Day 159, 10 December 2012, Austria cruising to Passau (the town of the Three Rivers - Danube, Ilz and Inn), Lower Bavaria / Germany. A sleep in, a late breakfast - utter luxury. Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow is the theme song for today's cruise - we woke to snow covered banks, ghostly trees and the sound of snow shovels clearing the sun (snow) deck. We passed along the Danube at the point it forms the border between Austria and Germany. Snow boots were the order of the day when we reached Passau (we had to make do with our knee high, sheepskin, ugg boots). We arrived in Passau and picked our way through snow and ice for a walk around the old town and the Christmas market.

Passau was settled more than 2000 years ago by the Celts then the Romans. By the 10th century the bishops were ruling Passau (and that lasted 600 odd years until the Reformation). Adolf Hitler was in Passau as a child when his father worked there and even Mozart performed an organ recital there at the ripe old age of six (for which he was paid approximately $2 of today's money). St Stephen's Dom / Cathedral was first established in the 8th century in the highest part of the town and was rebuilt in the Italian Baroque style after the town fire of 1662. We visited the Dom (though must admit the cathedrals are starting to merge in our minds). We were interested to learn that the floors are white and the walls ornate - which apparently means we are supposed to live simply on earth while looking up toward the splendour that awaits us in heaven. (Also interesting - it has the world's largest cathedral organ with 17,974 pipes).

The highlight of the day was not the sleep in, or the cruising, or even pretty Passau - it was the special entertainer in the lounge after dinner (pictured) - Meet Hm pa pa man - Hansi O'Marusch. The moustache is REAL. Once we stopped staring at that we realised what an incredible musician he was - accordian, brass, clarinet, drums - and that was all before he got some cruisers helping out with washboards and other instruments. Hansi's answer to everything was "no problem" - even at the end - in response to raucous calls for encores, he said "No Problem!" and produced his CD... Hansi fun at home for only €10. Bargain.