Empress : Kaiserin: Regensburg

Montag, Juli 02, 2007

Regensburg

Today we planned to tour the city of Regensburg, so ENOUGH of train travel for today - we stay put in this city for once. Lol.

The weather was "furchtbar" - that would be how I would describe it. It started raining in the morning, so it was impossibly cold and windy throughout the day till late evening.

My first plan for the day - head out to Walhalla, a Greek (or Norse?) temple constructed by one of the past kings on a hill located 10km from the city center. It was a long bus ride, and a dangerous climb up (since it was raining). The route up consists of dirt tracks and they were very steep. But my sense of danger was always dimmed as usual, but the view from the temple was rewarding. From there you peacefully look over a long stretch of the River Donau (or in English - "Danube"). A superbly scenic view.

Halfway up the climb, overlooking the River Donau

Walhalla - the picture doesn't look pretty, since there was restoration work in process at that time

Overlooking the Donau from the Walhalla - from my right

Overlooking the Donau from the Walhalla - from my left

Steps down from the Walhalla. However due to the rain it was too slippery to walk down - basically the steps are not very broad.

Journey downhill - we decided to take the safest route back down, the vehicles' path since trekking down the dirt path would be twice more dangerous than climbing up

The rain was really a hateful element today, but we didn't really want to waste the time there sitting in a cafe and sipping hot drinks. Took a bus to Dachauplatz and walked to the Alte Kapelle. It was a very worn down unattractive old building, but guess what was inside! We were mesmerised too.

Interior of Alte Kapelle

Next stop - Dom St. Peter. They were raising funds for a new organ (they currently don't have one), and a small corner was being set up to ask for fundings. Look what I found:

Regensburg ist die kirchenmusikalische Hauptstadt der Welt.
-- Franz Liszt

(Go Babelfish or Google to check out the translation if you don't read German.) My point is - they quoted Franz! Ach... We proceeded with our walk and coincidentally reached Porta Praetoria. This attraction has intrigued me ever since I came to read about it. It's remains of the main gate ("Porta" is Italian for "Gate") of the Roman camp in Regensburg in AD 179. I find that really, really cool. The rest of the remains of the settlement, if not destroyed, still lies 10 meters under the current city of Regensburg. Yeah, I have a weakness for archaelogical excavations... ^__^;;

Old building

Awesome, ne?

Dom St. Peter

Main entrance of Dom St. Peters, but again... restoration work. I think they were trying to clean up the dirt

Porta Praetoria

Arrrgh, old German prints are hard to read. "Porta Praetoria of the roman fort Castra Regina built in AD 179 by Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Discovered in 1885." [The original sign states: Porta Praetoria des roemischen Kastells Castra Regina erbaut um 179 nach Christ von Kaiser Marcus Aurelius. Aufgedeckt 1885.]

Pictures/diagrams speak a thousand words. BUT I won't translate the text, lol.

I discovered this short pillar a distance away from the Porta Praetoria. The inscription...

Near the Rathaus stands a well-known (supposedly once-royal) Confiserie called Prinzess. Their speciality's chocolate, and so many unique ones do they have! Spent around 13 Euros on 200g of chocolates and a 100g of Marzipankatoffeln. *__* Chocolate is love, but marzipan is heaven! Following that, we went to the Altes Rathaus to collect some information about Regensburg. I made it a point to visit Dampfnudel Uli, but the royal shop definitely has its own haughty timing.

Yea, yea, RAIN... T__T Party pooper...

Do I have to translate this too? Alright... Here's the bottom bit of the words: "Opening hours - Tues to Fri 10.01 to 18.01 hrs - Sat 10.01 to 15.01 hrs - Sun and Mon closed" Geez. And to think I came all the way here from Sg.

We settled for Wurstkuchl for dinner - something warm and German. Finally I get to eat sausages with SAUERKRAUT!!! Yay, yay, yay... And their homemade honey-mustard was fantastic.

The back of Wurstkueche. The sign on the wall reads "Old city wall built after 1320"

Front of Wurstkueche. What a cute little house they've got there.

We crossed the Steinerne Bruecke (over the River Donau). By now the rain was slowly subsiding... but the cold was still spoiling our day. Then again, I never fail to get myself an ice cream despite the coldness. Muahaha. It was nice for it to stop rain - I never liked the idea of having rainwater in my ice cream.