of not only her concern but the accident itself, though from my vantage point higher up the stairway I couldn't see it.

Back in town, we arrived at beautiful St. Stephen's Cathedral.

This Baroque structure was primarily built between 1668 and 1693 to replace the previous Gothic cathedral which had been destroyed by fire, with only the east wall remaining, but a church has been on the site since the year 730, so there's quite a strong spiritual feel to the place.

It houses a gigantic organ, said to be the largest outside the USA and the largest Cathedral organ in the world.

Our tour guide bid us farewell, leaving us to explore the interior of the St. Stephen's Cathedral on our own.

Julie arrived at about that same time, carrying an umbrella she had picked up upon her return to the ship before walking to the church on her own.

We enjoyed looking around the church and then strolling through the picturesque town back to the ship.

Veste Oberhaus

Walking to Veste Oberhaus