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President’s Day Weekend in Regensburg… Part 6

Sunday morning, we decided we were going to have breakfast somewhere other than the hotel.  We got up, got dressed, and ventured out in the the chilly weather in search of a good breakfast.  It seemed really dead in the city, but then Sundays in Germany are often pretty “chill”.  We went back to that restaurant where the really awesome buffet was on Saturday, but they weren’t open until 10:00am and Bill was hungry on account of losing his dinner the night before.  So we wandered around some more before we ended up at a really cute restaurant called Cafe Lila.

Cafe Lila!  A good bet for breakfast!

A pretty young woman behind the bar wished us a good morning as we took one of the few unreserved tables.  We paged through the menu and noticed they offered incarnations of breakfasts from around Europe.  They had a French breakfast, a German one, a Scandinavian one, and a Greek one, among others.  Bill chose the German breakfast, while I had the English breakfast.  I had to laugh at the American breakfast, which was about 9 euros and seemed to have everything in it but the kitchen sink!

Bill has coffee.  I have a perfect cappuccino and a small glass of what tasted like fresh squeezed orange juice.

Bill’s German breakfast had the usual cold cuts, cheese, and fruit, along with some very nice breads.  My English breakfast had fried eggs, bacon, baked beans, tomatoes, and toast.  It was very nice!

 

I wasn’t quite ready to leave after we ate, so I had an African cappuccino.  I think it was basically like a mocha.  It was delicious!  Bill had more coffee.

 

It was interesting to sit in Cafe Lila for awhile.  It’s obviously a popular place that offers a lot of vegetarian friendly food as well as stuff for us omnivores.  There were two guys sitting behind us who were deep in conversation over wheat beers.  Later, they switched to rum long drinks.  I like how no one cares if you drink during the morning in Bavaria.  We just took our time and soaked up the atmosphere for awhile, enjoying a leisurely Sunday morning.  We had a few snow flurries, but then the sun came out and it warmed up a bit.  We were able to take another walk around the city.

More graphic graffiti.

When it came time for lunch, we headed for another brewery.  This time, we visited the Fürstlichen Brauhaus, which is located in the former coach house of the Fürst von Thurn und Taxis palace.  Though by the time we got there it was about 1:00pm, we were still fortified from breakfast.  Bill wisely ordered a couple of wursts.  I opened for Wiener Schnitzel, which turned out to be humongous…

It was our waiter’s birthday, so he wore a sign on his back.  Curiously, it was in English.

 

Actually, this wasn’t quite as huge as it appeared.  The schnitzel was rather thinly cut and covered in pretzel crumbs.  I shared a lot with Bill.  The fries were outstanding!

Bill’s white sausages came in a pot of hot water scented with chives.  He also had a very fresh pretzel. 

 

And naturally, we washed it all down with beer.

 

I saw a lot of families having lunch at this brewpub.  One couple appeared to be out with their granddaughter, who smiled really big when their waiter brought her a very ornate ice cream sundae!  I was very charmed by that scene.

A few shots around the courtyard.  I saw the food runner leaving the restaurant with what appeared to be a leash.  I also heard a dog bark.  Perhaps there is a resident Hund at the place?

Sunday afternoon turned out to be very pleasant.  The weather was warmer and the sun was out.  We walked back down to the river, where we encountered the famous sausage kitchen that has been operating in Regensburg since the 12th century.  I instantly wished we hadn’t eaten at the brewpub because I had heard that sausage kitchen was awesome.  Unfortunately, we were just too full to try it.

The wurst kitchen…  there was a long line for sausages and beer!

Guys showing off their jumping skills…

Crossing the river.

The sun was more cooperative from the other direction.

I can only assume these locks are put on the bridge by couples in love…

A beer store.

More German graffiti…

I was almost tempted to try this Mexican place, but we haven’t had much success finding good Mexican food in Germany.  Besides, we were still really full from lunch.

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President’s Day Weekend in Regensburg… Part 2

It was early evening when we arrived in Regensburg.  The sunny skies and relative warmth we left in Baden-Wurttemburg was replaced by cloudy, damp, frigid weather.  Nevertheless, aside from being bummed about hauling my overstuffed Red Oxx Sky Train bag the half mile to the hotel, I was pretty excited to be in Regensburg again.  It was just as pretty as I remembered it.  The ACHAT hotel was right next to Regensburg’s awesome cathedral, too.  Bill and I checked in, eager to ditch our bags and go find a nice meal.  The lady who greeted us was very pleasant and efficient.  We were in room 203, which included free Internet.

Nice desk…

Complimentary water.  There was also a very sparsely stocked but reasonably priced mini bar.  It had a beer, a water, and two Twix bars.

Bed.  It was a little hard for my taste, but Bill liked it.

Safe, which we didn’t use.

Free green apples.  One of them was a God send this morning.

View from the side of the room.

Bathroom…  nice shower and a shower gel that also works on hair.

That towel warmer was the best one I’ve ever seen.   It actually worked!

 

After dumping our bags, we decided to walk around the town.  We passed lots of shops windows advertising authentic Bavarian style clothing.  I used to have to wear a dirndl when I worked in the German section of Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia.  But I have to admit, I might be talked into donning another one of my choosing if the situation arises…  If I had been shopping for one this past weekend, I surely would have found something.

I love sweets… and since it was Valentine’s weekend, there were plenty on display.  Unfortunately, for the first time ever in our marriage, Mr. Bill forgot to hook me up.  Oh well.

A nighttime view of the front of Regensburg’s very impressive Dom.

We ended up having dinner at the Hofbrau Haus.  It was a smaller satellite of the one in Munich, which Bill and I visited back in 2012 (and I had visited a couple of times prior to that).  I remember having to drag Bill into the Hofbrau Haus in Munich because he was so sure it would be very touristy.  It actually wasn’t overrun with tourists, although it is a big tourist draw.  The one in Regensburg is even less touristy than the one in Munich is.  We did hear a few American accents over the weekend, but by and large, Regensburg is not a city that teems with Americans.  Consequently, our first dinner in Regensburg turned out to be delightfully authentic and delicious!

Loved the Stammtisch sign…

Bill tells me how it is…

I say something nasty to make him laugh…

He reaches for his first beer…

We begin to imbibe while waiting for our very Bavarian dinners.

The delightful salad that came with my schweineshaxn.  I actually wasn’t planning to have that a second time this week, but I wasn’t in the mood for wurst.  I probably could have enjoyed the turkey on the menu, but as it turned out, the pork knuckle was vastly superior in Regensburg as opposed to Stuttgart.


This was absolutely delicious!  It’s pork knuckle off the bone served with gravy made with beer and a potato dumpling.  I couldn’t finish it, but did better with it than I did with the one I had in Stuttgart.  It also tasted less like it had been under heat all day.

We tried ’em all…

Bill had sauerbraten, which was very good.

I’d say the Regensburg Hofbrau Haus was a successful stop.

 

What I liked about the Hofbrau Haus in Regensburg was that it was obviously popular with the locals.  Lots of people were there, dressed in Bavarian fashions, enjoying some beautifully prepared local dishes and fine beers and each other’s company.  I think Bill and I were the only Yanks in the place.  I also noticed that the bill was very reasonable.

And an adorable old lady, obviously on the cooking staff, came around to ask everyone how the food was.  She was very cute trying to talk to us since neither Bill nor I speak German well.  Bill’s skills are better than mine are, but they’re still weak.  We still managed to tell her she’d done a great job!

ETA:  My German friend says the lady who spoke to us is Seniorchefin (senior boss) Gerti Schafbauer.  Her son Thomas and his wife, Karin, are now the managers at the Hofbrau Haus in Regensburg.

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President’s Day weekend in Regensburg, BY, Germany… Part 1

After our trip to Hamburg in January, Bill and I went back to the champagne bucket for another draw.   Rothenburg ob der tauber ended up “winning”, but after asking around about that famously well preserved medieval town, we decided we’d rather go somewhere a little less touristy.  Don’t get me wrong.  I still intend to visit Rothenburg.  I just want to do it at a time other than February.

Someone on a local travel Facebook page mentioned Regensburg, which is a lovely city in Bavaria.  Bill and I had both visited Regensburg before on separate occasions.  Bill went during his first German assignment back in the late 80s/early 90s, long before we knew each other.  I went on my month long train trip after my stint in the Peace Corps.  I think Bill decided to visit because he was posted in Ansbach, which isn’t too far from Nuremberg or Regensburg.  I went because I was on a train with a Eurail pass and wanted to get off.  I knew nothing about Regensburg when I got there and, frankly, didn’t spend much time looking the place over.  If I recall correctly, I only spent a night there and then got on the train south to Passau.  I did, however, remember that it was a very beautiful city.

I asked Bill if maybe he’d like to visit Regensburg again.  He said that would be alright.  I booked us a room at the ACHAT Plaza Herzog am Dom Regensburg via Expedia.com.  Bill got us first class fare saver train tickets on Deutsche Bahn.  Away we went for our long weekend in Bavaria!

We were originally going to park our car at the Herrenberg train station, but it occurred to me that it might be more convenient to drive closer to Stuttgart.  A ride on the S1 to the Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof takes about 40 minutes and tends to be crowded and obnoxious.  We ended up parking at Osterfeld, which has a generous parking garage and is just a few stops from the main train station, which can be reached via S1, S2, or S3.

By the time we got the train station, it was early afternoon and I was getting very hungry and cranky. The main train station offers plenty of dining options.  We had a choice of everything from McDonald’s and Burger King to Thai food and seafood.  We ended up eating at a place called Sylt, which had really nice seafood dishes and plenty of beer and wine.  After almost getting run over by a janitor who wasn’t watching where he was going (and who got a death glare from yours truly), I was definitely ready for something to fuel me for the four hours we’d be traveling.

Beer makes everything better.

Zander filet at Sylt.  This was very good!

Bill had sort of a mixed grill pasta dish.  Nice to find good eats at the train station!

For some reason, there was no ICE train from Stuttgart to Regensburg.  We took an IC train– which is older and less plush– from Stuttgart to Nuremberg.  From Nuremberg, we enjoyed a 55 minute ICE train ride to Regensburg.  I think, from now on, I’m going to make a point of using ICE trains whenever possible.  They’re faster and somewhat more comfortable than the older IC trains are.

Bill settles in for the journey from Nuremberg to Regensburg.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  Beer makes everything better… especially on the ICE train after a long ride on a less well-equipped IC train…

We probably pissed off at least one German dude on the IC train.  He and his daughter were in our compartment and was sitting in one of the seats I reserved.  He got up and it looked like he was moving, so I claimed it.  When he came back to the car, he tried to take it back… but then Bill showed him our seat reservation.  So he and his daughter split.  Sorry guy.  If we hadn’t reserved the seat, I wouldn’t have sat there.  Later, another guy joined us and rode with us to Nuremberg.  The guy who shared our compartment on the IC train came prepared with a can of beer and some chips.  Next time, I’m doing what he did.

The journey was pretty uneventful, though the weather in Regensburg was the kind of damp cold that seeps to your bones.  I had considered wearing my big down coat but ended up deciding against it.  That was a bad decision.  It was COLD in Bavaria.  Because it was so cold, we ended up doing a lot of beer drinking.  The good news is, if you’re going to drink beer, Bavaria is not a bad place to do it.

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