Eine kurze Reise: Regensburg

Five years ago, my high school had a German exchange student, Wera. I got to know her really well, and we became good friends. We suffered through both band practice and teenage drama together, and since she left to return to Germany, we talked about seeing each other again one day.

I knew as soon as I was accepted for CBYX that I was going to visit her as soon as I could! We finally scheduled a weekend for me to come to her hometown, Regensburg, and I could not have been more excited. My trip was the weekend of Sept. 22, which turned out to be perfect. All the other PPPler were going to Munich for Oktoberfest, which didn’t interest me. Going to visit Wera was way more exciting.

I arrived in Regensburg late Friday evening. It was so bizarre to see her again—almost like the 5 years in between high school and now had never happened. We went back to her house where I met her (incredibly hospitable and kind!) sister and mother. We spent the rest of the night catching up,  and made some preliminary plans for the weekend.

Her (amazing) room. I have no idea why she travels so much when her room is this incredible.


We started the next day with family breakfast and a bike ride towards Walhalla. Only about 6km away from her house, Walhalla is the largest Denkmal (monument) in Germany. We got distracted by a Flohmarkt (flea market) on the way there, but when we finally arrived, it was incredible. We climbed all the flights of stairs and finally reached the top, where we ate nectarines and homegrown apples.
Walhalla.
Goat!




I was so sweaty, you guys.
I’m not exaggerating when I say it was like a fairytale. Regensburg was stunning--early in the day, there was a light blanket of fog, which eventually cleared up to reveal a beautiful landscape. Good company and good scenery can make anything magical, I suppose.

We then rode our bikes back into the city, where we did some shopping. We stopped at a Biergarten for lunch and had authentic Bavarian Käsespätzle, which is basically egg noodle mac-and-cheese. Of course, it was delicious. After lunch, we went back to her house for some much-needed rest before we went out again in the evening.

I almost ate all of it. I tried so hard.


Our evening plans included a tour around the city titled, “Verbrecher und Vogelfreier.” It was one of those city tours where the guide takes you around to certain landmarks and tells you stories about them, and it certain places, actors jump out and play out little scenes or characters from the stories. In this case, it was about historical criminals of Regensburg. The tour was entirely in German and the tour guide had a Bavarian accent, so I understood only about 85% of what he said. Wera was really helpful and filled me in on any parts that I missed. It was a really good tour, and I had a lot of fun.
After the tour, we went to a nearby restaurant and got a beer with two of Wera’s friends and one of the friend’s parents. Over time, more and more of Wera’s friends showed up, and we left to go to a bar. It was so good to meet the people she hangs out with all the time. They were all so nice and interesting, and very funny. They were all also really kind and welcoming to me, which I appreciated a lot.

On Sunday, we once again ate breakfast with her family, then set off to go vote in the Bundestag election! This was exciting for me—of course, I didn’t actually do anything, but just experiencing participation in a democracy makes me so happy. Since voting took about ten minutes total, we then left to go on a boat tour along the Donau. It was, once again, beautiful. The weather was perfect, and the atmosphere serene. The boat tour ended at a little abbey/brewery/restaurant. Naturally, we ordered cake.
Where our boat stopped. It was like heaven.



Inside the abbey. I don't have more pictures, because they actually weren't allowed. This was before I saw the sign... haha whoops.


We made our way back to Wera’s house and, after packing up my things, we went to dinner with her family at one of their favorite places. I’m not going to say much about it, but I will leave you with this view so you can draw your own conclusions about why it might be their favorite:



Unfortunately, I had to leave after dinner. I could’ve stayed forever. It was hard to say goodbye to Wera again, but I know I’ll see her again before I head back to the states. Until then, though, I’ve got amazing pictures and better memories that I’ll use when I feel like reliving a perfect weekend. 

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