Passau to Passau Tuesday May 23rd

 When I got up this morning I was undecided whether to stay for the day or head off early and hope to avoid the forecast thunderstorm. In the end because of my need to buy gas and lube and adjust my bike and try to send a hundred photos to my blog, I decided it was better to explore Passau this morning and shelter from the rain this afternoon. So far at 14.00 it has been sunny all morning and there is no sign of a storm except that the wind is getting up from the west. That would be a tail wind for the first time and I am sitting typing instead of enjoying its help.

the confluence of the Danube and the Inn

Passau is really interesting. It sits on three rivers - Dunube, Inn and Irst which come together to more than double the volume of water flowing down the Danube. I was glad to have made an early start. I was having coffee in one of the main squares at 08.30. I got about an hour and a half of quiet meandering before the "ants" arrived from the cruise ships.

 Horde after horde of Cruise ship tourists. So I decided that the quietest spot would be just beside where the cruise ship was berthed. It was close to where the confluence of the Danube and the Inn is. It is remarkable because the water from the two rivers is a different colour. The Danube of course is blue and the Inn which comes from the Alps is white because it has passed over so much limestone.

Once I got fed up competing for photo spots I sat down on a busy corner to people watch and to upload as many photos as I could under the Cafe Fiona's free but slowish wifi.I passed a pleasant two hours there chatting to an old couple from Munich who were in Passau on holiday and four Americans from Southern California who were on the last day of their Danube cruise. They couldn't quite get their heads around my cycling further than they had cruised but wished me well anyway.

The Aussies have just returned from visiting Passau castle which they assure me is worth the hard climb to get there for the fabulous view. I may have to see if they are right. A French couple whom I met in Staubing , Serge and Martine have just arrived and I was able to give them a quick tour of the facilities and tell them that reception opens at 17.00. 

I managed to buy gas for my stove today. It is the first time that I have found a suitable store in more than a week. The Aussies had had the same problem until someone told them about a chain Globetrotter Depot which has stores in town centres. I was outside at 09.30 waiting for it to open. It was really well eqipped not unlike Tiso. The guy was knowledgable and I felt confident that I had the correct gas with the correct fitting

I decided to brave the climb to the castle despite it being 22% for several hundred metres. The castle was impressive but the views were stunning. From this height you could clearly see the phenomenon of the two colours of water mixing as they flowed downstream. A group of six Americans from the cruise ship had made it this far. We got chatting and it became clear that they were cyclists who had considered the Donauradweg. They asked me sensible questions then revealed that they are going to cycle the North Coast 500 in July. I told them about Avon Stay Soft but didn't say too much about the "wee beasties"

On my way back down from the castle I met a young lady pushing her bike up the hill with bare feet (her cycle shoes were useless on such a steep hill) The castle was nice but NOT that nice.

When I got back Brigitte and Bertrand were putting up their tent next to mine; we are now on warm hugging terms. 

distance cycled so far:    776kms