Postcard from Passau

Passau is beautiful in itself and in its setting. It rests almost on the Austrian border, at the confluence of the Danube; the Ilz, coming from the north; and the Inn, coming from the south. Thus it is known as the Dreifluessestadt, or “City of Three Rivers” (your German lesson for today). I’m partial to three kinds of photos: those looking down from hills, those looking up at hills, and those taken from or across a river. Passau gives me all three.

Our guide was superb–good-humored, anecdotally gifted, and well informed. He shared a stunning factoid. The Romans so admired the Batavi, a courageous Germanic tribe that lived in the Rhine delta, that they named present-day Passau, Batavia. Centuries passed and German underwent various consonant shifts. Among them, b became p, and t became ss… And presto! Batavia became Passau (your linguistics lesson for today).

The city tour concluded with an organ recital at St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The organ is advertised as the world’s largest, a credible claim from where I sat. We heard three pieces, two traditional and one modern. Linda observed that the traditional pieces were “bombastic cacophony.” I thought the music was “muddy,” in that the tones interfered with one another. Organ tones sustain themselves for so long that when one sounds out, several of its precursors are still reverberating. The modern piece had cleaner lines, but was impressionistic in style. Seems more appropriate to me for God’s music to make statements, not suggestions. At the end, Linda disclosed that there was no organist; the enormous instrument had been programmed. This raises an interesting question: If recital music has no live player, does it make sense to applaud at the end?

Only three stops left. The next is Melk.

Correction: My research has revealed that the Stone Bridge at Regensburg extends only part way across the Danube to an island in the middle of the river. So closing the bridge to river traffic is not an impediment; ships can sail around the other side of the island! My apologies to Regensburgers. (Your travel lesson for today: Viking employees are experts on sailing, food, and lodging, and not much more.)