Passau

We were on the sundeck early this morning to watch the ship complete the last of its 11 locks, and as the water rose to the requisite level and we were about to sail out of the lock, the Captain suggested that those of us "over the height of 3' 4"" might want to get on our knees... they lowered the bridge and we sailed under the bridge, clearing it by - well, 3' 4"! Fun to experience!

What an unexpected delight it was to get to know Passau! We had a wonderful guide who wove fascinating stories into his commentary, including a possible solution to church stewardship challenges: Germany has a "church tax" opf 8% of one's tax - payable directly to the government and then refunneled to the churches as government support for the churches. (Interestingly, it was a law passed by HItler as a means of getting people to LEAVE the church - something which is happening today as people don't want to pay the tax!) Wonder what kind of "administrative cut" the government takes from that 8% for services rendered?!!

Photos here of a "plague door" in a building - whereby people could pass food into a plague-ridden home - and opne of a mailperson, delivering mail along the cobblestone streets of the town. During our town wanderings, the church bells (8 of them) peeled loudly and long (10 minutes at a time) at intervals... quite impressive, as the sound seemed to engulf the whole city! We arrived at the church in time to see three newly ordained priests emerge from the cathedral (proud families in tow!), and then entered to hear an organ concert on an organ with almost 1,800 pipes! Very impressive! (I took a picture of the pulpit in that church - imagine how intimidating to have to preach from that pulpit! Yikes!)

One of the buildings here contains a date: 1(4)99... Our guide explained that for a brief period of time they had no numeral for "4" but the reasoning was as follows: If the Roman numeral "5" (V) is the top half of "10" (X) then the number for four should be the top half of eight (never mind that they were no longer working in Roman numerals!)... thus the way the date is inscribed on the building - 1, top half of 8, 99! Interesting... (I hope it shows up in the photograph!) It was quite a lovely day!)