Regensburg, Germany

Back in March, Drew's mom, Gwen, came all the way from Canada to visit us for a week! She has been our first and only visitor here. Which we understand, flights are expensive and taking time off of work is hard. But we were so thrilled to FINALLY have someone else here to experience what we get to.

 Drew and I got a day off in the middle of the week so we decided to use the time to take Gwen somewhere we hadn't been yet. We had taken her to Wurzburg, and Prague, but wanted to do another day trip somewhat close to us, Drew and I were debating over Bamberg and Regensburg. Both are fabulous cities, but after doing lots of research we chose Regensburg for it's History.

Regensburg is located about an hour South from us, it was founded by the Romans in 179 AD as Casta Regina (meaning Fortress by the River Regen), Regensburg is one of Germany's oldest towns. It was relatively spared from Allied bombings during World War II. Today, many flock to see the wonderfully intact old city and its many medieval structures. The 12th-century Stone Bridge was used by Crusaders en route to the Holy Land.


We started off our day heading the the Walhalla Memorial just outside of Regensburg.

Once we were finished at the Wahalla we headed off into Regensburg. We found a place to have lunch around the corner from the Thurn and Taxis Palace. Our plan was to get some food and head over and explore the Palace. Only we couldn't find the entrance! Instead of continuing to walk around in circles we decided to cut our loss and head into the Old Town of Regensburg.

Downtown Area

Gates leading to the Palace

We knew we wanted to see the Regensburg Cathedral, so we found parking semi-close by following the signs that said Parking. (Bigger cities are much better about having places to park.) The Regensburg Cathedral is the bishop's church and the principal church of the Regensburg diocese. It is also the home of the Regensburger Domspatzen ("cathedral sparrows"), a choir rich in tradition. The structure is considered the most significant Gothic work in southern Germany. The Cathedral is also the burial place of important bishops, including Johann Michael von Sailer (1829-1832, memorial built by Konrad Eberhard in the south chancel), Georg Michael Wittmann (1832-1833, memorial also by Konrad Eberhard in the north chancel), and Archbishop Michael Buchberger (1927-1961, likewise in the north chancel). In the western part of the central nave stands a bronze memorial for the Prince-Bishop Cardinal Philipp Wilhelm (d. 1598), the brother of Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria.

There is so much History in just this little place!

Selfies in front of the Cathedral.

We continued on exploring the town, and of course stopped off for some Eis (Ice Cream)!

Our next point of interest was to find the infamous Stone Bridge. The Stone Bridge (Steinerne Brücke) is a 12th-century bridge across the Danube River linking the Old Town with Stadtamhof. For more than 800 years, until the 1930s, it was the city's only bridge across the river. It is a masterwork of medieval construction and an emblem of the city. We maneuvered our way through town and finally found the river, only to find out that the bridge had scaffolding all around it because it was being renovated! Grr!!

  We walked along the river's edge for a while and found a place where we could get a decent picture of us and the bridge. So we got a quick picture of the bridge and decided to head home.
When we got back to the parking garage we noticed something we didn't when we first got out, a part of the original Roman wall. In the underground part of the car park Dachauplatz the former Legionary fortress wall is accessible.  It presents in impressive staging the remains of this imposing fortress and fort wall of large square stones.

All in all it was a good day. It was nice to have a day off to show Gwen around, and we've been wanting to do more little day trips.