Regensburg
We’ve spent a wonderful couple of days reconnecting with our friends Chris and Tom. How great are they? They dressed up in lederhosen (despite the 30 degree day) and took us to a typical biergarten because we will miss Oktoberfest due to COVID. Not only that, but they somehow conned/co-erced/bribed/threatened two of their friends to dress up in traditional costumes too – thanks Mike and Jana for your sacrifices!
Jarrah quickly got into the swing of German life with a litre of Radler (beer shandy) and we enjoyed yummy typical German fare for dinner.
Regensburg is an exceptionally quaint town with cobbled streets, narrow alleyways, colourful buildings and wonderful food.
On our first full day, we took a tour that we can highly recommend: “Urtz’s Special Walking Tour of Regensburg”! Was definitely worth every dollar and more!
Although our guide arrived 30 mins late and slightly hungover, and a lot of the commentary was littered with “Archduke Whatever”, “Duchess Somebody” and “I wanna say 1200?” (apparently he “doesn’t do years”), he knows Regensburg and all the best spots. He quickly redeemed himself with stories of how chains still in situ were used to defend the city, the legend surrounding the building of the bridge across the Danube as well as many others.
We saw amongst many other historical and scenic places, St Peters Cathedral, St Thomas Catholic Church and St Emmeram’s Abbey. The latter being the most ornate of them all, complete with amazing frescoes, gold everything and even a private indoor balcony for royalty.
Our guide pointed out a small square brass (?) plate on the pavement outside a house. Apparently they are in a number of cities in Germany – this one has the name of a the Jewish man that lived at the house, the date he was “arrested” and the date he was executed (in this case, the same day).
We finished off the day by taking a drive to Walhalla (named for Valhalla of Norse Paganism). It is described as “a hall of fame that honours distinguished people in Germany history (politicians, sovereigns, scientists and artists of the German tongue)”. However, “Hall” is the understatement of the century, it is a massive marble-clad building sitting high on a hill overlooking the Danube. The aerial pic on this website gives you a better idea of the scale of it.
Spot our tour guide if you can 🙂
Don’t forget… Urtz’s Special Walking Tour of Regensburg – you heard about it here first! Be sure to ask for the tour with the local who DOES appear to know all the dates of every event … ever.
Daily Giggle:
#TRIALS OF MULTILINGUALISM
An American asking a Romanian in German what a word is in English.
Jarrah-ism
#OBSESSED WITH FOOD MUCH
On seeing an orange squirrel … it looks like it’s been rolled in Dorito dust.
9 Comments
Diane Cooper
Gorgeous pics! Not much social distancing happening – did have a laugh at the tour guide being hungover!
Tom
There are actually fairly strict rules, or at least strict enough to prevent incidents. Masks are mandatory when moving around in any establishment, the waiting staff has to wear them at all times; we have to leave name, phone number and number of people in the party so in case of any incidents everyone is tracked and will be informed. Rules are fluent, based on the risk assessment done by the government.
Tom
The clarity of the pictures is impressive 🙂
Loved to have you here and we shall meet again in two weeks.
Audrey
LOVE it! Especially Chris & Tom in lederhosen – woo hoo! Looks like you all had a good time 🙂 Such a picturesque city. And thanks for the tip about the walking tour! Danke!
Barb
Your adventures continue to impress … not sufficiently to turn me into a traveller but none the less, love seeing and reading about your journeys. How wonderful to have connections in your travels now as well … how is the language going I wonder. Continue on you two warrior women 🥰
Sandy
Sadly, our German ranges from rudimentary to non-existent! 😊
Lynda
Another beautiful town, the interior of the church was amazing. How lucky were you to have your own personal walking tour guide. Just loved the Lederhosen. Always have such a chuckle reading these.
Patricia Forner
Just beautiful! Makes me want to visit Germany again. Loved seeing the memorial to Beethoven. Glad you had a venture out on the Danube. Vienna and Budapest are also graced with its beauty. Stay well, happy and blister free! Love to you two travelers.
Christopher Urtz
It was my honest pleasure to give you guys an almost passable tour! 😀
Seriously though – it was great to get to meet you guys in Costa Rica for the first time. It was even better to get to meet up with you both again here in Germany. And let’s see where our next meet up will take place?? (With the obvious exception being Munich, naturally.)