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Regensburg Germany was to be our last day on the boat. We would travel on to Nuremberg by bus. While there is a canal that links Nuremberg to the Danube, it was either too shallow for our ship or the bridges were too low for it to pass under. I forget which.
Well preserved Medieval bridge completed in 1146 (I looked it up)
Regensburg is a small city in Bavaria that has a well preserved medieval center. It became a wealthy city back in the day because it had a bridge across the Danube, which was very big deal in the Middle Ages. That put it squarely on the trade route to Venice (which was a country in those days and a big trade center as well). Long story short, Regensburg had money.
If this classic Rolls Royce is any indication, Regensburg still has money.
Regensburg also had a Jewish population at the time, until the First Crusade came through in 1096 and they were either killed or forcibly converted. That sort of thing was pretty common in Europe during the Middle Ages.
So anti-Semitism in Germany didn’t get started with you-know-who.
While we’re on that particular subject, the streets and some of the buildings in the old city have these little plaques which mark where a Jewish person lived until the goddamnazis got hold of them.
My German is a bit rusty but I got “interrogated by the Gestapo” and “dead”. Nazi Bastards.
OK, enough of that for now. We’ll have plenty more to talk about when we get to Nuremberg.
(Whispers quietly) “Honey, I’m not sure this is what Jesus had in mind.”
We’ve seen plenty of cathedrals by this point but I wanted to point out the scaffolding on this one. These old structures require almost constant maintenance to keep up.
I think this was a sign for a tavern. Across from the cathedral. At least they had all the bases covered.
I think there was once a wall around the city and this was part of it.
Huge mural of David and Goliath on the side of a historic building.
Despite having an aircraft factory and an oil refinery, Regensburg made it through WWII with relatively little damage.
Town Hall
Now I thought this was pretty interesting. Back in the days before sensible things like the Metric System they used weird units of measure like the Hogshead, the Furlong and the Kingsmember* (what, you thought it was the length of his foot?).
*Yes, I made that one up. No, I’m not apologizing.
Apparently each city had its own set of weights and measures. These are the official units for Regensburg.
I don’t know these people.
Don’t quote me but I think this building was a university at one time.
At least they only put the graffiti on the modern buildings.
I think this clock tower was attached to City Hall.
Nice little shopping district.
OK, let’s talk about the important stuff: food and beer.
Germany is known for sausages and in Germany Regensburg is especially known for sausages. In Regensburg, the “Sausage Kitchen” is apparently the place for sausages.
If you visit the Sausage Kitchen, a word of warning. They have table service and they also have a to-go line. If you want to learn a few interesting new words in German, order from the to-go line and then attempt to sit down at a table. Ask me how I know this.
I’d say there’s an upper limit on how good sausage and sauerkraut can be, but this was it.
Beer in Germany is every bit as good as you think it would be. Of course, American beer has improved drastically in the decades since microbrewing migrated to the rest of the country from Seattle and Portland.
Today we live in a golden age of beer, but it wasn’t always so.
I’m old enough to remember when there were something like six beers in the US and they all tasted about the same. If you can tell a difference between Schlitz and Miller you have a much more refined palate than I do.
That afternoon we had signed up for a “Microbreweries of Bavaria” tour.
The Germans are very serious about beer. Each type of beer has its own glass.
The stuff in wine glasses was also some kind of beer that I don’t remember. It all got hazy after a while.
Brewer explaining the process to us. His English was of course perfect.
This was our guide for the beer tour.
Now, I don’t care who you are, a 100-pound Bavarian woman can probably drink you under the table. I think that mug holds a full liter of beer and she was putting ‘em away!
That night the cumulative effect of too much beer, sausage and sauerkraut got to us. Neither one of us got sick but we were definitely feeling it. Any more and I’d have been leaning over the railing and feeding the fish in the Danube.
The next morning we’d be getting on a bus and driving to Nuremberg.
Last breakfast on the boat.
