Bavaria and Middle Rhine

Agustus - September 2022
Petualangan 22-sehari oleh Wolpertinger Wanderings Baca selengkapnya

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  • Weltenburg Abbey: Chapel of St George

    10 September 2022, Jerman ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    Weltenburg Abbey was found in the early Seventh Century by Scottish monks, who were missionaries to region. It adopted the Benedictine Rule sometimes during the Eighth Century, and was overseen by the Benedictine Orders until secularization in 1803, when it was closed shortly after being stripped of its treasures. King Ludwig I re-founded it in 1842.

    For our purposes, two other dates are important. In 1050, they founded a brewery, which makes the Weltenburger Kloisterbrauerei the oldest monastic brewery in Europe, though this is subject to debate by the monks down in Freising at the Weihenstephan Abbey. I don't get into fights between monks, so no comment.

    The other date is 1716, when the Asam brothers were given a commission to decorate the new church, dedicated to Saint George. This was one of the motivating factors in making this long trip, to see another of the Asam projects. Two sets of pictures of the church follow.
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  • Weltenburg Saint George Two

    10 September 2022, Jerman ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    More pictures from Saint George, including the statue of the patron saint and some details. Again, this place is stunning. Like the Asam Church in Munich, pictures really don't do it justice.

  • Finally, Lunch and the Trip Back

    10 September 2022, Jerman ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    We didn't see much more of the grounds, nor did we hike up behind the abbey, though it looked interesting back that way. We were on a tight schedule, and wanted to get back to Regensburg before the cathedral closed, so we could see that at least.

    But we had to eat. There was no point in making this trip on two trains, a bus, and a boat, if we were going to pass up having a beer and some food at the oldest monastery brewery in Europe (again, I'm not getting into the thing between these monks and the monks in Freising).

    So keeping an eye on the time, the bus schedule, and the boat schedule, we went to the biergarten. Two "authentic" beer gardens in two days. We were doing really well here. We ordered two different beers.

    Herr Hai ordered the extra alcohol-extra dark one, and Herr Kellner-- the young and professional waiter asked in English, "Are you sure? High alcohol content." To which Herr Hai replied, "I'm not driving, unless they let me drive the boat." The poor guy had no idea what to do with that comment, but he brought the beer which came in a really nifty looking ceramic thing. If my father of blessed memory had been with us, he would have told me to "put that in your purse".

    Foodwise: leberkäse with eggs for me again, and Herr Hai got the Hausgemacht Wurst-- house made sausage. Good taste, but weird texture for us process food brainwashed Americans. It was chopped rather than ground and took us both aback.

    We walked on the beach a bit, took some pictures of ducks, and went back to the boat as it was boarding. As we drew closer to the town of Kelheim, we had a good view of Liberation Hall, which was commissioned by King Ludwig I (this family really liked to build), to commemorate the victory of Napoleon in the Wars of Liberation (1813-1815). If we ever get back here, we'll take a walk up and see it.

    Also included in the pictures: the high water marks on the side of the abbey. Sobering, to see how high the water has gotten, compared to where it was as we stood on the beach.
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  • Kelheim

    10 September 2022, Jerman ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    We had some time before the bus, so made a quick round of the area by the docks. Not enough time to really walk into town, or the trail, or up to Liberation Hall, but just to get a little more sightseeing in. There was a war memorial, something we're finding in a lot of towns. We passed the entrance lock of the Ludwig Donau Main Kanal, a canal which once connected Kelheim (and through that Regensburg) to Bamberg via Nuremberg. It was mostly obsolete by World War II, and today, only two portions are navigable. In fact, the portion between Nuremberg and Bamberg were paved over to make a highway.

    It's a very pretty area, and we wish we had more time here. In the future, we could easily explore for a few days, up the Altmühl and Danube, and back into the hills.
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  • Saint Peter's Cathedral, Regensburg

    10 September 2022, Jerman ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    We just made it. This was the one thing I wanted to see in Regensburg. I can't pass up a Medieval cathedral. There are actually two other churches I would have liked to see: Saint Emmeram's Abbey and Saint Wolfgang's to see the relics of said saint. No time though, so we'll definitely need to make another trip to Germany for this.

    I have to admit, I thought the relics of Saint Wolfgang were here in the cathedral. I didn't even know where they were (duh, Saint Wolfgang), until I looked up it when we got back to the apartment.

    But we saw Saint Peter's, and that was a good start. It was raining again, dark and foreboding. We were both tired by this time, wet, and disoriented. We managed to find the cathedral, but didn't have long inside. The original structure was built in the 700s, it burned down and was rebuilt in the 1280s, and finally finished in the 1500s. It's the seat of the Bishop of Regensburg.

    There are relics on display, and we found them. Not Saint Wolfgang, but Saint Berthold of Regensburg (gestorben/died 1272)

    We definitely gave this church short shrift. The main attraction of our short visit was the stained glass. This was the best glass we've seen so far, and most of the pictures are the windows. Many, many pictures of beautiful stained glass windows. One thing I miss in Orthodox churches is stained glass. You find them in some, but by and large, stained glass is an art form of the Western Church.
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  • Streets of Regensburg

    10 September 2022, Jerman ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    Regensburg is another UNESCO city, or at least, the Altstadt is. By this point, we were so out of it, we missed a lot of the highlights. It was raining on and off, at times the sun was out. There was a festival going on, and the streets were packed. We stopped to watch some fire jugglers, then moved on.

    Things we didn't see that I wanted to: the Roman gate, the oldest wurst house in Germany, and the Steinerne Brücke, the oldest standing stone bridge in Germany (12th Century). We did stand on the bridge and took pictures from it, we just didn't go down to the water and take pictures of it. We skipped the wurst house because we were kind of ready for a break from German food, but in hindsight, I regret that.

    So a couple posts of pictures from around Regensburg. The city is very well preserved, because somehow it completely escaped bombing and artillery in World War II. We're back to the pale colored buildings of southern Bavaria. There was no half-timber to be seen anywhere.

    Starting with some shots of the outside of the cathedral, which was covered in a lot of scaffolding, we moved out towards the Danube, then back. Oh, and in the picture we have, the Danube is definitely looking kind of blue. Included is the famous Goliath Haus, and those fire jugglers.
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  • Regensburg: We Give Up!

    10 September 2022, Jerman ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F

    It wasn't late, but we were really tired. We're getting old, I guess. After a bit more wandering around, just missing the Roman gate by a few blocks, we decided to give up and eat, then head back.

    We had pizza in a restaurant that was half pizza place- half Mexican. We ordered one pizza and split it, then realized everyone else was ordering one for themselves. It was thin crust, but pretty big, so I don't know how they did it. We also saw someone eating hard shelled tacos with a knife and fork, but this is Europe, so-- I felt bad about being skimpy with the food so we split some sort of chocolate cake/ ice cream dessert. Then I remembered you didn't really tip here, so I didn't feel as bad. It wasn't like our cheap dinner was ripping of our server's take home pay. No pictures, because we all know what pizza and ice cream look like.

    I really wanted to see some Roman ruins. I had been in Rome before, so I have no idea why I was so insistent on it. So we looked on the way to the train. By the time we found them, it was really dark. The pictures were less than good, but I threw one it at the end.

    We found the train station, and waited for our train. The station, which was attached to a mall, was packed. The train was running late. We watched the teenagers walking back and forth to the mall. We watched people showing up in traditional trachten for the festival-- mostly young people, as we saw the previous weekend, all dressed up and looked sharp. Then, we saw the people returning home from soccer matches, including a father and his little girl all decked out in Bayern Munich gear. I promise, I DID NOT SAY ANYTHING. I put my hand over my mouth and engaged in no hooliganism whatsoever. At least they weren't Barcelona fans. I'd be in jail.

    Finally, our train was announced. The platform was packed. The train was packed. We were lucky to get seats. There were some people mouthing off back and forth, and when we all got off in Nuremberg, they were squaring off to fight, but we kept on walking.

    It was a relief to get back to the apartment. All in all, a good day. I only regret giving both places we visiting not enough time.
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  • Nuremberg, Last Day

    11 September 2022, Jerman ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    We're tired. No idea why, but we are. We were thinking maybe we'd take the train to Wurzburg today to see the palace there and et cetera, but we're kind of Baroque-d out.

    We decided we'd just walk around, take some more pictures. We did want to see the Wöhrdehr See, a lake south of where we were staying, and just outside the Altstadt. We also wanted to walk through the park areas near there, and then down to this place I saw on the map, the Zeltnerschloss. No idea what it is, except that a schloss is palace, sometimes also used for castle, so why not?

    This all turned out to be less thrilling than I'd hoped. It was drizzling. The paths through the park were fine. We should have walked around the lake some more, but didn't. It was very much an urban spot, and would have been much nicer in better weather with things opened. (Ooops, Sunday)

    We found the schloss. It was an interesting walled structure in the middle of a swampy area. Later, when I looked up what it was back in the apartment, I learned currently it's a cultural center that holds various events. Before, it had been a private residence, typical, it was said "suburban fortified manor house".

    After that, we walked back towards the Altstadt. We passed some interesting buildings, then ran into some major construction that took some time to get around. Finally, we made it back, coming up alongside the main train station.

    We walked along the walls, along the river, looked at the various towers and bridges. Neither of us felt much like going to a museum, and the art bunker wasn't open, so that was our day. We were so lackadaisical, we had hamburgers for lunch. They were good, so were the fries.

    For dinner though-- Mexican food. Not bad, but lacking in cumin.

    We cleaned up the apartment and packed up. We planned on a quick breakfast, then one last run through of doing breakfast dishes, etc. We had to take the tram out to the west side of the city to pick up our rental car. It's supposed to be an automatic, and I really hope it is.
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  • Fahrvergnugen

    12 September 2022, Jerman ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    Older Americans reading this, do you remember those Volkswagen commercials? Where they sang, drawing it out weirdly, "Faaahr vergggnuuuugen...." Driving enjoyment... That's going to be us, in our very bright red, automatic VW T-Roc as we cruise the back roads of Franconia today.

    Where are we ultimately headed? A small town/village called Colmberg, to stay in a castle for a couple nights. It's the big splurge on our vacation, which we booked long before we added the Rhine, and then Berchtesgaden.

    We had a couple stops we wanted to make. There were two castle ruins along the route. Short hikes to each, and since we won't be getting in a lot of walking today, why not? There was also the wine town of Iphofen. I wanted to hit up a couple, but it didn't work out that way.

    Part one of the drive, we picked up the car in Nuremberg, got out of the city no problem. It had its on navigation system which we didn't pay for, but it seemed to work. We also had google maps thanks to our trusty Russian burner phone and Austrian sim card.

    It was a pretty drive. The sun was coming out, but it was a little misty in places. There was a lot of rolling farmland. We passed by villages. There was even a castle by the side of the road, or a castle-like building. I know some people are strict with the definition of what is, and is not an actual castle. Me, being an uncouth American, I see rounded towers and battlements/ crenellation and I think castle. Technically, there are no battlements, but it had that castle look to it.

    We found the first castle ruin. Not much going on, but it was a nice walk, nice views from the top of the hill. The other one sounded like it would be better. We turn off the main road, just a road, not the Autobahn or anything. Okay, fine, a little narrow, a little twisty. We turn off again. Again. Hmm, this is dirt and gravel. In a rental car, without specific "dirt and gravel" or "off road" protection.

    Then we realize (when we see the farm), we're on private land. The ruins are on the other side of the woods, which seemingly are on private land, with no other way to get there. So okay, the Germans have this thing, it's all right to pass through private land as long as you don't mess with anything. Not so much with a car, as there were big signs a little further down even Herr Hai could read-- VERBOTEN-- that was the word he recognized. Thank you Hogan's Heroes, for giving us rudimentary Germany lessons. I got the gist of the rest-- you better not drive down my road.

    So that was off. We turned around, and headed off to our next stop. It was getting on to lunch time anyway. So Iphofen, here we come.

    Note the picture of the weird tear drop thing in the traffic circle. And not a clue what the Confederate battle flag was about as there were no other flags or signs, but found it photo-worthy.
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