Regensburg

Day 9 - Regensburg (September 7)

We managed to sleep in until 7:30 AM before the ladies next door woke sup with a knock, knock, knock… “We’re up”, we cried and jumped out of bed. After showers and other morning stuff we made our way to the dining room for breakfast.

After breakfast we listened to the daily briefing in the lounge while I worked on the blog and uploaded photos to the web. I managed to get several days worth up before losing the satellite connection, caused by moving into another set of locks. We continued to cruise down the canal/river towards Regensburg and our connection with the Danube.

Once again we had a beautiful day with lots of sunshine. The countryside is stunning in its variety as we pass well tended villages with agricultural fields, high hills with trees galore, rocky promontories with castles perched atop them, industrial factories, large towns and cities, sheep and lots more locks.

By 2:45PM we docked in Regensburg, originally settled by Celts migrating northwest to Gaul. The town became a center of religious life in the middle ages after it was converted to Christianity in the 7th century. During the period 540 to 1225 the town developed into an important trading center and in 1245 became a ”Free Imperial City”. The city has many Italian style towers erected by the major merchant families as well as a 1,000 foot stone bridge spanning the river and the Cathedral of St Peter, erected over a period of three centuries.
At 3:00 PM we got off the ship and met our guide for a walking tour of the city.

As we moved down the quay to town, our guide pointed to the last vestiges of the city wall and river gate with its guard tower integrated into some of the newer buildings dating back to the mid 17th century, when most of the wall was torn down so the stones and bricks could be used elsewhere.

We walked up to the entrance to the stone bridge built in the 1100’s and watched as several students engaged in an archeological excavation at the foot of the bridge before the area is renovated in a maintenance project. The old town center which was originally about ten by twenty blocks within the walls, is very medieval with lots of small winding cobble streets and alleys connecting large squares.

Eventually we ended up at St Peters Cathedral and went inside to see the beautiful stained glass windows and all the sculptures. After the cathedral we spent another two hours exploring the town and shopping before returning to the river for a dinner of brauts and sauerkraut at one of the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Europe. Legend has it that the workmen erecting the old stone bridge were fed on the same spot.

After dinner we returned to town for another hour of exploration before returning to the ship where the ladies went to the lounge to listen to music while I worked to download every bodies pictures and write the blog. By 10:30 PM we decided to call it a night.

To see all of our photos click on the following link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski