At this stage, it is pretty much the first name that pops into our heads, that is where we go. Someone mentioned to me in passing that Regensburg is a pretty little town in Germany, not far from the Czech border, so that becomes the destination for a long week-end break. I have to admit, I had never heard of the town before then and on doing the basic internet research find myself getting more and more excited about the trip to the little town that has the remains of a Roman Fort dating back to 900AD and a town that was untouched by the world wars and remains pretty much in tact, as-was for the last few hundred years. Our next logistics discussions are around how to travel there. As with the rest of Europe, once you are at a destination, there is no need for your own transport as the public transport systems are so jacked (and generally because within the small towns, everything is in walking distance anyway). And even so, the public transport to get to the town is equally as efficient. Doing the sums we decided to rent a car for the week-end (the smallest Kia you've ever seen - the backpack hardly fitted in the boot).
With Colin's now very trusty and heavily relied upon travel-mate-GPS-thingy, we navigate flawlessly with only an occasional "stay on the right!!!" out the town of Plzen on Thursday midday and onto the freeway to Germany. Crossing the border was a non-event and we arrive in Regensburg at rush-hour. We circled the hotel a few times trying to work out where the parking was while attempting to decipher German road signs. After our last run in with an "ein maal strasse", we are ever so cautious and had the nerve wracking feeling that we were driving up wrong ways constantly. After unpacking at the hotel, the first evening was spent non-eventfully browsing the mall across the street in the vain hope that the Germans have heard of Marmite and got distracted with buying new running shoes.
Friday morning we geared up with city maps and strolled into the old town (one block away from the hotel). We had no set course or plan, but followed whatever caught our eye first. As we came into the old town, there is a green belt that surrounds the city. We followed the path and as it was still early morning (about 9am), there was a very crisp, fresh feeling about with birds chirping that really set the tone for the morning. The girls came into their own once their feet hit the grass and the hit the ground running. They found a fountain and a kiddies play park and we let the morning idle past as we strolled through the park.
As it turned out, we were walking around the Royal park that surrounded the very large palace of Thurn & Taxis that has more rooms that Buckingham Palace. It is still in use today and Princess Gloria spends her time between Kenya (of all places) and here.
After strolling around the outside of the castle, we found the entrance and since the information and tours were only open from 10:30, we decided to leave the tour till later (it was still only 9:30). Meandering through the old town was like walking through a maze. The streets narrow down to a single alley that a bicycle would have trouble passing through to large double lane streets that are all paved and where pedestrians have the right of way. Even after 4 days in the town, we were still able to find a little back path that we had not strolled down yet, each lined with quaint shops that beg you to stop and browse at the window for a while.
According to the story of the town, it was wealthy in the 1700s as a main post along the trade route and the wealthy families built large houses each with towers to boast of their riches. Now today, each of these towers has large clocks on them and you can honestly never be without the time in sight - and even more amazing is that they all tell the same time.
The buildings are very striking and similarly to Karlovy Vary, they are all painted in bright bold colours that beg to be photographed.
At around 10am we idled into a square in front of the very intimidating St Peters Church with it's spires that are visible from miles around and sat down to enjoy coffee in the sunshine while Colin took the opportunity to try and capture the church in film - not an easy task. We sat in this courtyard for a good hour watching the tourists come and go and the day getting progressively warmer (notice that these are probably the first photos you have seen of our heads without beanies!!!)
Below are the steeples of St Peters.
Unlike other trips, we came reasonably unplanned and unprepared as far as the tourist sights were concerned and mostly just happened upon the attractions by chance. We knew that the sights were somewhere in the town, but did not plan specific routes and paths to get to them. This was the one example. We saw a bunch of tourists madly photographing this building and it dawned upon us (like a sledgehammer) that this was the site of the remains of the Roman Fort (Castra Regina) which began in Regensburg in 179 AD!
Ok, history and sightseeing aside. My absolute favourite-favourite was the ice cream cafe in Neupfamplatz. We made a trip past it nearly every afternoon. I think the girls enjoyed it too :)
Our next discovery was the Donau River (Danube) and the Old Stone Bridge (built in 1135) which you can see through the archway (and yes, we were brave enough to cross it).
We meandered along the bank of the Danube amongst local students eating pizzas and spent some time feeding the ducks. We then had lunch alongside the bridge at the oldest sausage restaurant dating back 500 years. Lunch consisted of a plate of saurkraut with 8 grilled sausages - don't be deceived, it was really very good and tasted much better than it sounds. The girls didn't even venture a taste at the saurkraut but guzzled the sausages and bread rolls.
Crossing the river (yes, along the old stone bridge built in 1137) the two girls are fully engaged in conversations of national importance. Something about a puppy riding a horsie and the mommy that was very brave and could swim - Sarah has taken to remembering her dreams with vivid clarity and creativity.
Mom following behind ...
A note here: We have been in search of a world map since we got here and as you can see below, we are now the proud owners of a VERY large world map that is already stuck on our wall by the front door and is the only picture on our walls so far (apart from the girls artwork).
After crossing the main part of the river, the river forks into a side stream with an island in the middle. This is a favourite spot for students with their pizzas and radios and we joined in the lazy mood for the afternoon, spending it by the banks of the river - Colin taking photos, me reading my tourist guides and the girls playing, with the most beautiful view of the old town across the water ....
As the sun dipped down on the horizon (probably close to 7pm) we headed back across the bridge to find a spot for supper. Amber and Sarah amused themselves at the table by drawing on the paper serviettes - Sarah has just mastered the number 8 and was proudly showing us all her 8's and SARAH's that she had drawn.
Saturday was a very laid back day. It started at the mall because Sarah had walked holes right through the soles of her only 1 month old shoes and needed a new pair.
By the time we got into town, it was nearly lunch and the fountain with the bratworst hotdog stand looked far too tempting to pass by. The girls amused themselves by chasing pigeons around the fountains much to the amusement of all the onlookers.
After lunch, we strolled back to the Thurn & Taxis palace and did a tour of the museum (jewelry, china and carriages) and then did a tour of the palace itself. The tour was in German, but they provide English tapes of the tour - wait for it ... - on walkmans! Can't remember when last I saw one of those. Unfortunately, we had a very uptight German tour guide who was very intolerant of the 2 under 5's of the group. It was a 90 minute tour and they had to be completely silent. Even though they were the most well behaved I have probably seen them on a tour, the occasional whisper of "what's that mommy" got a telling off by the guide. But never mind, we made up for it with them afterwards with a big slice of Chocolate cake each at a coffee shop in town.
After supper at a traditional restaurant, we walked back to the hotel, dreaming of what we should do the next day.
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