The “last” day of the river cruise up the Danube were spent in the German cities of Regensberg. It is also where we experienced the only ‘hiccup’ in the tour. As many of you may have heard, Germany, and much of Eastern Europe, experienced heavy rains during the month of August which caused a lot of flooding. One of the rivers affected by the flooding was the Danube River. As such, once we arrived in Regensberg, the river boat remained in Regensberg, making it our last day and night aboard the river cruise, though we were supposed to have one more – during our stay/excursion in Nuremberg.
It was the only thing that went “wrong” on the river cruise, and in the end it really didn’t change our tour much. While we would’ve enjoyed one more day on the river, we were impressed by the hard work and service provided by the ship crew, and how well they ensured we were still able to experience every part of our tour. And, we still had an amazing experience!
As such, when spent our last morning of the actual cruise in Regensberg. Regensberg is considered to be one of Europe’s best-preserved medieval cities. We had a tour of the town, getting to see the medieval church spires, the doors from the time of the black plague, and then were free to explore on our own. Mr. K and I headed straight for Alte Wurstkuche, which is Germany’s oldest restaurant. (So, of course I had to try it!) At the restaurant we had the only real thing on the menu – sausages! For about $2 euro each…they were incredible!
In the afternoon, we took an optional cruise in the Danube Gorge, which took us to the beautiful Weltenberg Abbey. The abbey is one of the oldest abbeys in the area, and the chapel is donned in gold figures. It is also where they brew the oldest abbey beer in the world (the recipe is over 1000 years old!). Obviously, we indulged.
After an incredible meal aboard the ship, we packed ourselves up for the early morning excursion to Nuremberg and the change of plans which would find us staying at the Hilton hotel in Nuremberg. Which, of course, was another incredible day filled with WWII history, castles, great food and weapon museums. Stay tuned for Europe Post #5: Nuremberg!
