we leave Austria, the weather has turned to rain, storms and is cool again. We are now in Germany again and find ourselves in some small towns on our way to Regensberg.
The first town was Titoning where we camped in a parking lot overnight as no shelplatz was available. After a walk to the castle which is now just a museum and housing estate and closed on Mondays the day we have arrived we had a brief look around town in the rain., then after buying some cakes, buns and basic groceries we left for Regensburg.
Day 2 Velden
Driving today had its challenges with a few road closures and no signs where to detour plus the crazy gps kept taking us on country lanes. So we ended up in Velden a small town with a cheap shelplatz with good facilities.
Our night was spent at the local greek restaurant for dinner which was awful and expensive. The town had nothing else to offer so we move on again towards Regensberg.
Day 3 Bad Abbach
We headed again in the rain towards Regensburg stopping at Bad Abbach which had a good shelplatz next to a Thermen , hot and cold swimming pools and spas. We spent part of the afternoon at the baths and hope to take the bus in from here ( 50 mins) to Regensburg tomorrow, when the rain has stopped.
Day4 Regensburg.
Regensburg is a UNESCO heritage town and originally in the 16 c it was the second largest city in Germany with some areas dating back to the 11c and occasional Roman ruins could be seen here. The Danube river passes through this town and it was in minor flood when we were here. Walking over the 1136 story bridge you could see the river flow was extremely fast flowing and overlappped into parks and was very close to the river edges.
After viewing the dark old and gothic cathedral we took the little train around town.
Of interest was the domplatz and rathausplatz near the info centre. The Alte Kapelle was very ornate inside
then it was bus 16 back to the thermen centre.
Day 5 Regensburg to Bamburg.
We got up early today and took the bus back onto Regensberg for me to get a colour and cut and John did the essentials at a laundromat.
Then we drove to Bamburg to find our shelplatz for the next few days, and found a lovely asian restaurant which was yummy right near the shelplatz.
day 6 Bamburg
A cool day in Bamburg, with our first stop being the tourism office to find a map. Next our first stop the old town hall , a mid 11C building built on the bridge spanning the river. Rebuilt in mid 14 th C and in 1744 the baroque and rococo style was added.
The palace wasnt open and surrounded in schaffolding so off to the Domplatz to see the cathedral which had a service and wedding on so back to that later
we looked at the old court a former imperial bishops residence and now a museum of history which we visited.
Then off for lunch at the Schlenkkerla brewery which was a smoked beer (Rauchbier), the smoke favour comes from drying the barley over a open flame. It was nice but not amazing and we tried the local meal of roast pork dumpling and sauerkraut . Still dont like their dumplings.!!
Then we hiked the hill to Micheals monastery which was closed for the last decade but provided a view over the town and then visited the Franconian brewery which is really only a museum of old junk used in the brewery of beer years ago.
Then a walk to St Jacobs bascillia followed by getting lost on our way back to
the domplatz where finally got to see the Cathredral that started in 1002, burnt to the ground twice and was rebuilt in 1237 in the Gothic style . above
We looked at the neuz residenz and library from the outside only and then back to the pub in the pouring rain for a drink before heading back. John got another smoked wheat bear for 3:90 and my glass of water for 3:50! Got to learn to drink more beer! This was followed by getting lost again finding the bus stop and eventually when found it was back to the shelplatz and another asian meal.
Day 7
Back to Bamberg again on bus 902 and walked around the river side of town and into Maximillian platz and inside the St Martins church which was beautiful inside, the dome created by Giovanni Machini and it had a beautiful 14 c altar.
Lunch in the maximillianplatz (a fluchkuchen) then a stroll around lock 100 and the sculpture in this area.
After trying a paddle of beers we headed back to the van and walked to do the shopping before another thai meal.
