Wine on the Main

 

Guten Tag!

The summer-like weather is back and I'm taking all the advantage of it that I can, including making another all-day excursion, this time to part of Germany's wine country in the city of Würzburg. I enjoyed a glass of locally grown and vintnered Weissburgender on their old stone bridge (which is charming, but still doesn't compare to the Alte Steine Brücke in Regensburg). By the way, my title is actually a rhyme: "Wine on the Main" (pronounced "mine"). The wine was very good, at least according to my amateur and unsophisticated taste, but I expect the real wine sophisticates would like it, too. 

Würzburg was a two-and-a-half hour train trip from Regensburg, north to Nürnberg and then west, but still in Bavaria. Their Altstadt was almost as beautiful as Regensburg's, but a lot of it was reconstructed after WWII, so it's not as authentic. Ninety percent of the city was destroyed in fire bombing in a British air raid. 

Würzburg boasts its own castle on a hill, but unlike the others I saw, it is flanked by vineyards. I've taken the time to walk up the hill to see two ruined castles, but for some reason, have never felt inspired to walk up the hill to see intact ones. Perhaps because in the area there's so much to see, and I have to decide how to ration my energy and my steps. 

The original Marienkapelle was built between 1377 and 1480, but destroyed in WWII. They say the reconstructions are faithful replications of the originals, but there's not that feeling of old authenticity. I think I've mentioned before that Regensburg was spared bombing in the war, and thus, all of its buildings are the originals from the Middle Ages, and before. I saw several churches in Würzburg. They are monumental, and work to make a person feel very small, which is the point, I think. They are also welcomingly cool when one steps in out of the warmth of the sun. Visitors are welcome to look around and take photos, but not during worship services. 

I just had to take a tram ride at some point, so here was my chance. Regensburg doesn't have a tram system, although about half the population is in favor of one (and of course, the other half doesn't favor). I can ride as part of my Deutschland ticket, which I've mentioned in past posts, so I hopped on one that was headed toward the Hauptbahnhof (train station) when I was worn out from walking around for nearly 3 hours. It almost felt like a Disney ride, especially as it circled around in a verdant and tree-shaded park in front of the Hauptbahnhof before stopping to let us off. 

Today, being my birthday, I decided to take a local excursion after breakfast and go in pursuit of new bird friends. I scored on that point, finding two new friends, and even striking up a conversation with a German couple on the trail who stopped to comment on the bird I was focusing on. I told them it was a new bird friend, a chaffinch. My other new feathered friend is a white wagtail, spotted at a dam upriver. And speaking of birthdays...Germans have the custom of not wishing a person a happy birthday until the actual day, and not a minute before. It's considered 'bad luck'.

This trail along the south bank of the Danube (locally: Donau), is flanked by venerable giants of trees and is a bird paradise. It does the soul good to sit on a bench and listen to the bird chorus and the burbling of the river. 

I've walked over the Old Stone Bridge numerous times, but today was the first time I found a way to go under it. 

Regensburg, in fact Germany, has so many beautiful settings, and people take advantage of it. I always find runners, other walkers, cyclists, and people pushing baby strollers along the trails. It's just too bad that so many of them smoke! That's one thing I just don't understand about the Germans. 

We're getting down to the last of things, but I hope to find time to walk this trail at least one more time. I have one last excursion to make, an all-day trip to the German forest on the Czech border. It is highly recommended. I will take my trusty binoculars and go in pursuit of some new feathered friends. 

Tschüss