Travel With Me Tuesday: Regensburg and Passau-1

One  day I will find out why some of the German cities are 'burgs' and some of them are 'bergs'. I think I got them right on these pages but after so many I've started to doubt my spellings.

Then we were on to Passau.  A nice walk about city that I was up for after a day's rest on board - a small quiet place that was rather captivating.

Travel With Me Tuesday: Nurnberg

An overcast day filled with the connotation of all that this city meant.

Travel with Me Tuesday: Bamberg

Next on our trip was the city of Bamberg Germany. A  sunny day.

Wordless Wednesday: Still Crazy After All These Years

one day at a time adds up to 45 years

Travel With Me Tuesday: Passau Germany

While my dh went off to Cesky Krumlov, I stayed on board and had a leisurely walk through Passau. Sadly, looking at my photos now, I can also think of recent images of Passau under water again.

Look at the two  images below, and you will see the path I followed on my journey - down the right side of the town to the lovely park at the point on the bottom left up the left side past the red roofed tower. The boats you see are the type we were on for our river cruise.

I suppose I should feel grateful I wasn't there this spring but it's so sad to see a place you 'know' looking like this.

I started my walk with a guide along here - a small group tour that was offered by Vantage for the folks who chose to stay in Passau. You can see some of the river cruise boats on the left. Lots of signs to tell us what is where! Fortunately, not uphill yet.

We followed these painted cobblestones through an artist section down by the river. I hope the artists were able to save most of their works in the flooding.

The cafe was tempting but we had no time to stop plus we always had sooo much food to choose from on board. I tried to take photos of prices too.

 Finally, we did start walking uphill into the top part of the old town.

I love fall decorations with leaves and berries. At home, it's often not cool enough for this kind of foliage in November. I was certainly happy with the weather all through our trip! Really my kind of autumn days.

 Even in an old town you find clever graffiti. I wonder how long the let these images stay.

A clever little statue on the bit connecting the two building. And look...awnings for those sunny hot days!

No, we didn't get a chance to hear the lost interview with Steve....

Note that the date above the door is 1619. Rather old, I'd say, and quite a door too!

More things to do and see if you lived here.

Here, I'll say goodbye and come back to you another day with more images of a drier Passau. That yellow cover to my iPhone now has a history that I'll tell you when we get to the Budapest days. More to come!

Travel With Me Tuesday - Nurnberg

November 10th was a more serious day as we were in the city of Nurnberg (Nuremberg). In addition to being the day before Veterans day, most of us had seen, at some time, the newsreel films of the cheering German crowds, cheering Hitler on. It was always a sobering thought as one saw a person looking as if they were in their 80s. What had they been doing in the 1940s...

After breakfast our 4 buses drove to Nazi Party Rally Grounds. Our guide was an American now living in Germany.

I didn't need  to see her photos showing how it had once been. My father served in Germany during WWII so I knew this history pretty well, though he never wanted to talk about the war.  Many of  us just walked around and considered the horror that had been here. A lot was felt in that silence.

 

Afterwards we walked up into the Documentation Center. Here we saw 

"On 1,300 square meters, the permanent exhibition "Fascination and Terror" looks at the causes, the context and the consequences of the National Socialist reign of terror.

It focuses on the topics which have a direct link to Nuremberg, and is centred on 19 exhibition areas which are structured in chronological order: the history of the party rallies, the buildings of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds, the "Nuremberg Racial Laws" of 1935, the "Nuremberg Trials" of the main perpetrators of Nazi crimes in 1945/46 and the twelve follow-up trials, as well as the difficult problem of dealing with the National Socialists' architectural heritage after 1945."

It was a very large exhibit, tiring physically and emotionally, as we walked through display after display each with sounds for our headset. Again, I felt I really didn't want to hear the crowds, hear Hitler, hear the shouting any more. The images were saying enough.

 

How beautiful and peaceful the pathway near the Rally Ground was. How different the past had been.

Back to our buses for a drive into the heart of Nurnberg but first passing these cemeteries.

I was looking forward to our lunch, a restaurant lunch we would be sharing with a college student. We at at the Heilig Geist Spital, a restaurant that had been the Hospital of the Holy Ghost during the Middle Ages. I believe I enjoyed the conversation so much that I neglected to take any photos of the meal. Our student was delightful and even put up gracefully when some of our group asked him loaded questions about current American politics. Our table had a few people who were not at all happy with the election results and some who were delighted.  Our student handled it all very diplomatically.

An iPad is a universal tool and he was checking out some apps. We iPeople had a lot of fun with that.

After our meal (undoubtedly pork though I know we had apple dumplings for dessert), we waddled out, and walked around the market square. There was a market going on with lovely pre Christmas flower decorations and some food. I was pretty full from lunch so I passed on the roast chestnuts. Fresh ones were 79cents per 100gms. I had no kitchen so I passed on them also.

The roast maroni seller in the center was the one who caught my attention but oh dear ...too full for more. Plus afternoon coffee time was coming up soon!

Once again, I passed on more food though I did buy one piece of lebkuchen for my daughter in law. It turned out my one granddaughter loved it.

This sort of thing - a mime or someone dressed up in a costume - seems to really be popular in Germany. I do recall seeing the same kind of thing in England too.  Do we do this in the US so much?

Here our guide tells us about the Schoner Brunnen, the Beautiful Fountain, now protected from vandalism. If you need to meet someone in central Nurnberg, this is a popular spot.

It was getting time to go back to the boat, and soon would have to get on our buses. But first there was an opportunity to walk - quickly - up to the castle. So up the hill we walked.

At the midpoint, our guide pointed out the Castle UP the hill and said she would wait for anyone who wanted to walk up - quickly - and walk back down. I laughed...That street had a good incline!

So down the hill I went because there was something I wanted to photograph. I left the hardier ones behind.

Christmas decorations were being installed on this building and I had hoped they would be a bit faster. No such luck but I did have time to dash into the building on the corner and get three little glass souvenirs for my grandchildren. Not much but sometimes they do like these little bits.

 Finally, it was time to wander over to one of the main bus stops and wait for our four buses.  Not this one...it was going to Martha & Mary Diakoniewerk, as far as I can tell, a Methodist Social Services Agency.

 

Once we got back to the boat, I had signed up for a kitchen tour which was really interesting but I wondering if he had had the better idea...a nap before dinner! Each day had a lot of activities to keep one occupied but even thinking back to it all makes the idea of a quiet nap or book very appealing. It was certainly a full day.