I honestly would never have given Passau much thought, as I had only a few times heard the name, and didn't know much about it. However, around the end of July I had a wonderful little surprise when my friend Johanna, contacted me.
She was one of 4 German girls who were exchange students at my high school during my senior year, and became of my closest friends for those 10 months she was in the US. I hadn't heard from her in over a year, despite being facebook friends, and periodically catching eachother's updates and whatnot. But then she contacted me, realizing I was here in Stuttgart, and we exchanged German phone numbers and she told me she was going to school in Passau and I should come visit her, since it is not too far from Muenchen and it's a really pretty, old city.
Adventure!
It was settled.
I arrived in Passau (after a delay of 70 minutes when switching trains in Nuernberg!) around 3pm in the afternoon, and it was only a matter of minutes after deboarding the train and walking in the direction of the station exit, when I heard someone calling my name. There was Johanna. Apparently neither one of us has changed much in the last 4 years since we recognized eachother right away.
It was about a 10 minute walk through little pleasant city streets- mostly pedestrian zones- to her apartment. We spoke in German the way there and for at least the first hour after arriving, which was nice as I usually don't get the chance to do that, at least not with many native speakers.
Most of the afternoon we spent walking through the city. Johanna showed me the rathaus, and explained that she was only living in this apartment for 2 months because the flooding in June wiped out her other apartment, which was along the river bank--even though her apartment was on the 2nd story of the building!
view from her temporary apartment
We then walked or rather hiked to the very old Festung (fortress) on one side of the Donau River.
An important feature of Passau: It has 3 River: The Donau (Danube), the Ilz, and the Inn. All of these meet at one end of the city- which was right about where Johanna's flooded apartment is located. (The building is still standing, but the inside first and second floors are totally gutted )
Washed up debris from the flood that people turned into artwork. Notice there are a few whole wooden doors
Unfortunately, it was very very hot outside when I arrived, which made walking in the city in the afternoon a bit exhausting.
For dinner than night, we picked up some veggie-doenner type things (aka you pick up to 3 vegetarian spreads, like hummus or tzatziki and then roll it in a large tasty tortilla thing with veggies) and sat along the bank on the Inn River. It was really nice just to relax for once, and look at all the pretty old buildings, and to really catch up on the last 4 years.
That night, we looked at all the pictures Johanna had on her computer from her year in the US, remembering all kinds of crazy times and friends from high school.
***
The next day, we got up fairly early and decided to go on a boat ride. Johanna has been in Passau for 2 years, but she only went on a boat ride where there was a university student party on a boat ( I wish I could've been there for that!) I love boat tours, and so I convinced her we should do it. It was another hot day, but the breeze felt so nice, and the views of Passau were also lovely.
I hate my pose in this picture. I look so dumb, like I'm not really sure how to stand. ... oh well.
Krystallschiff! The arch thing on the side was completely covered in Swarovski crystals! ...We did not take a ride on that boat.
Not a great picture, I'll admit. I forgot to tell Johanna where the actual camera on my phone is, which is why is looks like she isn't looking in the right direction. And I wish I had taken off my sunglasses. ..Again, oh well.
Passau Rathaus
Yay! a nice picture
The different colored effect of the water is where the rivers are blending together. The right side dark waters are those of the Donau, and on the left is the Inn
Donau meeting the Inn
Rathaus again
In the afternoon, we decided to meet a couple of her friends and bike to a nearby farm. I hadn't ridden a bike in roughly 4 years, so yes I may have been a little crazy. I wasn't quite sure what I was getting myself into. It was something like 6 km or a half hour ride along the river. I will admit it was fairly awful, but I didn't want to tell anyone else there that and I tried to be as cheerful as possible despite feeling rather dead tired by the time we made it.
Fun fact: Passau borders Austria and the Czech Republic, and the boarders aren't officially marked, so we may have been in Austria?
At least my phone said so. It wouldn't let me text or call under my normal German plan because it was only getting signal from the Austrian phone network.
In anycase, the farm in known for "Most" (pronounced like moss but with a t on the end) which is basically apple cider. They serve it in half liters, and you can have it plain or "gespritzt" aka with sparkling water, or with a variety of flavor sprits/ natural flavors, such as mint or as we tried: Houlunder, which I learned is Elder. I really enjoyed it. Light, refreshing and fruity, but almost like champagne.
There were 5 of us there, and we spent about 2 hours at this little farm restaurant just sitting and chatting (all in German, which once more was very nice, considering I don't have the chance to do that too often) and we ALL laughed at the menu as it consisted of nearly all Austrian food items/descriptions that were foreign to ALL of us. (I think my Grandma would've been at home there)
The other attraction at this farm is cows. 2 barns of cows. Full grown and baby cows. When we were there, all of the cows were locked inside the barn in stalls, but I am sure that, as is the case with lots of farms in rural Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the cows have pretty free range of the farm most of the time.
I was happy I got to pet a baby cow!!!
It kept trying to lick me. I have no idea why. I know nothing about baby cows, except they are cute. (and called calfs)
Adult cow!
After we got back from the farm (the bike ride there was not nearly as bad) and had showered and rested for a little while, Johanna and I decided we wanted Sushi for dinner. So, we walked to the mall and picked up some sushi and this time went to the Donau river to sit and eat. It was another lovely relaxing evening.
We had also been discussing getting good dessert, and so we headed to the best hipserty bar place I have seen in Germany: Couch Café.
The menu says "Bar. Restaurant. Wohnzimmer" I believe. Which means "Bar. Restaurant. Living room."
I loved it. And I loved the chocolate cake that is super popular amoung Couch Café fans. And it comes with an ice cream cup--your choice of flavor-- of the brand "Das Eis" aka "The Ice Cream"
Somehow we ended up spending close to 2 hours just sitting and talking and enjoying delicious chocolate desserts, until it was almost 10pm.
Chocolate lava cake, with Johannesbeere and little drops of passionfruit syrup! And my cup of Espresso icecream :)
And it is a good thing we left when we did, because as soon as we stepped outside, we heard thunder and saw lightning and it was getting windy. Not more than 10 minutes after we made it back to Johannas apartment, it started raining. But at least the rain seemed to cool off the air.
Wednesday morning, we had to get up somewhat early again, so that I could be at the train station before 9:20 to catch my train to Muenchen.
Johanna was so sweet and made scrambled eggs with cherry tomatoes for breakfast.
I almost didn't want to leave Passau- a comforting little city, with so much history, a few neat shops and good company.
But, now it's a reason I'll be drawn back to visiting Germany again in the future.
