Grand European Tour and Christmas Markets : Regensberg

Friday, December 9

The ship stopped short of our destination again this morning to allow those doing an excursion to Munich to board their bus. Since we have been to Munich, we stayed on board to the town of Regensberg, and enjoyed a later more leisurely breakfast and a talk from Tessa, our activities director, about Mozart and coffee and the coffee houses that are such a part of life in Vienna, where we will be headed in the next few days. She said it was the only time she could fit it in!

Our walking tour of Regensberg was a bit disappointing in that our guide was a young law student intent on delivering all of his knowledge with little of his personality, as we maneuvered the cobblestone streets of the oldest and best preserved medieval town in Bavaria. Never damaged by the war, 12th century buildings are still intact, and he pointed out the Roman wall and gate structures that have not only survived, but manage to support some additional structures added to them later on. It was not known they were even there until they were discovered inside a building that had been constructed over them in the 18th century. After our tour, we had time to explore the city a bit more, and we went into the beautiful cathedral, and then to the Christmas market, but it was so cold today, we decided to go back to the ship before our free time was up. On the way, Clem dropped into an enclosed mall, or gallery, looking for a bathroom, and I enjoyed the time looking around at their Christmas area and watching the locals shop. It was nice to get a taste of the everyday life. Back on board, we warmed up with a cup of hot chocolate and discussed tomorrows plans. Several folks had not left the ship, and at least one we suspect is due to getting sick with a cold. Snow is predicted for tomorrow, and indeed we saw a few flakes today.