Rediscovering Augsburg

Another day and another destination.

We have been in Europe for 6 days and we were in our fifth country - Germany. But traveling in Europe is a lot more pleasant than traveling within USA. We had taken British Airways, Malev Hungarian and Lufthansa so far in Europe and the service was great and the crew was pleasant. There was none of these “Food for Purchase” programs. We always got a nice small sandwich with a snack even on short flights. In fact, alcohol was free on board with your meal. So how come the European airlines can do it and the American airlines can’t?

We arrived at Munich and were picked up for immediate transfer to Augsburg, which is about an hour west of Munich. Augsburg is a regular destination for me and it is actually my second visit this year. We had a treat - the driver indicated there was a problem on the motorway and decided to take the local rural routes, passing through a number of small villages. It was a very nice ride with green rolling hills, farm houses and old churches along the way. I would enjoy staying at some of these small villages one day.

The driver charged us 70 euros - not bad considering it was a minivan that took 3 of us straight from Munich airport to central Augsburg. Our hotel was about 2 blocks away from the pedestrian district of old town Augsburg. As we were checking in, we were told that all the hotels in the area were full because of Octoberfest in Munich. All the hotels in Munich were full already and so those attending started filling up hotels within a convenient train ride away. Augsburg, with a direct train connection to Munich, was a logical choice.

Augsburg received the status of a city in 1276. It suffered heavy damages in 1945 during the Allied bombing as approximately 4600 buildings were destroyed. Augsburg today, however, is a vibrant city with renovated/rebuilt old town and a bustling economy.

While I had visited Augsburg numerous times in the past, it was always during winter or early spring when all the fountains were covered by wooden boards. So I was very pleased to see that the water fountains were still open this time. And to top it off, it was a nice warm September afternoon in southern Germany.

We started out by walking towards the center of old town Augsburg. We tried to take a short cut and stumbled into a market. One alley sells fruits and vegetables, another alley sells freshly baked bread and yet another alley sells flowers. There is a building in the middle where we can find meat and seafood. It was evident that everyone was shopping for a few meals only … carrying a small basket with a small selection of groceries. The flower shops seem to be everyone’s last stop before leaving the market. I was told before that homes are smaller and so everyone does not have a big refrigerator and freezer. There is certainly less waste also when you don’t stock up.

Walking past the market and crossing the pedestrian shopping district, we arrived at Augsburg’s main square - Rathausplatz - with the Rathaus (City Hall) and Perlachturm (Perlach Tower) dominating the skyline. Closed umbrellas and chairs filled up the square. Surprisingly, nobody was sitting around - perhaps everybody was working. We quickly made our way to the Augustus fountain on the left hand side. This fountain was built in 1594 in honor of the Roman founders of the city. This was the first time for me to see the Augustus without wooden boards around it … and most of all, it was the first time for me to see the fully functioning water fountain.

Similar to Budapest, I wanted to give Po and Anne a quick preview of Augsburg. Po and I have a morning meeting the next day and I hope Anne will get the opportunity to find Augsburg’s tourist destinations on her own. I went to the Rathaus immediately because it has a magnificent golden room on the third floor. It is a definite must see for everyone visiting Augsburg!

We cut across the square, walked another block and entered a small cobblestone alley to our left. This is one of the entrances to Augsburg’s old town commercial and residential areas, with a small creek running along some of the streets. The narrow streets were busy with locals walking their dogs, returning from the market, doing window shopping etc. Unlike our previous destinations, we did not see any tourist buses and tour groups. That was great for us.

We wandered around, past a small park and some small boutiques. Most of the shops were closed already. They were probably closed at 5:00pm. We found a narrow flight of stairs and decided to take them - coming out a block away from Maximillianstrasse.

Maximillianstrasse, also known as Emperor’s Mile, is considered one of the most beautiful avenue in southern Germany. Restaurants, hotels and outdoor cafes line both sides of this wide cobblestoned street. The Hercules fountain is located on a small island half way down the street. Again, I was glad to finally get a glimpse of this fountain without any wooden boards. Similar to the Augustus fountain, every sculpture seems to be a functioning water fountain.

Continuing our stroll down Maximillianstrasse, we reached Moritzplatz on our left and Mercury fountain on our right. Moritzplatz was an extremely busy tram station at this time of the evening and the outdoor café around Mercury fountain was also full. Must be German happy hour time. Weberhaus (Weavers’ Hall) with its eye-catching mural is across the street from Moritzplatz. This is such a beautiful, yet busy, intersection of Maximillianstrasse.

As we approached the evening hour, we made our way back to the hotel. We had a scheduled meeting with our customer (he is more of a friend than a customer) who proceeded to take us to Weissen Hasen for a traditional German dinner. Local German beer, Hasen Brau, and wienerschnitzel - what a great combination for a traditional German dinner on our first night in southern Germany!

Po and I had our meeting the next morning. Once completed, we headed back to the hotel to check out and met up with Anne again. She was able to see the golden room in the Rathaus and toured the main cathedral in our absence. Now together, we walked to the main train station in Augsburg - with our rolling suitcases. We bought our train tickets from a kiosk with the help of Deutsche Bahn representative (it was actually pretty simple once we figured out how to convert the language into English) and we still had time for lunch. I suggested to both of them that we could go to this German restaurant next door to the train station called Brauhaus 1516. I was there earlier this year also while waiting for my train. Good German food where beer is cheaper than bottled water.

It was unfortunate that we had such a short stay in southern Germany. But our next destination was the one I had been waiting for all along.

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