Regensburg

On the morning of October 1, 2013, we arrived in Regensburg in Bavaria, Germany at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers at one of the northernmost points of the Danube.  The city was built in 179 BC by the Romans and is now one of the largest and most well preserved cities in Bavaria.  The ship docked right at the town so there was no need for a bus.  We had a walking tour of the city and then were free to explore on our own.

The pedestrian only stone bridge was built in 1135-1146.  The knights of the 2nd and 3rd crusades crossed this bridge on their way to the Holy Land! The bridge links Old Town with Stadtamhof and was the city's only bridge across the Danube until the 1930s.

Because the bridge has withstood centuries of use, constant maintenance is necessary ....

This was the view from the bridge looking down on to the Danube ....

The Regensburg Cathedral is dedicated to St Peter and is also known as the Dom St. Peter.  It is the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Regensburg and is a prime example of Gothic architecture.  We were fortunate to be there at the right time of day and enjoyed an organ concert at noon.  

No picture taking inside the Cathedral, please .... OOPPSS ..... I saw that sign a little too late!

We enjoyed walking around Regensburg.... one of our stops was a hat store - Hutmacher am Dom, located next to the Cathedral.  It offered more than 15,000 hats and accessories on two floors - men's items on the first floor and women's on the upper level.  My husband found a wool cap that's become a great remembrance of our trip.  Here are some pictures of delightful Regensburg..... 

Soon it was lunch time and we ate at the Historic Sausage Kitchen of Regensburg.  This 900 year old building is famous for its role in catering to the workers who built the stone bridge.  The kitchen is still in business today and offers only sausages on its menu.  There was an area of outdoor seating but since it was very chilly, we decided to be seated indoors.

An evening on the ship

Of course, we had our mandatory safety drill - we went to our cabins and took our orange life jackets to the lounge where the crew explained and demonstrated everything that we needed to know in case of a crisis on the water.

Then we enjoyed a wonderful meal in the dining room.  The ship was really starting to feel like home!

Later that evening in the lounge, we were entertained by Hansi, a local Bavarian performer who was very comical as well as being a very talented musician.  He had the passengers doing the craziest things!  It was an evening filled with fun and laughter!!!

Sailing .....

Our ship was docked on the Main-Danube Canal so we had not yet seen the Danube.  We had our safety drill and then set sail!  We went up to the top level of the ship (a short, steep set of ladder-like stairs got us to the top.)  We would sail the remainder of the day and overnight to reach our next destination (Regensburg) and wouldn't actually be on the Danube until the middle of the night.

River cruising is very smooth - we never felt motion - and you are never out of range of seeing land.  In fact, if you did fall overboard (and you really wouldn't ever do that!), you could easily swim to shore.

As we traveled down the canal, the elevation was increasing and since water doesn't flow uphill, we had to go through locks - I think we went through 11 before reaching the Danube.  I had never been through a lock before and I found the experience fascinating!

I will now share a very unscientific, unofficial explanation of how a lock works.  As we proceeded down the canal (and the Danube), a tunnel-like structure would be in front of us with a traffic light.  Most times, it was a red light so we would pull over to the side and wait our turn to enter.

Then when it was our turn, the ship would slowly enter the lock.  Once inside, the ship would stop and we would sit there and the lock would do its thing (technical term).  Since at this point, we were traveling uphill, we would enter on a lower level and water would be pumped in until we were at the proper higher level to exit on the other side of the lock.  The locks were very narrow.

The view from the upper deck .......

The view from the lounge ......

For those of you with enquiring minds, I will explain in layman's terms how this works.  Beside each lock are three levels of holding areas that are filled with water as we ascend and that take in the water from the lock as we descend.  

So once we were at the proper level, out we went and continued to sail .....

Some of the bridges were quite low on the canal so the crew lowered the rails on the uppermost deck so we could safely sail under the bridges.

If the captain said "DUCK" ........ well, you had better listen!!!

We went through a lot of locks during the trip and continued to ascend as we traveled towards the Danube.  We passed the Continental Divide - the highest point that a watercraft could reach on the continent of Europe!!  We were so excited to see it ......  

WAIT FOR IT ....

HERE IT COMES ....

It's a BIG PIECE OF CEMENT!!!!!

Lefty and the Continental Divide ....

After the excitement of the cement, we leisurely cruised past scenery that looked like home!