Sunday morning, we said goodbye to the lovely resort in the mountains and headed to Passau along the Danube River. Of course, this required a couch ride of several hours but at least this time the coach was not as crowded so we had room to spread out.
We arrived and got settled into our rooms on the S.S. Maria Theresa – a beautiful ship with lots of mirrors. Our Cabin, #319, was beautifully appointed and had enough room for our luggage, a largish bathroom and a couple of chairs.
The afternoon was spent getting organized and understanding the Ship. Prior to dinner, there was a safety briefing and information for the coming day. One of the guests on board is the CEO of UniWorld ,Ellen Bettridge. She, along with our Cruise director Rik, did the big ‘reveal’ for the following days adventure.
A trip to the St. Florian Monastery. Saint Florian is the patron saint of firefighters. Legend says that during his life Saint Florian put out a massive fire with only one bucket of water, saving a village from ruin.
The monastery, named after Saint Florian, was founded in the Carolingian period. Since 1071 it has housed a community of Augustinian Canons, and is thus is one of the oldest operational monasteries in the world following the Rule of St. Augustine.
Between 1686 and 1708 the monastery complex was reconstructed in Baroque style.
During our visit to the Monastery of St. Florian, we had the opportunityto hear the “Bruckner organ” – one of the most famous church organs in the world. The organ was crafted between 1770 and 1774 by the priest and organ builder Franz Xaver Krismann from Slovenia. After several renovations and enlargements, the organ features 103 organ stops (timbres) and 7.386 pipes today.
It commemorates the great Austrian composer Anton Buckner (1824-1896), whose name it has been bearing since 1930. Buckner started out as a choirboy in the monastery of St. Florian and worked there as a teacher and organist from 1845 until 1855. In his later years, he spent his summers in St. Florian and played the organ on festive occasions. He is buried in the crypt right underneath the organ, as he desired.
Attached to the Church are two very important areas – a Library and the Marble Room. It houses a very large library holding about 130,000 items including many manuscripts. The gallery contains numerous works of the 16th and 17th centuries, but also some late medieval works of the Danube School.
The other major area was the Marble Room. This very large ball room was beautiful with LOTS of marble and a lovely painted ceiling.
After our tour of the church, we went to taste several different apple wines (or liquors). It was interesting to smell and taste the three or four different samples they provided. Not something I will be adding to my cellar anytime soon however.
Back on the ship, and prior to dinner, we had our big ‘reveal’ for the following day. A visit to a Castle and a chance to meet the count.