It was wonderful to have the entire BD family with us, including Mrs. BD's parents and the precious new daughter in law. Special times. Got to grab them. Ars longa, vita brevis, and all that. A fine trip for us history buffs, beer-tasters, and relentless walkers. As usual, we walked our butts off and I was glad to have my ugly old man walkin' shoes to alternate with my elegant New Balance sneakers.
Today's first snap is for our down-under reader, who ate here recently. The Weissbrauhaus in Regensburg. Superb fresh Weissbrau and famous for its sausages. You can see my hearty lunch below the fold, along with my entire final fun photo dump with ignorant comments from this year's Big Trip.
Lunch at above. A sampling. I ordered the grilled, and Mrs. BD ordered the boiled which I did not photograph because it did not appear too appetizing to me. This is not my idea of a light lunch. They all kinda taste like hot dogs to me, but I love those German sauerkrauts and mustards. Their potato salad wasn't so great, but that's the bland way they make it there (some scallions or chives would be a good addition to it):
The upstairs of the Weissbrauhaus:
Some of our bunch decided to eat at the old Wurstkuchl on the river (grilling wursts over charcoal in this stone shack since 1100 or something). Story goes that it opened up to feed the folks building the bridge. Must have been good wursts because that old stone bridge over the Danube is still going strong after over 900 years:
Passing a barge in the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal:
Readers know how much I enjoyed Regensburg. It's known as the most northern Italian town in Europe (Italian towns were their biggest trading partners in the middle ages), thus there are lots of medieval show-off towers, like in northern Italy. Here's one of them:
If you have the chance to get inside one of those street doors,, you see medieval courtyards like this:
Going down in a lock on the canal:
Deep inside the lock. Strange to look out your cabin window and see a cement wall 10" away.
Along the banks of the Danube in Regensburg:
:
A snap on the old bridge, with St. Peter's:
Across the bridge, a simple small sign "Biergarten." OK, the lad and I are game because it has been a grueling day and refreshment is necessary.
Nice joint. They make their own, of course.
Inside, along a little Danube tributary. Avoid the Bocks. Too strong. A mistake.
Medieval streets in Regensburg:
Remains of the Roman fort built by Marcus Aurelius, now integrated into somebody's house. Not much Roman left here now, because medieval folks were not into historical preservation. They were into making money, and this town was quite prosperous from trade. Furthermore, the Medieval Warm Period helped make Europe fat and wealthy.
Lovely Bavarian farmlands along the canal
Farms, and also piney woodlands -
A quick look at the Zeppelinfeld in Nuremburg. People now use it as an exercise park, roller-blading, etc. What's with the barbed wire? Ambience?
In Nuremburg, people in cafe watching soccer outside via the cafe's outdoor TV and drinking beer. The Allies, mainly the Brits, bombed the heck out of this medieval city, so there isn't much medieval left:
1945:
We did find one small street that the bombs spared:
We visited the castle too, which was damaged during the war and was reconstructed
There was a cozy and attractive biergarten in front of the castle, from which Frederic Barbarossa once ruled (from the castle, not the biergarten...or maybe not)
We drove past the Hall of Justice, where the trials were held. It's still part of a functioning jail complex.
Our Captain has the con, taking the starboard controls while entering a lock on the canal:
Another countryside view:
That photo disc retrieval program even brought back this pic in the bowels of my camera from August, 2009. Can you tell where this was?
That was from the boat out to Capri. It was worth the trip out there, if only just for the luncheon we had and the good company with us. Famous volcano in the background.
Back home. Pup happy to see us, but he said he had a good vacation too.
Next year? Provence, or Sardinia, or possibly debtor's prison where the food is free.
