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Woke up this morning in Passau. Passau is known as the city of three rivers because the Danube is joined at Passau by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. We had a bus ride around Passau where we saw St. Stephen's Cathedral. With 17,774 pipes and 233 registers, the organ at St. Stephen's is the second largest church pipe organ in the world. St. Stephen's is a true masterpiece of Italian Baroque, built by Italian architect Carlo Lurago and decorated in part by Carpoforo Tencalla. It is also notable for its gothic and baroque architecture. The town is dominated by the Veste Oberhaus and the former fortress of the Bishop, on the mountain crest between the Danube and the Ilz rivers.
Then headed for Cesky Krumlov which is a small city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic, best known for the fine architecture and art of the historic old town and the Castle which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Construction of the town and castle began in the late 13th century at a ford in the Vltava River, which was important in trade routes in Bohemia. In 1302 the town and castle were owned by the House of Rosenberg. Emperor Rudolf II bought Krumlov in 1602 and gave it to his natural son Julius d'Austria. Emperor Ferdinand II gave Krumlov to the House of Eggenberg. From 1719 until 1945 the castle belonged to the House of Schwarzenberg. Most of the architecture of the old town and castle dates from the 14th through 17th centuries; the town's structures are mostly in Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque styles. The core of the old town is within a horseshoe bend of the river, with the old Latrán neighborhood and castle on the other side of the Vltava. During the interwar era it was part of Czechoslovakia. Between 1938 and 1945 it was annexed by Nazi Germany as part of the so-called Sudetenland. The town's German-speaking population was expelled after liberation by the American Army during World War II and it was restored to Czechoslovakia. During the Communist era of Czechoslovakia, Krumlov fell into disrepair, but since the Velvet Revolution of 1989 much of the town's former beauty has been restored. In August, 2002, the town suffered from damage in the great flood of the Vltava River. Český Krumlov Castle is unusually large for a town of Krumlov's size. Inside its grounds are a large rococo garden, an extensive bridge over a deep gap in the rock upon which the castle is built, and the castle itself, which in turn consists of many defined parts dating from different periods of time. After the garden was not adequately maintained during the second half of the 20th century, the site was included in the 1996 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund. With financial support from American Express the garden's central fountain was documented and reconstructed, and is functional today. Church of St. Vitus (Kostel Sv. Víta) is a Gothic church dating back to the 15th century with frescoes from the same period. Walking around this town was very interesting with beautiful old buildings and a sense of the historical times. The small cobbled streets and lanes were full of cafes, bars, souvenir shops and puppet shops. We had lunch in the square which was chicken, mash (which was potatoes, saurkraut and bacon) with a lovely berry mousse for desert. After lunch we walked up to the castle, by the entrance was an enclosure with two brown bears. Then we walked up and through the five courtyards and into the beautiful gardens. Incorporated in the gardens was a horse riding school and an outdoor theatre. The views along the way were amazing. We had afternoon tea in a small cafe in the Castle Gardens which was really unusual because you walked down into the cafe and there were no windows but little rooms with wood fires and an open bbq like kitchen. Back down the steep windy lanes to the bus. We crossed the border into Austria, did some duty free shopping and met our boat at Linz. Linz is the third largest city in Austria. We are only staying here for a few hours and could only see a little of the town. Three countries in one day.......................
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