Regensburg

I arrived in Regensburg, my last stop in Germany. For now. I wanted to check out one more town before heading to Austria. Regensburg is the only city in Germany that remained completely intact after WWII. So I got to explore and enjoy the medieval city like it used to be. With modern conveniences of course. And it happened to be the same town where my new German friend Philip worked. So I got a chance to hang out with him again. 

When I first arrived at the hostel, I met a German girl who was studying in Regensburg. However, she didn't have student housing and was staying in the hostel until she could find some. School was starting the following week, and there were a lot of students looking for a place to live. I couldn't believe that there was such a lack of housing. Over the course of my stay, the students were gradually finding apartments but it's hard to imagine starting college and looking for an apartment. Especially if you were from another country. I hope it all works out for all of them. On the plus side, a lot of them thought I was also a student looking for housing.

My new friend from the hostel took me on a short tour of Regensburg. We checked out the cathedral that dominates the city, and walked over the Stone Bridge (Steinerne Brücke) over the Donau, or the Danube. The Danube is one of the longest rivers in Europe and goes through 10 different countries. Pretty impressive. 

Regensburg Cathedral. 

The city.

The Stone Bridge.

For dinner, I headed to a local spot and had the most delicious käsespätzle. It was so filling, and I wish I had room for more. It reminds me of mac 'n cheese, and that's probably why I like it so much.

Delicious käsespätzle.

On my first morning in Regensburg, I went for my first run since the Berlin Marathon. It was a little hard to motivate since the temperatures were so cold. It was in the 30s. Way to cold for fall. But it warmed up a little as the day progressed, so I made a move out the door. And I'm so glad I did. Even though my Garmin wasn't happy. It didn't want to work. It was either still in marathon recovery mode or it was broken. The run went well and I'm glad I did it. After 2 weeks off, its always a great feeling to move my legs. And having a nice path along the Danube definitely helped.

First run back.

I didn't do too much the rest of the day.  I decided to stay an extra night, and did a little bit of shopping. I decided more underwear was in order. Mostly so I could do laundry less frequently. I then went to find cafe to sit and chill for a while before meeting Philip for dinner.

We had dinner that night at a nice local spot, and then went out for a few beers at an Irish pub. It was trivia night, which made me happy. We made new friends and attempted to answer the fairly difficult questions. They had the questions in German and English. But I think I only successfully answered one part of one question. Still fun though. 

Found my new friend Philip in Regensburg.

It's possible I had too many beers, including some Guinness. The next morning was a little rough.

Changing up the beer.

But I managed to get going the next morning and take a boat trip down the Danube. I spent 3 hours on a boat checking out the countryside of Regensburg, including Walhalla, the German Hall of Fame.

Boat cruise along the Donau.

Walhalla. 

The river down below.

After my boat cruise, I wandered around a bit more, and settled in at a cozy bar to warm up and journal for a bit. I met Philip for dinner again and I made sure to have some wurst on my last night in Germany. And beer of course. We stopped to have one last beer before the night ended. It was great hanging out but I was ready of get some sleep for sure. I needed to recover from the night before. 

On my last morning, I explored Regensburg a little bit more. I walked around the Herzogspark and along the river.

Roses.

Scenes of Regensburg 

The last thing I did, was spend €2 to climb up the Protestant church tower to get one last view of Regensburg.

Top of the city.

After my last views of Regensburg, it was time to head to Austria.