Today our ship was docked in Vilshofen an der Donau, or Vilshofen on the Danube.  We were bussed about 1 ½ hours to the town of Regensburg.  There have been people inhabiting this area since the Stone Age and the town of Regensburg was first founded in 179 A.D.  Marcus Aurelius had an armed compound here and from that the town grew.  To get into Regensburg, you walk over a bridge over the Danube first constructed in the 12^th century.

We walked through the town with our guide Rosa who was originally from Nigeria.  She pointed out the original stone gate into Marcus Aurelius’ compound, the Cathedral, and many of the original buildings including the Town Hall.  Regensburg itself was not terribly bombed during World War II.  There was a munitions factory on the western outskirts and that was the target.  Because of this, many of the early buildings in the Old Town Center are still there.

As part of our excursion, we had lunch at the Gravenreuther restaurant, salad, followed by roast pork, and vegetables and potatoes.  It was, of course, accompanied by beer.  Alan and I didn’t stay for dessert which we were later told was warm apple strudel. We decided we wanted to go see the interior of the Cathedral St. Peter.

Afterwards, we walked over to a local jewelry store where our tour director Sam had arranged for a cuckoo clock demonstration.  Wow, were there some elaborate clocks.  Before we went in, Alan ran across the street and got a sausage and sauerkraut sandwich from Wurstkuchl , a restaurant in operation since the 17^th century.

After the cuckoo clock demo, we crossed back over the bridge, stopped for coffee and hot chocolate, and returned to the buses.  Here are some more pictures from the bridge looking down the Danube.

The old locks

Tomorrow we go to our last stop in Germany, Passau.  There we will tour the town, attend an organ concert in the cathedral, and in the afternoon cruise down the Bavarian part of the Danube.