Turn Left

On January 22, 2012May 30, 2020 By StevenIn Life In Germany3 Comments

One of my favorite things about being in Regensburg is that all I ever need to do to find something interesting is to take a different path. For example, yesterday I was feeling Noble and I turned left instead of right. I had originally wanted to check out the posted menu of a nearby restaurant, and instead I discovered the remains of an old Roman fort.

Specifically, I stumbled across the Römermauer, a section of Roman wall from the original Castra Regina (“fortress by the river Regen”) which was built around 179 AD during the reign of Marcus Aurelius.

I’ve seen little sections of Roman walls all over town- many of the ancient Roman structures survived the bombing of World War II, and they pop up all over town. It’s fascinating to see the ancient stone speckled throughout the more modern architecture of the area.

This is the first time I’ve seen this much intact fortress though, and it’s even more surprising because it’s sandwiched between the McDonald’s and another restaurant. I’ve walked past this point dozens of times,but I never realized that it was there because it’s down a slope and not visible from the street. If you walk down the stairs, there’s a little sign explaining it:

Right across from the sign is another small stair that allows you to climb up into the turret which is still intact.

I hope I never become so complacent that I stop finding fascinating little things like this.

Sunny Sunday Walkabout

On January 15, 2012May 30, 2020 By StevenIn Life In Germany12 Comments

One of my friends mentioned that they wanted to see pictures from around my new town, so I just needed to wait for a rare sunny day, and I was off and strolling with my trusty dSLR.

I’ll start with a carved tree near the bus station. I haven’t the slightest idea what this is all about.

You can tell it’s a real city because we even have graffiti.

I had no idea this was nearby until I took a slightly different route- an Important European Golf Museum! I’m not sure they have the same definition for “Important” that I do.

The street musicians in Germany are a different calibre than those I’ve seen in the US. For example, here’s a guy with an accordion.

All paths lead to the Dom, the big cathedral. It’s just an amazing piece of architecture.

Dude needs to mow his roof.

Another view of the Dom from across the Donau (Danube) river.

Doors all over town have this marking on them in white chalk- it’s left over from last Friday’s holiday, Epiphany. It is customary for the faithful to bless their houses at the Epiphany with blessed chalk. They write over their front door: 20 + C + M + B + 12. The digits, which appear at the beginning and end of the line, designate the new year. ‘CMB’ stands for the traditional names of the Magi (Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar) and also signifies the Latin prayer Christus Mansionem Benedicat or ‘May Christ bless this dwelling.’

Despite the sun, it was quite cold today. To prove this, I have taken a photograph of a frozen puddle near the curb.

Cool little statue on the Stone Bridge. I need to find out if there’s a reference to the history of all these little statues.

Charming couple on the stone bridge.

Some buildings along the north bank of the Donau.

The rushing waters of the Donau.

There are a lot of buildings with paintings on their sides in various places around town. This is on Goliathstrasse.

The next few pictures are fascinating to me. There’s a pedestrian bridge a little bit upstream from the Stone Bridge, which has a metal latticework covered in padlocks.

The tradition, which is apparently very common in Germany, is for lovers to inscribe their names on the metal locks, sometimes with a personal message but sometimes not, and then attach the padlock to the bridge while declaring their undying love for each over. Then they kiss and throw the key of the padlock into the river below as a romantic gesture.

Here’s a good article about it: http://www.pgtraveltips.co.uk/blog/regensburg-germany-sweethearts-cross-the-danube-to-lock-into-love/2827

I’m really curious about the stories behind the locks. Especially when there’s nothing but a date. I spent quite a while looking at these padlocks today.

I swear I was not stalking this couple, but the city just isn’t that large. We crossed paths going in opposite directions at two different points. I even crossed the Donau twice before running into them again from the other direction.

When my vegetarian friends visit, I’ve got them covered.

The Garbo, one of several movie theatres in town that sometimes plays movies in English.

The bar in the center of this picture, Orkan, has great beer and tasty Schnitzel. (Although to be fair, I have yet to have a bad beer in this town.

More buildings near the Donau.

This view is actually from the bridge with all the padlocks, but I find it to be pretty spectacularly picturesque. I can’t wait to see what this place looks like in the Spring and Summertime, when everything is green again.

Ah, Maximilianstrasse. I tend to think of this as the central corridor of the city, even though its nowhere near the center.

A cop and kebap. Doner Kebab is a very tasty hand-held food, similar to a gyro.

This statue is near the Dom. The inscription on the pedestal says, in German, “Ludwig I – King of Bavaria.”

Most of the pictures I’ve posted of the Dom don’t really give you a sense of the size of the thing Here’s some pictures where you can see just how large it is.

Albert Einstein as a Marionette? Check.

Someone’s nick-name is “Hempy?!” I want to meet this individual.

Another high quality street musician.

That sign in the shadowed portion of the picture? I’ve seen them all over town, pointing in different directions. I couldn’t figure out what they were pointing to, so I finally asked someone. It turns out they just say “one way street.” Oops!

Haidplatz, a triangular plaza with several delicious restaurants, including one of the Thai places I haven’t had a chance to try yet.

Frohes neues Jahr!

On January 1, 2012May 30, 2020 By StevenIn Life In Germany4 Comments

Last night was my first New Year’s Eve in a new country- it was rainy and overcast and yet somehow still magical to me. There were fireworks everywhere, even if I couldn’t see them all. I did take a lot of pictures after midnight,and these are three of my favorites. I especially like the shot with the two girls walking up the sidewalk holding sparklers.

Happy new year, everyone! May 2012 meet and exceed all your hopes and dreams!

It’s The Little Things

On December 25, 2011May 30, 2020 By StevenIn Life In Germany5 Comments

I was talking with my sister yesterday via the miracle of inexpensive international calling that is Skype, and I was telling her about some of the smaller differences between Europe and the US, things that are just interesting to me because they’re different. To someone who’s been in Germany for more than a year or two, these are the kind of differences that probably don’t get much notice, but to me, they’re huge and fascinating. Here’s a few of them.Plumbing:

toilet flush — That little button on the right side of the top is the flush control.

Urinals and toilets here are different. Not so different that it’s difficult to use them, but even just the flush mechanism. In the US, there’s typically a handle that pulls up a flapper inside a tank. The mechanics of it may be the same inside the tank, but here the flush button is usually on top for tank styled toilets, and it if you press the button the other way, it will stop the flush. There are also toilets where the tank is set into the wall, and the flush button is a big panel- I haven’t the foggiest idea how that works, but I’ve seen it in several places. Heck, even the stall doors in public restrooms are different here. They’re more private than in the US, and there’s a little occupied/vacant indicator built into the door handle. I think that’s kind of nifty.

Phone jacks:

Phone jacks in the US are a tiny little modular affair, less than half an inch wide. Here’s what they look like here in Germany:

Door knobs:

While interior doors aren’t much different, front doors here have a tendency to have a knob that does not turn. The entire purpose of this knob is just to have something to grip in order to open the door. The actual latch part of the assembly is built right into the keyhole. The lock is different also- the normal setting is locked from outside but not from inside. There’s a keyhole on the inside of the door too, and from either side of the door you can extend the deadbolt halfway with one turn of the key or all the way with a second turn of the key. I had to go through the settings with the door open so that I could see the deadbolt positions before I fully understood the door lock.

Windows:

This is my favorite difference so far, when it comes to normal house stuff. The windows here are just cooler, no pun intended. In the US, windows usually open via an upward or sideways sliding motion, or they can be tilted up with a hand crank. Not so, here. The window handle has three positions. In the downward position, the window is closed. In the horizontal position, you can open the window inward. The third position is the one that made me go “Neat!” – when you flip the handle upward, you can tilt the window in so that it pivots on the bottom two hinges. This gives you ventilation without having the entire house exposed to the rain or wind or snow, not unlike a car sunroof, but done vertically. From left to right, these pictures are closed, open, slanted open:

The best part of the windows here though is that it’s very common for there to be external rolldown shutters on very window. In other words, the windows have built in shutters on the outside of the building that you control from inside. Here’s the shutter on my bedroom window, and the strap mechanism that’s used to roll it up and down: