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The field trip to Kloster Weltenburg is one of my favorites, and I take it whenever I can.    Normally we visit the Befreiungshalle first, then hike out to the Kloster (a pleasant wooded walk of 5km or so), have a nice dunkeles Bier, and sail back to Kelheim. 

This time it was still the early season, though, which meant that the ships weren't sailing so late and the Befreiungshalle was closing early.   We had to sail up and drive back, and we got to the Befreiungshalle just at closing time -- the guard was nice enough to let us in, though.

Sailing Down The Danube

The Befreiungshalle recedes behind us as we leave Kelheim.	We sail past the "little cloister" which has a chapel that is built into the cliff face...	...through the "Donaudurchbruch"...
...until we reach the Cloister itself.	Here are some of the students up on deck as we arrive.

Kloster Weltenburg

Highwater marks from past floods are recorded on the outside wall of the Kloster. I proposed to Thea in Regensburg during the 1999 floods (we were in a hotel near the river, but we stayed dry).	The artwork in the small Baroque chapel is fabulous.	Including this trompe l'oeil dome.

Befreiungshalle

The Befreiungshalle was built by King Ludwig I to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon.

The first thing you notice when you walk into the Befreiungshalle are the statues.	Then you look up and notice the dome overhead.
A stairwell behind the statues leads up to the observation deck.	And on the way up, you can get a closer look at some of the details.

Once we got to the top (and caught our breath) we took a group photo.	It's about 38 meters from the observation deck to the ground below.	The river is much further down than that, though. This is an eagles-eye view of the small cloister we sailed past on the way to Weltenburg.

Then it was back dowstairs, past the statues...	...and out to the front steps.	Then a leisurely stroll...
...past that field to an observation point.	Pause for another group photo.	Admire the view of the Donau...
...and of the Befreiungshalle. And then back to the cars, and home.