Danube - Passau Rest Day

386 miles so far so oddly ready for a rest day today!  Passau is our last stop in Germany before we cross the border into Austria tomorrow.

Great flat for a rest day!

Have really enjoyed Germany and have had a deeper dive into it than we ever had before.  We realised that although we’ve been to Germany many times, each trip has been on the way to somewhere else - usually the Alps in Austria and we’d usually stayed in the same two places, Karlsmuhle near the Moselle and Mien Hoff which isn’t near anything, but is a nice stop on the way to the Alps. When you’re just skimming through, Germany seems modern, a bit industrial, with plenty of square corners and boxy architecture.  That’s not the case when you have a better look around.

Passau is a city where two rivers come together and the Old Town is situated on a peninsula between them.  The waters are very different coloured.  The left comes from the Alps and the right (which we’ve been following comes from the Black Forest.

Like so many European villages, towns and cities we’ve stayed in, here in Germany there are the Old Towns located around a church or cathedral surrounded by beautiful buildings and outdoor restaurants.  Filled w/ nooks and crannies to explore on a sunny day, which is exactly what we did today.  Liz came up with a walking tour which we used as a rough guide and then we just rambled down by the river and throughout the Old Town.

Did some ‘admin’ - made sure both bikes were ready to go for our early morning start tomorrow, did the laundry and hit the grocery store for supplies for breakfast and road snacks. Then a leisurely lunch, nap, sit in the sun on the terrace, dinner and early bed.  

Big day tomorrow!  Let’s go!

Comments:

1. Stephen HodgsonJune 14, 2025 at 6:13 PM

   Not much to add really. Great rest day in a nice place. Suitably fed, watered (beered) and rested, ready for the next bit. 
   The hills are alive, with the sound of music …… . 
   Shut up and go to sleep ….
   Ok, night night. 😴😴
2. 
   BrianJune 15, 2025 at 1:24 PM

   Steve's beer pic looks like he dropped his sunglasses into the beer! :-) What do you take with you for snacks on the road?

   1. 
      Stephen HodgsonJune 15, 2025 at 6:46 PM

      Optical illusion but could be I had so much of it I did (drop the glasses in the beer), it’s not that strong but there is a lot of it 😁.
      In terms of what we eat on the road, we buy lunch/second breakfast assuming we can find somewhere that sells it. Most villages have a bakery that can do sandwiches, cake, coffee. As we get into the more touristy bits then there are plenty of cafes and restaurants to choose from. Staple lunch is a “big salad” though we have been known to eat Donner Kebabs at a push. We always carry some “in case of emergency open packet” rations and fruit. So if we are short of food then we can have a bit of a “pick me up”. This consists of meat that is smoked (salami, prosciutto, smoked sausage) and processed cheese (so it will last a day or two). German breakfasts are pretty good with high fibre bread, ham, cheese etc.