Regensburg, our first stop

Regensburg was described to us in the guidebook as a very scenic medieval town with a great old town area that included a fantastic bridge going over the River Danube. So we had booked a room there and were now attempting to drive to it. As is the case with all the maps we've gotten off the web, everything on the map looked completely different than the view through the windshield. It also did not help that our exit was closed for repairs!

A detour through the train yards got us very close to the old town part of the city (my hunch that we should maybe turn right was indeed correct, but a nice girl at the gas station helped me confirm said theory). Finally we made it to our hotel, got a map of the city from the desk, and proceeded on foot to the historic center.

In what must be a rarity in Europe, we found the town square, ringed by shops and restaurants, and dominated by the huge facade of a cathedral. We may have found the only one in Germany! Wait, strike that. Three blocks to the West there was another town square with shops and a huge church. And still another one three more blocks to the West. But we weren't here for churchs, we were here for authentic German food^* and beer! I found a description of an authentic beer hall in guidebook, and to there we headed. Inside, we found that it was a bunch of smoky rooms filled with Germans consuming schnitzels and beer.

We pulled a very wobbly bench to a picnic type table (yes, inside the building) and ordered some very uninteresting schnitzel for me, and Lin-Wei and the waitress spent the better part of five minutes trying to find a dish that they both agreed was some sort of fish. The schnitzel was ok, but not as good as the first time I had had it in Germany. That was back in 2002 when I was in Berlin, at a time when I hadn't eaten a real meal in about 3 days. Anything, even Korean food, would taste fantastic after that long of a wait.

Foreshadowing!

After dinner we had some time to tour the city. The guide book said we definitely had to check out the old bridge that crossed the river Danube. The sky looked pretty ominous that night, but we figured the bad weather woudl pass...

We both had no real problem staying up that night. Usually we are dead tired at 7pm from the jet lag and lack of sleep on the flight over, but this time not so much. But it was nice crawling into bed at the end of the day, and falling asleep knowing that the next two weeks would be a fun-filled, exiting romp through greater Bavaria.

Exploring around Regensburg