As the river would not allow the boat to go further along our path, UniWorld arrange a Coach tour into the Bavarian Forest. 
This was a nice alternative and included a site seeing tour along the route, a horse drawn coach adventure through the forest, a visit to a glass museum, 
a glass factory and a lovely lunch.
After we returned we packed up for tomorrows trip to Prague and had the Captian’s Farewell Dinner. 
All and all a very nice day.
Regensburg is situated at the confluence of the Danube, Naap and Regen Rivers and is the 4th largest city in the State of Bavaria in Germany. The medieval center of the city is 2,000 years old having been originally settled by the Romans. Many of the buildings have been restored and the entire city is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and thus is protected from any changes being made. We visited this city during our last adventure to this part of the world and I was looking forward to returning for a visit.
Between 1135 and 1146, the Stone Bridge (so called as it is made of stones across the Danube was built. It is undergoing a renovation to restore the road surface and walls so we could not walk the entire length of it only a portion. This bridge opened major international trade routes between northern Europe and Venice and this began Regensburg’s golden age as a residence of wealthy trading families as it provided a major access point across the river. 
Wealthy merchants would build towers to impress – not for any other function. There are still a number that are evident throughout the city.
After our guided tour we stopped in for a nice lunch – with beer of course.
Along the banks of the Danube is the oldest Sausage Kitchen originally felt to have stated with the building of the Stone Bridge around 1146 – and is notable as perhaps the oldest continuously open public restaurant in the world. We stopped for a Sausage prior to rejoining our group for the return to the boat.
Just before we got to Passau, we had a lock to pass and a spillway – which I believe is a generating power plant. This lock was about the separate from Austria to Germany. 
Once we docked, I noticed this canoe group bailing out the rain water that was making their trip quite an adventure. 
Why you would want to canoe on this river is beyond me. Altho, there was a group of our fellow passengers who decided to do a bike adventure – 17 miles – from our last port of call to Passau arriving just before lunch. Gloria, our friend from North Carolina was part of this group – it rained virtually the entire time of their ride. 
Again, not sure why this group did this but they all said it was fantastic and thAfter docking in Passau, which is situated in Germany along the Austrian border and lies at the confluence of the Danube, Inn and Ilz rivers. Known as the Three Rivers City, it is overlooked by the Veste Oberhaus, a 13th-century hilltop fortress housing a museum and observation tower. The old town below is known for its baroque architecture, including St. Stephen’s Cathedral, featuring distinctive onion-domed towers and an organ with 17,974 pipes. We arrived late morning and after lunch boarded the bus for a tour of the city.
From the hilltop fortress we could see down to the city and the various buildings and see how the rivers converge on this city.
After returning to the boat we learned there was a significant high water issue and we may not be able to proceed further. Time will tell on this issue – tomorrow we head to Regensburg.
We motored along the river, passing lovely little villages like Durnstein
as we found our way to Spitz for a day tour of this little village.
We started off with a visit to a nautical museum – showing the various boats used on the Danube over the years and how they moved these boats both down stream – easy of course – and upstream – very hard for sure. 
To bring the boats back up river they would use horses to pull them – and depending on the size of the boat there could be up to 100 or so horses all linked together. Needless to say, not a rapid process of moving along.
They even built a large sailing ship in an attempt to work their way up and down the river. This model included the ‘poop’ deck at the bow.
After our tour, we walked through the little village of Spitz – fortunately it was Sunday so all the shops (of which there were very few) were closed. It was interesting, however, how the Village has created a wall they can install along the river bank to protect them from flooding As you can see by this picture, they have had a bit of a problem with high water over the years. 
The high water marks along this building were very telling – we were about 5 feet above the current water level of the river already. To try and save the village they created a barricade wall they can install along the bank of the river. This is a removal iron wall that takes a couple days to install but certainly makes a difference in the safety of the village.
This is the starting point of the wall and insets between the concrete column in the above picture along the curb wall along the river.
Once completed with our adventures in town we returned to the boat for a little wine tasting of local wines. The primary wines are all whites – with Gruner Veltlier being the primary varietal. This was a pleasant tasting and had the wine shop been open I would have picked up a bottle or two. The wines we tasted are only available locally. 
For lunch we enjoyed a light repast on the Sun Deck of the ship – very pleasant.
By late afternoon on Thursday we were underway – heading towards Vienna some 300 Kilometers away. There is something peaceful about cruising along the river with beautiful hillsides, small villages and vineyards along the way. The further along we went the more dramatic the scenery – steeper hillsides, terraced vineyards, castle ruins.
As we got close to Vienna, we went through our second lock (the first was at 1AM so I didn’t take any pictures).
With still 1 1/2 hours to Vienna, there was still lots to see along the shore. This place looked like a nice weekend cottage – maybe it’s a AirBNB.
Further along was a freight area and train yard.
As we drew to our dock in Vienna, this church – Saint Francis of Assisi. 
Once we were all docked and organized, we got on the bus for the tour of Vienna including a visit to the Opera House. Along the Ring Road – where the moat and wall used to be located around the city is now the major road that circles the inner city. The City is a mix of old and new – all depending on what was destroyed during WW II.
We were dropped off and walked past this lovely fountain
The Opera House was significantly damaged during WW II – a bomb fall through the roof into the audience area destroying all the boxes and stage. It was rebuilt but can never recapture the original grandeur of the original.
The Theatre cycles a different event every day – with about 10 different things happening every two weeks. That means, every day they have to break down the stage and resent – could be opera, could be ballet, could be a concert.
After we had our tour of the Opera House, we walked around the shopping area and eventually we stopped for a sweet and a beverage.
I had the Chocolate and Janeen had the Apricot. Both were out of this world.
On the way back to the boat, I took this picture of a floating swimming pool in the canal next to the river. 
I also did a quick grab picture of this hardware store. Note the display on the right side of the window. 
After dinner we headed out again – this time to the abbey of Klosterneuburg. This abbey was built 1000 years ago and is still maintained by the church. About 5 years ago they had the exterior of the buildings cleaned – really making them beautiful. As part of our tour we went into the Church, along some various hallways, saw some relics and the monks private garden.
The trip to the abbey was really for a concert of Mozart and Strauss music. 
After a very full day, we got back to the boat and off we went again along the Danbue. I was sorry we didn’t have more time in Vienna but I can certainly see us coming back here again sometime.