It was a rainy day today but we put on our rain jackets and went into Passau to do some dirndl shopping. I have been riding in the back with the girls during this part of our trip. 

We went to Moser which is a trachten (traditional costume) store.  They had a nice selection and though they were expensive, they are well made and made of quality fabrics.  Their seams are sewn in a way that they can be let out as a child grows.  Nova found a dirndl she liked and Esme got a necklace.

We went to McDonald’s for lunch.  They had free balloons and the girls each got a shake with their food.  The adults shared “shaker fries” which is an order of fries that comes with a seasoning packet and a bag.  You dump everything into the bag and shake it up before eating them.

At 12:30 we met Tobias and Eva downtown.  Eva is an official city tour guide and also Laura’s roommate.  Laura is Stefan’s daughter/Tobi’s sister.  The first place she took us was a place called “Hell’s Alley”.  This area is mostly inhabited by artists.  Many of the street level apartments can’t be used for living space because the city forbids living here because of the floods so instead the units are small store fronts, art studios or storage. 

The next two photos show the levels of some of the historic floods.  The meters listed are meters above sea level.  When the area floods, mud is deposited where the flood was, leaving a big mess to clean up. 

Next we looked at the fortress from afar.   It’s a museum now but it used to protect the city from invasion.

This is city hall.  Passau’s history dates back to Roman times where it was a colony important on trade routes. Later a Holy Roman monastery was established here and a government which gave the bishops political power was established.  The people caught for the right to self govern and lost repeatedly but each time the “prince-bishops” gave them a token item like letting them have a town hall or a mayor, even if they gave them no real power to govern. 

Passau is located on the Danube River (called Danau in German) at the confluence of the Inn and Ilz Rivers (hence the tendency to flood).  The Danube is “blue”, the Inn is green and the Ilz is black. We got to see the Danube and the Inn on our tour.

This fountain was placed here, below the balcony of the “prince-bishops” when their political power was stripped from them.  It has an angel to represent each of the three rivers and depicts Mary in the center. 

Last, we saw St. Stephen’s Cathedral.  It was originally constructed in the gothic style but after a major fire, was reconstructed using baroque styling.  You can see evidence of both styles in its current state. 

After our tour, we went to the stables where Laura keeps her horse.  The girls both fell asleep on the ride.  Laura’s horse is named Nera and she is a Spanish horse.  We got to brush her and give her treats.  Laura rode her first and then Nova and I got a chance to ride as well.  Esme was not interested in riding today.

We also got to visit with this donkey who was super friendly.

On the way home, we stopped for landjager (a smoked/dried sausage that my mom and I like).  I couldn’t help but notice these sliced meats they were offering which included mushrooms, hazelnuts, and even broccoli.

Gundi was at work today and when we got back, she had made spaghetti sauce from scratch.  She is super crafty and makes everything from clothes to cakes to jellies.  We ate dinner and the girls tried on their dirndls to show Gundi.  We also took some more pictures of them in the dresses now that Nova has hers as well. 

Nova and Esme also wanted some silly shots so enjoy these self-posed shots as well.  The Nacktschnecke (slugs) were out in abundance after today’s rain which thrilled Nova and she felt they were also deserving of their own photo shoot.