We checked out of our Airbnb at 8:00 am today and went to the train station to catch a train to Passau.  The train ride was comfortable and uneventful. 

We saw the Danube River from the train as we approached Passau. 

Passau is located on the border of Austria and not far from the Czech border.  It is where some of our Doblinger cousins and our current hosts live.  We are staying with Stefan at his girlfriend Gundi’s house.  Stefan is my mom’s 1st cousin who is the son of her father’s brother.  He cooked us a wonderful lasagna today which we ate for a late lunch. 

We also got to spend some time today with Stefan’s son Tobias who is my second cousin. Tobi is a singer in a local band and just got a new electric car a few days ago.   He brought it to pick us up for the train station so I got to ride in it. 

Stefan loves to have discussions and we spent most of today catching up on family business, discussing the differences in health care and nursing (Stefan and Gundi are both nurses like me).  Two of Gundi’s children became nurses too. 

Stefan’s English is a little rusty but easily understandable and my mom and I only speak a few words of German.  Gundi knows some words in English but she and I have been communicating mostly with Google translate. 

We went for a walk to the grocery store to get some fruit for the girls and on the way home, Stefan wanted to stop at the cemetery to water the flowers of some acquaintances of his.  A lot of the graves here have gardens over them that family and friends tend.  They also have a candle vending machine on site. 

Back at Gundi’s house, we admired the window boxes and the view.  From her back yard, you can see Austria (the hills in the background below). 

We had more discussions around the dining table and enjoyed the smell of a plum cake that Gundi was baking.  We finally decided to call it a night a few minutes ago around 10:30 pm. 

The girls laid low and got an R&R day today which they needed since they are still recovering from their recent illness.  Tomorrow, we get to ride on the Autobon!