After the rain stopped and we dried off and had lunch back on the boat, we boarded a bus and headed to nearby Scharding, Austria. I had never heard of Scharding but we loved it as well as the drive over there.
Scharding has been inhabited since the neolithic period. It was a major port on the Inn River benefitting from its location to become a center of trade. The Bavarian family Wittelsbach owned the town until 1779 and that ownership is reflected in the town’s beautiful Bavarian architecture. Since then it has changed hands many times and eventually the town was pawned back to Bavaria.
We walked on a footbridge over this parking lot after we left the bus and I just thought it was so pretty.
This statue was in a fountain in the town square. From the back side it looked like the Hunchback of Notre Dame but when I went around to the front side, I saw that he appears to be saving a small child. Sorry I have no more info.
These buildings were down from the town square and there were similar ones around the town square.
I loved this building with all of its detail. All of the buildings were beautiful colors and, most amazing, they all looked like they had been freshly painted.
All of the guys had to have their pictures taken with this knight’s armor. From the look on his face, apparently it’s painful.
This cobblestone-covered alley ran down and opened at the river’s edge.
At the top of that arch in the photo above is a measure of the water height of the river in past centuries. The line at the top is during this century.
One of the houses we passed overlooking the water had a cannon in their front yard. I hope it was for ornamental purposes only.
This lovely building across the river is now a publicly-run private school. Private schools help students below their grade levels reach the levels of their classmates in public schools.
Another lovely view of the river.
After our visit to Scharding, our tour group took a cruise on this old barge on one of the Danube’s tributaries. They served pretzels and several kinds of beers for us to try. Some of us got a little raucus but it was great fun.
Our Viking River Cruise 
I love the thought behind the publicly ran private school. We need something like that here desperately.
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Looks like Scharding was great fun. Uncle Bobby makes an excellent knight doesn’t he?
I wonder why a country as progressive as ours can’t come up with better ideas regarding the schooling of our children too.
I really like all these pictures, they would make great puzzles.
I found the little red tour barge interesting too – not much like the barges I see here on the “ mighty muddy Ohio river” everyday.
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