Things some love and others don't. Example: Passau organ concert

Before our very first cruise, which was the Viking Grand European, we had two couples over for dinner who had both taken the cruise at different times. We spent two hours talking about what they saw and what they liked and what they didn't like. The funniest came when we got on the subject of the organ concert in Passau.

A guy from one of the couples said the concert went on forever and he didn't think he would ever be able to escape while the woman from the other couple said she thought the concert was nice and pretty short.

When my wife and I heard the concert later, I thoroughly enjoyed it when my wife thought it was OK.

For the record Viking described it thus: "... baroque St. Stephen’s Cathedral with its ornate interior. Inside, you are treated to a special concert played on the 17,000-pipe organ, considered Europe’s largest church organ."

At any rate, what is certain, is that the church itself was magnificent. See pictures below:

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I must admit I was not crazy about the Marksberg Castle. Perhaps it is because I have seen so many castles over the years and this one didn't stand out to me as all that unique or interesting in furnishings or decor. We took the exterior stairway up to it and all the way back down as well. I thought the stairway was somewhat dangerous for the elderly who were on our tour as well as the knight's stairway within the entrance of the castle.

At any rate, of all the tours we went on on our Castles of the Rhine cruise, this is the tour I would have preferred to skip and perhaps spent the time relaxing onboard the SS Antoinette instead with some tea.

Interesting thoughts.

I went to Passau St. Stephen's church and while all that southern German Baroque is impressive, it is a bit too ornate for me. I did not hear the organ recital and must admit I would not go out of my way for it. I find choirs in churches in general more impressive and easier to listen too. I once went to an organ recital in Poland. It was great but again I would not have been sad if I had missed it.

Marksburg castle is lovely and a very good example of medieval life but I can understand if people think "I have seen it all before". It is too much my home turf too think if I might leave it out on a river cruise. Hmm... If I wanted to do something else instead I would not know what. It depends a little on the itinerary (morning or afternoon, upstream or downstream) but seeing Ehrenbreitstein fortress is quite a unique experience. But then again if you know Dover castle in England you might think you do not need to see Ehrenbreitstein. In Koblenz there are some hidden things that are interesting: The military museum, the "fish stairs" experience and the railway museum spring to mind. One could even - when travelling downstream - take the train from Braubach (the dock for Marksburg castle) to Koblenz and have a bit more free time. Or even just stay in the village Braubach itself. But relaxing on the boat, especially in good weather, sounds very nice, too.

Talking of castles, my favourite one in the area is Schloss Bürresheim (medieval with later extension). A bit difficult to get to from a river cruise dock but not impossible, 35 min. by car from Koblenz. Though I would say that as regards architecture Burg Eltz near the Moselle is more impressive.

notamermaid

We were on Viking's Passau to Budapest cruise in April 2016 and there was an asterisk on our cruise information pointing out that the organ concerts weren't always available which was the case on our cruise. I was very disappointed. While not a musician, I do enjoy music and as an architect, know that hearing a classical piece in the type of spaces for which they were written is always interesting (at least to me). Luckily, after our initial tour of the cathedral we happened to be passing back by it and realized mass was underway, so we were able to slip in the back and discretely:halo: enjoy the organ AND the choir!:D

I must admit I was not crazy about the Marksberg Castle. Perhaps it is because I have seen so many castles over the years and this one didn't stand out to me as all that unique or interesting in furnishings or decor. We took the exterior stairway up to it and all the way back down as well. I thought the stairway was somewhat dangerous for the elderly who were on our tour as well as the knight's stairway within the entrance of the castle.

 

 

 

At any rate, of all the tours we went on on our Castles of the Rhine cruise, this is the tour I would have preferred to skip and perhaps spent the time relaxing onboard the SS Antoinette instead with some tea.

My wife has mobility issues so she skipped the very steep walk up to the castle. While I agree that it wasn't my favorite castle either, my biggest disappointment was that it was pouring down rain so I was unable to take any pictures from the castle to the river below which would've been spectacular on a clear day.

Here are a couple of poor quality pictures I took that day to illustrate.

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We were Passau on a Sunday so no organ concert because mass was going on. We are active so sitting in a church listening to an organ is not why we go on vacation.

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We did the concert in the Passau's St. Stephen's cathedral in December of 2016. The church is lovely. There are five organs in this church which are played from one area. We were told to sit in the middle of the church underneath vents in the ceiling so we could hear the different organs played. It was very cold in the church. Everyone left there coats on. My husband took off his hat and was very cold. This was an opportunity we would not have in the United States so we glad we went.

We are among those who enjoyed the St. Stephens organ concert, but we like that sort of thing.

Experiences on two other rivers we didn't enjoy but many have:

On the Rhine, the Schloss Vollard wine tasting in Rudesheim, but we aren't oenophiles - instead we should have taken the cable car up to the Niederwald Monument on our own and walked down through the vineyards.

On the Rhone, the steam train out of Tournon through the Ardeche Forest, which was 1 1/2 very uncomfortable hours jolting down the tracks on wooden seats. Many complained of sore backs afterwards. But some enjoyed the scenery.

Every other excursion on our several river cruises have been wonderful in their own ways, so we have no complaints!