Rain & Regensberg, Lederhosen & Lace

The rain looked to have abated as we packed up in our lovely Bratislava Airbnb, but as we headed downstairs, we found it starting up again.
A quick check on Bolt/Uber suggested a car was only 4 mins away, so we gave in and booked it.
Naturally, at that point, all nearby drivers decide to shun our advances and we found one 6km away, crawling towards us. Sod that: we cancelled and set off in the drizzle ☔️

Arrived at the station rather bedraggled, but our train was on time, so we loitered, dripping, in the main hall until the platform popped up on the board.

We had a short yet smooth change in Vienna, & found our booked seats right at the front of the train…but naturally the drivers cabin is opaque, so views were no better than normal 🤷‍♂️
We dozed, read and snacked, & I watched a Jason Stathern film titled “Bank Job”, which went as predictably as you would expect.

Luckily, the clouds disappeared, and we arrived in Regensburg in faint sunshine.

Here we had a super clean Holiday Inn Express, with the bonus of free breakfast: always helps with the budget 🤣

After discovering BBC World was the only English TV choice, wittering endlessly on about Harry and Meghan’s fake near miss “Diana-drive” through NYC, we set out to explore.

Regensburg is a surprising delight!

Christine had found it just looking for somewhere en route to Nuremberg, but what a fabulous find 😎
Our fourth spot of the Danube, after Budapest, Ruse and Vienna….very fast moving around the bridge, with a couple of paddlers enjoying it.

Inhabited since the Stone Age, it became a northern settlement for Romans. For over 700 years it was the capital of Bavaria.
The stone bridge in town we were to cross later dates back 900 years.
We found notes about the Diet of Regensburg: not a health or even starving thing, but from 1663 to 1806, the city was the permanent seat of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire.

In short; the City was Important.
And wealthy: a German noble family with the Prince of Thurn and Taxis resided there (still does!), and made money from postal services from the 1500s, expanding to breweries and building many castles too.

Because of that, the place is slightly unique: the impressive houses were built of brick and stone, and therefore never had major fires, like so many of their era. WWII also failed to touch the older buildings.
As a result, the “old town” is incredibly grand, and very original. It feels exceedingly “well to do”, and is a delight to wander through.

On our way from the hotel, we soon noticed a young man in leather shorts…..felt a little odd, but this is Baveria.
After a short time, we realised we were the odd looking ones: many men of all generations wore them, and one or two females too. Several classy looking stores sold them, along with very fancy “Alice in Wonderland” dresses with lacy aprons.
Over the evening, we found that many locals dressed up that way, which was really nice to see.

We crossed the Stone Bridge and sought sustenance, finding the lively Musikkneipe Klappe - literally “music bar shut up”.
The staff were very friendly, the beer rather nice, and we enjoyed the house special curry wurst and a plate of house spetzl: delicious!

The walk back took us past the Goliath House, a huge building dating from around 1260, with a vast 1573 painting.
We then went past St Peter’s Cathedral, where robed clergyman were clearly heading for an event.

Regensburg: quite a revelation, & we looked forward to seeing more of it 👍Read more