Skip to main content

The Oldest Restaurant in the World

 Guten Abend!

It was a record-breaking 54 degrees Fahrenheit today. It rained, and between bouts of rain, the clouds cleared and the sun came out. It was also breezy. They think it was windy, but not by Palmer standards!

That little green building is the Historical Sausage Kitchen of Regensburg. This odd-shaped building has been there since 1135 and was at first used as an office for the construction of the Old Stone Bridge. 

The bridge was finished in 1146, and then the building became a kitchen to feed dockworkers and those working on the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral (Dom), the big church I've shown photos of in the past. In 1806 a family took over that specialized in charcoal-grilled sausages, and they are still at it today. In summer, when the area is swarming with tourists, most meals are eaten on picnic tables outdoors, next to the Danube. 

When I stopped in for lunch a few days ago and enjoyed a plate of grilled sausages on sauerkraut, I was served inside. It's only big enough to seat a dozen or so people. It was my first solo restaurant outing, and I think I did okay. At least they didn't start speaking English to me. In German restaurants, the bread isn't free. They ask you what you took from the basket, and charge you for it. I had forgotten this fact until bill reckoning time. At least I only took one. Whereas German grocery store prices are lower than in the US, restaurants are not, with charges for the bread as well. The sausages were really good, for sausages. I think I've had my fill of them for awhile, though.

It was warm enough today to take my gloves off (and leave them off), so I captured a few random photos of the buildings in the Altstadt. 

Today there are shops and businesses in these venerable buildings. I really love the detail on them. 

Language class is going well. That keeps me busy between 9 and noon every weekday. I am also taking singing lessons at the monastery. One of the monks and I get an hour a week on Fridays, taught by a deacon of the local Romanian parish. I don't know which is harder, music theory or German. 

Culture shock reared its ugly head again yesterday. In the US, I know the system for getting a prescription renewed. Of course, it's different here. For one, the doctor only gave me a 3 month supply. I had no idea how to get another 3 months, which is all I'm going to need before I come home. I wrote an email on Friday, and heard nothing back, so on Tuesday, I rearranged my schedule to go to the doctor's office. They have 'consultation hours' most days, and you just show up and you will get seen. So, I jumped on the bus to get an early start on the 4-6:30 session. I was the first one there, but had to stand outside until exactly 4. Then I had the fun of trying to communicate complicated issues to the receptionist, and the more nervous I got, the worse my German got. I finally got them to understand what I needed. The receptionist said I should have called for a refill. I guess they can't handle anything out of the ordinary, including my non-German medical card. And the last thing I want to do is make a phone call---in German! She said they mailed my new prescription a day or so ago. I was glad for that, but it would have been nice if they had responded to the email. Anyway, all that fuss for nothing (including a bus door that wouldn't open at my stop). If I had known how things work... Well, if I were going to be here indefinitely, I would live and learn. 

Remember our immigrants from Ukraine, for whom everything is even stranger than this is for me.

Off to new adventures!











Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 24, 2024 at 7:01 PM

    So much history! You’ve come so far! It’s a shame you must return home. Well, enjoy the time you have left.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Feelings of Relief

  Guten Morgen! Now it's winter. They say it's early to have snow here, but they're prepared. There's barely 2 inches and the plows are out, and they even clear and sand the sidewalks and bike paths. The photo is a view from our balcony. Our big event of the week was going early this morning to the Foreigner Affairs Office and submitting our paperwork to stay for the language course. It went off very smoothly, even though we had to show up over an hour before opening to get in line. Seems a lot of foreigners want to stay in Germany. We had our friend Christopher with us as an interpreter, and he was also invaluable as a guide to the whole process. We have our official permit, and even an appointment to come back if we want to extend our residency. It is a huge relief! Now we can get a regular bank account here, which they don't let you do until you have a residence permit.  And not only a bank account, but I can also get a library card now!! And they have English la...
Post a Comment
Read more

Slow Days

Schönen Tag aus Bayern! This is what fall looks like in Bavaria at our favorite park, the Baggersee Park on a quiet Friday afternoon. I wore only a light jacket, that wasn't quite enough at first, but after warming up on the walk, I eventually took it off and tied it around my waist. The sun kept coming and going from behind the clouds, and literally moments after we got home after a 2+ mile walk, it started pouring. It was one of those spot storms, but if we had been 5 minutes later, we would have gotten good and wet. Ordinarily the lake hosts a multitude of waterfowl, but today only the coots were to be seen. They are the black duck-like birds with a bright white streak between their eyes and down their bills. Pretty distnictive. Since it's been raining on and off most of the week, we haven't been doing many excursions. Instead we've been doing the paperwork required of foreigners living in Germany. But the sun teased us out this afternoon. I went back to the doctor o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Visiting the Doktor in Germany

  Gruß Gott! Yesterday was a gorgeous sunny day, but today it's raining in Regensburg, and is forecast to be rainy all week. It's time we used those umbrellas we rushed to purchase the first week we were here because we were told it rains a lot.  So, I have no photos for this post, as going to the doctor isn't particularly photo-worthy. I wasn't sick; I just had to renew my regular prescriptions. I had been putting it off and putting it off, but as the supply in my bottles started to dwindle, I knew I had to do it. I found an English-speaking doctor right on my bus route, just outside the Altstadt. But going to the doctor in Germany isn't quite the same as going in the US. For one, although the Herr Doktor speaks English, that doesn't mean his staff does. It seems most people around here don't speak English, or speak it less well than I speak German. I think it's in the big cities that you find Germans who are fluent in English. Of course, that's pro...
Post a Comment
Read more