Our final week in Germany has just begun and it’s starting to get a little sad as the days count down. But, today was a really good day for a Monday! We went to the city of Regensburg, a popular tourist city, and then took a quick trip to the Walhalla memorial. Our day was full of historical landmarks and it was really interesting to see all the different structures from history compared to modern America.
Our day started bright and early with hotel breakfast and then we had a hour and half bus ride to Regensburg. It is always nice having long bus rides as they are great to take naps on. When we got to Regensburg, we were welcomed by this canal that runs through the city. We’ve been seeing a lot of buildings and so little water, so seeing the canal reminded me of Lake Erie and the waterfront back home in Buffalo.
We crossed over the bridge that leads to the middle of the city and took a tour centered around the history of Regensburg. The city is thousands of years old and thrived during the Middle Ages. Many of the original buildings built back then are still present today, so there is a lot of history in the city. The city does stay modern through tourist shops and housing being available for students who attend the University of Regensburg.
Majority of the buildings are medieval-styled as the Romans occupied the area. The main structures that were pointed out to us were the patrician towers connected to a patrician house. These houses were occupied by wealthy individuals and they had a courtyard in the middle of the house. Each level of the towers had their own purpose (small chapel, storage, living area, servant housing) and the courtyard was used for trading. Today, the first level of the towers is used for shopping and the remaining levels are either private housing or rented by university students.
The city also consisted of narrow streets, which were used for trading and provided protection. There are very few wide streets and many of the streets are crowded by tourists, providing very few space for vehicles. Overall, the city is not so big but because of the narrows streets there are many corners, making it a little confusing to navigate around.
Our tour guide also pointed out landmarks like the golden tower, the bishop’s residence, the bishop’s quarter, the city’s beer garden, and the gothic-styled St. Peter’s Cathedral. The city is very Catholic and there are many religious aspects.
Overall, I really enjoyed the city as I appreciate historical structures. I have never been abroad and so being here in Germany is allowing me to appreciate different historical buildings, compared to the modern buildings I am centered around in America. I like exploring and seeing new things so today and the whole trip overall has been very eye-opening.
After our city tour, we had a couple hours of free time. During our free time, a couple of the guys and I wanted to do an ice cream crawl and try as much gelato as we could. I first had whisky-cream flavored ice cream and then peach flavored, but after two ice cream shops we gave up. The ice cream was really good, but not as good as Tutti Frutti. We then had lunch at this Italian restaurant and had pizza. The pizza was alright, being really thin, but it was enough to fill me up. After, we just walked around the city, exploring and shopping.
When our free time was over, we took a quick bus ride to the memorial of Walhalla. The Walhalla is a structure that was inspired by the Greeks and it consists of many pillars and big staircases leading up to the top. Inside the Walhalla, there are busts of famous German leaders and figures throughout German history. It was really cool to see the busts, especially of Albert Einstein and Martin Luther.
While enjoying the view, some of us got distracted and saw sheep and goats in a nearby field. We walked all the way down to see the animals and then had to climb all the stairs back up in order to get to the bus. Tired from all the stair climbing, we came back to the bus and napped on our way back to Augsburg.
Back at Augsburg, we worked on our final presentations, which will we presented on Wednesday, and then had the night to ourselves. For dinner, Eduardo and I went to McDonald’s, and I got a Big Mac meal (fries, burger, and a Sprite) for the first time. I was a little disappointed by the meal, especially the Sprite because McDonald’s Sprite is always really good. But, it was still good. Overall, it was another great day in Germany.
Nicholas Monetti