Just a Manic Monday

I Should've Been Videotaping This Scene

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We arrived in Regensburg city without incident, but from there things went a little wacky. The GPS and the city streets were not making our lives easy. We drove around for over half an hour trying to find somewhere to park. Oddly enough, in all that time we never ended-up on the same street twice. Early on we drove through an impressive, picturesque square in front of a big church where lots of tourists seemed to be touring, but try as we might, we never ever found that area again. We tried following the city's signs for pay parking lots and got even more lost. Finally we found this lot at the back end of town. Due to our frustration level we felt we deserved to park for free and risked getting a ticket.

So This is the City I've Heard and Read So Much About?

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We had no idea where we were in Regensburg so we walked in the opposite direction of people carrying shopping bags. After three or four blocks we came to Arnulfsplatz, which meant nothing except that it was the name of one of the parking lots we'd been trying to find. On the other side of the plaza we found the beginning of a pedestrian-only zone. That made sense so we headed that way. It was after 1:00 and even though our breakfast had been more than adequate, we were on a mini-holiday where food was a major order of business. I wanted one of the famous Regensburger Wursts. The first restaurant we saw looked promising. We went in, sat down, got menus and saw there was no Wurst. Bye-bye.

This Looks Very Promising

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We wandered around checking the exterior menu boards of a number of establishments, but it was either Italian, pastry or hamburger joints. In the next square on the pedestrian zone thoroughfare I spotted the city tourism office. I went in and asked for recommendations. The girl looked at me like I was a martian when I asked about the best Wurst. The girl next to her translated for her and they told me about "Wurstkuche" - the oldest sausage restaurant in the World. We headed that way. After about 25 steps we saw the town Rathaus, always the home of fine eating. The chalkboard sign in front advertised a Fasching special: buy two Weisswurst and get a free beer. Detour.

The Regensburg Beer Shot

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Maybe the second best beer of the trip. Gail's was free since she ordered the Weisswurst, the sausage of Munich. I wanted the local sausage. The only way to get it was to get the Wurstlspiess, or sausages on a skewer. Not exactly a snack, but sometimes we need to make sacrifices for the authenticity of the visit.

Cholesterol Central

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My sausages were skewered on top of a bed of sauerkraut, totally unlike any sauerkraut you get here in the States. Good German kraut isn't all that sour. Accompanying my meal was a pile of potato salad. Good, but not the highlight of the meal. The basket of pretzels and bread usually means an extra charge on the bill of you take one, but they were gratis for us. Had I known that would be the case, I would've packed away a pretzel for later.

Weisswurst is a Nice Wurst

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The ladies all got the special of the day, the Weisswurst and free Bier (Grandma Phoebe got a free Coke). I admit it looks a little disgusting, but they are probably the best of all the sausages in Germany. What the girls really liked was that little dish of sweet mustard next to the plate. After the Wursts were gone, we took pretzels and dunked them in the remains of the mustard dish. When the waitress asked us how we liked our meal, Gail asked what kind of mustard they served. She pointed-out an ad in my Regensburg map/guide touting the famous local mustard shop where the restaurant bought their Senf. We now had a mission in Regensburg.

Those Were the Days

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On our way back from the bathrooms we stopped to look at the Rathaus' wall of memorabilia. Most of the celebrities we saw were unknown to us except Tony Bennett and Robert Wagner. The most interesting item was this 1950-era menu. Back then the currency in Germany was the Deutschmark. At that time there were more than 3 DM to a dollar. That means Goulaschsuppe was less than 30 cents, fresh ox tongue Hungarian style with buttered beans and potatoes went for around 80 cents and steak with Bernaise sauce and french fries was the most expensive at just over $1.00. I love the typos and crossouts made by the old typewriter used to produce this menu.

Where Are All the Germans?

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Everywhere we had been on this trip we were surprised by how few people were out and about. On a Monday in Regensburg, even this relatively big city seemed dead. Shops were open but the Old Town was not the place to be. I guess the locals work elsewhere in town.

Clock Tower on the Old City Hall

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Regensburg is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and there are scores of notable old buildings in the oldest section of town. Had we known we were coming here I would've planned an actual sightseeing tour. This visit will serve as a reconnaissance mission for a future, slower and better planned exploration.

Medieval Skyscraper

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A six story building during the Middle Ages had to impress the bejeesus out of visiting traders coming to the market town of Regensburg. Imagine a dirt poor farmer bringing his hops to town for sale. He could never have imagined so big a building and would have been in awe of the people that built it. Most likely he would've been intimidated into selling at an unfavorable market rate. At the top of the yellow building you can see the beam that supported a pulley that lifted heavy objects between the floors.

Where is This Place?

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I wonder if our waitress moonlighted as the voice on our GPS? Her directions were just as vague and misleading. We went up two wrong side streets before finally discovering the correct way to Handlmaier's Mustard Shoppe.

Mission Accomplished

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Of course the ladies couldn't make this easy and just keep walking until we found our goal. They had to stop in every store on the block. I began to worry that the place would be closed by the time we got there. With all this Fasching nonsense going on who knows what hours the stores might be keeping. Note the sign in the store window celebrating the shop's Product of the Year Award for 2012.

The Sample Bar

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We looked like typical confused tourists when we walked into Handlmaier's. We weren't sure of what exactly we wanted and how much we wanted to buy. The cashier saw four potential suckers and opened-up the samples. We tasted more than half a dozen different mustards by dipping straw-like breadsticks into the tasting bowls. We liked everything.

Homemade Mustard Making Machine

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The box below the machine contained 3 cans of Weisswurst and a jar of the same sweet mustard we enjoyed at the Rathaus restaurant. If we didn't have those two heavy mini kegs of beer, this would've gone in our suitcases. I thought very seriously about taking a chance on being charged for an overweight bag, but what really deterred me was the worry that US Customs might ban the import of canned meat. I'm already on their most wanted list for trying to sneak in a couple links of Hungarian Paprika sausages a few years back. Next time they'd send me up to the Big House.

I Think We Made Her Day

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Not because of our charming, American vitality and wit, but because the whole town was vacant and we showed-up just before closing time to buy ten mustards for home. I actually thought we were going a little crazy when Gail kept telling me I could get more mustard and curry paste. We had tubes and jars all over the counter. I figured I'd have to work a couple overtime Saturdays to pay for all these condiments from this chic mustard emporium. We were thoroughly shocked when the total came out to less than $20. I'm kicking myself for not loading up on more. We were far too conservative with our shopping on this trip. The cuckoo was a huge expense, but we undershopped on the food items that we dearly love.

An Intriguing Alley

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Time was running out on our German trip. We might have dawdled and done more exploring up the alleys and side streets, but I wanted to get to the river before dark. That was the area the travel posters of Regensburg usually photographed. I was also a little antsy about getting down to Erding where our last night's hotel room awaited us. We were supposed to check-in by six.

Keep Following the Crowd

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Or what there is of a crowd. Seeing that old tower in the distance led me to believe there had to be something interesting in that direction. My map told me the river was over there too.

I'm on a Secondary Quest Now

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I hadn't remembered until this, our last day in Europe, that I wanted a blue and white Bavarian coat of arms sticker to put on our new car. I thought I recalled seeing them in various gift shops in years past. I had looked for one earlier in the day at the Autobahn rest stop, but they didn't have anything even close to what I was looking for. On this corner of Gold Baren Strasse and Steinerne Brucke there were 3 souvenir boutiques. None had the exact 3x5 blue and white checked shield pattern I imagined. I decided to order it on E-Bay when I got home. Meanwhile Gail tarried forever in one of the shops while I took a walk up to the stone bridge.

Too Late to Do Anything Now

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We went into Regensburg knowing really nothing about the city and her sights. The only thing I knew was the oft-photographed stone bridge and riverfront. Had I gone to my right just a few more steps before reaching the bridge tower (the direction I'm facing in this photo) I would've come to the Wurstkuche sausage mecca, the World Heritage Visitor Center, the Danube Navigation Museum and just a little farther and back toward the pedestrian zone, the Dom St. Peter, that big church with all the tourists that we passed earlier in looking for a place to park.

Am Beschlächt Neighborhood

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This wasn't exactly an awe-inspiring sight that I came to as I walked onto the Steinerne Brucke. The bridge was cool but that was not exactly what I was expecting.

The Old Stone Bridge

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As per the Regensburg Tourism site: "Spanning across the northern and southern arms of the mighty Danube River, the Stone Bridge is one of the most prominent landmarks in the city of Regensburg. The Stone Bridge remained the river’s only crossing for more than 800 years, acting as a vital traffic artery between the great centers of Ulm and Vienna, as well as central junction between northern France and much of the rest of Europe. As the oldest stone bridge in Germany to remain relatively unchanged, the continual preservation of this masterpiece of medieval architecture is of the utmost importance." It is beautifully preserved and still under reconstruction. Seeing those big supports tapered to prevent log and ice jams reminds me of Ken Follett's "World Without End" where he very clearly explains the construction and engineering of a stone medieval bridge. A big deal back in the days of no gas or electric-powered machinery.