This story is part of a series.
Link to Part 1
Link to Part 2
Link to Part 3
Passau is an interesting little city in Lower Bavaria (Germany). Three rivers meet there so it’s like a miniature Pittsburg in some ways.
I was worried we’d get rained on that day but it stayed dry.
The days schedule included a guided walking tour in the morning. By this point Mrs. Kong and I had started skipping some of the guided tours to wander on our own. We’re both pretty fit and can cover a lot of ground in a day. Plus Mrs. Kong wanted to check out some of the shops in town.
The tours by necessity were geared towards the slowest person in the group, in this case an elderly Texan with a bad hip. I knew he was a Texan because he was one of those Texans who make sure you know right off the bat they’re from Texas. Everything’s bigger and better there dontcha know?
Got to have my coffee.
Not sure what church this is because we skipped the guided tour. I thought the architecture was interesting.
German cities are meticulously clean and this one was no exception.
Interesting little street with arches.
I’m a car guy and took a liking to this vintage Alfa Romeo. You don’t see a lot of vintage cars in Germany because I think the rules make if difficult to license one there.
We spent the morning wandering around, shopping and generally enjoying not being part of a guided tour. Pretty soon it was time for lunch. The food on the boat was excellent (and paid for already) but we decided we wanted a change of pace. In my book there is nothing better than a döner kebab.
To fully explain this gastronomical wonder requires a bit of history. After WWII Germany had a bit of a manpower shortage. In addition to combat losses and civilian deaths, a big chunk of their manpower would be in Soviet POW camps for years after the war.
Since Germany and Turkey had a long relationship going back at least to WWI, they brought in “Guest Workers” from Turkey. Many of whom stayed along with their descendants. They brought their food with them, which in my humble opinion was a good thing.
(Note that I am quite aware of racism/xenophobia towards Turkish immigrants and am deliberately choosing not to open that ugly can of worms here. )
Now while I don’t dislike German food, there are other things I’d rather eat so it’s usually not my first choice. Overall I find it meat-heavy and somewhat bland. Munich at one point was a regular trip for me and I mostly lived on pretzels and döner kebabs.
So what exactly is a döner kebab? It’s kind of a German-Turkish hybrid. Similar to a gyro except served on a soft bun and with the addition of red cabbage. The other great thing about them is they’re cheap and they’re all over Germany.
Yes folks, I can write half a page about a freakin’ sandwich and throw World War II into the mix!
The culinary wonder that is a döner kebab.
After lunch the rest of the passengers had signed up either for a side trip to Salzberg Austria or a tour of the Castle. Our friends did the Salzberg tour and said it was disappointing. Way too much about The Sound of Music and not much about Mozart we were told.
We didn’t tour the castle either. We’ve seen plenty of those over the years and we had something better in mind.
We had signed for “Bavaria by Bike” and it turns out we were the only ones who had signed up for it. We were driven by van to the other side of town where we met up with our guides.
There were two young guys and a fit looking man about my age named Horst who was running the show. We hit it off right away. When Horst saw me dressed in bike clothes he asked:
“Are you a cyclist?”
“Yes”
“Good!”
It was decided that Mrs. Kong and the two young guys would take the shorter while Horst and I would take the longer route and see what these e-bikes could do. We’d meet up at a beer garden on the Austrian side of the Inn (river) and then ride back together.
Horst and I set off on a gravel trail through the woods. In case you don’t know about e-bikes, these were “pedal assist” meaning that you still have to pedal it like a regular bike but the motor helps you go faster for the same effort. Mrs. Kong has something like this at home and it can really fly.
We hadn’t gone a kilometer yet when Horst taunted me “You know these can go faster”.
OK, challenge accepted!
So off we go, tearing through the magnificent Bavarian woods on gravel trails at 18 mph or so, which is as fast as I think I’d want to go on gravel. Didn’t take any pictures along the way for obvious reasons.
Horst knew where we were going, so I didn’t try to pass him. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it. I managed to stay on his back wheel the whole way. Or maybe he let me stay there. This guy was pretty damn good.
We made it to the beer garden well ahead of the other group, so time for a little libation. It’s important to stay hydrated when riding.
Whatever I might say about the food in Germany/Austria the beer is every bit as good as you imagine it would be.
I looked on a map and this is Wernstein am Inn (Wernstain on the Inn).
We were the only ones here. Might have been due to Covid.
Standing with one foot in Austria and the other in Germany across the Inn river.
That is the Kaiserliches Schloss Neuburg up on the hill. I only know this because I looked it up.
After a couple of excellent Hefeweizens (wheat beer) we rode back on a bike path that follows the Inn river back to Passau. Probably in violation of German law (and common sense) after drinking a couple beers. Don’t judge me.
The countryside in lower Bavaria is, well just look at it!
After we got back Horst thanked me for a “perfect ride”. I think he was happy that he got to go fast for once. I was certainly happy. This was one of the highlights of the trip for me.
Back in Passau.
Next stop on the trip would be Regensburg, Germany.
