Night 3: Wachau Valley Cruise

We left Passau and cruised through the Wachau Valley. It's a deep wooded valley with all Bavarian buildings along both banks. We cruised all night under a beautiful full moon.

We reached Krems Austria in the morning, but there were too many boats already docked, so we headed back upriver to a little village called Ybbs.

 

Day 3: Passau

For Day 3, the boat moved from the backwater dock in Passau to the main city dock. We hopped off and explored the town on foot.

We stopped for a snack at a traditional German pub. Nothing like a cold beer when it's 95 outside.

Passau has some magnificent structures on top of the hill opposite the main town. It's a 420 foot elevation gain on the hike up, but worth the view of the city. The city is at the confluence of the Inn and Danube rivers. The Inn flows down from Salzburg at the foot of the Alps and it milky white-green from the glacial sediment. The Danube is normal brown river color. The salt trade flowed down the Inn and from Passau could go in both directions on the Danube.

 

Day 2: Regensburg

Our first real stop was Regensburg, where were supposed to embark. It's a beautiful medieval town built on top of an old Roman fortification on the Danube.

Our walking tour included bonus material about the Jewish history of the city. During some construction, a 12-century synagogue was discovered. This is a reconstruction of its foundation.

We had lunch at the oldest brewery in Europe. Monks have been brewing beer here since 1050. Our food discovery of the day was sliced cold potatoes under a green salad. It was unexpected and delicious.

 

Day 1: Getting to the boat.

We flew from Chicago to Munich and arrived around noon. By three, we had traveled by bus and made it to the boat.

Our cruise was supposed to being in Regensburg, Germany, but due to the water level being low, we boarded in Passau. The boat was docked at an out of the way parking space and there was no real way to get off and sightsee. We were tired enough that exploring our new surroundings on the boat and having dinner was plenty for that day.

ORD Supercomputer

We passed thru O'Hare on our way to Germany. We have not been there in years! The brontosaurus is still there, but he's wearing a United Airlines shirt.

Why don't we have this guy at MSP??

This is an IBM quantum computer. It's fascinating to look at, as it is very physical and old-school Jules Verne-ish. 

 

Heavy Bookcase

JP found an incredible deal on a beautiful walnut bookcase. We thought it would fit in the Honda. Nope. So we went downtown and I got GP's truck while he was at work and we summoned CP to come help us load it. It took all three of us to get it into the truck and back out.

 

Smoky Sky

We had  a bright blue sky for the morning swim.

By the afternoon swim, the forest fire smoke had settled in and downtown was barely visible.

 

New Homeowner

CP closed on his new home!!

It's a beautiful townhouse in a nice quiet & clean neighborhood.

 

Construction Begins

July 16th kicked off the physical aspect of the Oliver Ave. Storm Sewer Project.

 

Smoke on the Water

We went for a sunset cruise on Lake Minnetonka with some friends and watched a wall of forest fire smoke roll in from the east. It looked almost like a desert dust storm approaching; clear on one side and yucky on the other. The smoldering campfire smell hit almost immediately.

It did make for a beautiful orange-sky sunset.

 

Tree Fences

The city put up a bunch of fencing around the trees. It's good to see that they are intentional about keeping the trees out of harm's way. I was worried that between the parkway and the lake they would remove a couple of the large oak trees. I looks like they should be out of the way.

 

Sunrise Guy

Our sunrise guy has been mostly at the north beach this summer. He came back for a couple of days.

 

Preconstruction - Oliver & Parkway

This is where Oliver Ave. meets the parkway. It's about 25 feet above the lake. This will be where the storm sewer project begins.

Hopefully the project won't disrupt the neighborhood too much. 

 

Wienerfest 2026

We hosted Wienerfest for the first time since the old owners D&S moved out. They came over and we all had a fun time eating hot dogs and brats. AK made up the signs for the event; she is sooo talented!

 

Paddleboard

When there's no wind, there's no better place to be than on the paddleboard. We have wheeled trolleys for them and it's fairly easy to walk them to the lake. I tried taking S along, but he told me that I don't paddle like his mom does, so he got upset and tipped us over to make it more exciting.

It's a challenge to get on the water for a sunrise, but sunsets are easy.

 

Happy Hour

Our main office is only a mile from CP's so when I work there I can stop for a beer with him and wait for rush hour to die down. CP knows all the happy hour specials. This time it was Taco Tuesday at Fat Pants Brewing. 

 

Alley Flood

The 4th of July was quiet due to a massive storm front that moved thru. The alley filled up and floated the trash cans. Hopefully the alley storm sewer project will take care of this. It's not a big deal other than the trash that floats free washes down the drain straight to the lake.

 

Views on the Lake

The kayak is proving to be a lot of fun. It's easy to get around the lake, even when it's windy.

Everything takes on a new perspective when viewed from the water. This duck followed me for an hour. She tried to eat all of my lures. I tried shooing her off, but she wouldn't leave me alone.

 

New Fishing Tackle

I hit Scheel's clearance section and restocked the tackle box with fresh gear. Most of what's in it was from when the boys were little. 

I figured I'd start with baby fish and then work my way up.

 

Bell Tower Reno

The bell tower on Mt. Olivet is undergoing some renovation this summer. There are plans to tear down the chapel across the street and put in a community center / beer hall, but the details are scarce. My guess is that the project will be done at the same time 50th is closed for the alley storm sewer project in 2027.