Passau

July 21, 2005

Passau is about 2.5 hours from Cesky Krumlov. It’s a really beautiful ride to Passau, passing through a long lake, rolling pastures, forests, and a few quaint towns. Passau is at the confluence of three great rivers - the Ilz, the Inn, and the Donau (aka the Danube).

 

Here we are at the junction of the three rivers. The current looks really strong. One thing about the German countryside - it’s more orderly than the Czech countryside - but it’s also more sterile! Eg - one gets the sense that German houses are only allowed to have certain colors, or certain roofing materials, or specific styles. That’s not bad, and it looks very pretty. But the Czech houses though seem to be more varied - and I personally find the Czech countryside to be more charming!

In fact, I think Prague is even prettier than Paris. Prettier because of all that baroque architecture that one doesn’t find in Paris. The architectural landscape is just more diverse, and somehow that gives Prague more individuality - and more character.

And here we are running into some locals in an Oompah band wearing lederhosen. What could be more German than that?