Skip to main content

Regensburg, or the Final Germany Post

Image
By

I have not posted for seven years since leaving Japan. I have been through a lot, as has Matt, and we've begun a little bit of traveling again in order to reconnect and heal. I have been re-doing this blog and stumbled upon this post, that I started but never posted, a few months after our return. I chose not to change it, since I liked the words from my younger, more carefree self. Enjoy!

Nearly three months after leaving Japan and the better part of two since our Germany tour, I am finally finishing up the Germany-themed posts!  It's been a whirlwind few months that feels much longer.  Now we're looking back on two years of incredible travels and experiences, trying to find work in our strangely inhospitable native country, wondering... what's next?  And what better to do at a time like this but to look back fondly at travels through a functionally stable, health-care-providing country!

Regensburg was beautiful like all the other cities we visited in southern Germany.  The view above is from one of the oldest bell towers at the Basilica St. Emmeram. The tall spires to the right of the photo belong to St. Peter's Church, which we also visited. I loved the brightly colored houses everywhere. To the right of this text is a picture from inside the church at St. Emmeram. The Basilica is what is left of the St. Emmeram abbey, which became the Thurn and Taxis palace (more on that below). Everything is very ornate and historically interconnected.   


On the Stone Bridge, which leads to old town and has a view of St. Peter's Church.

Martina and I found many types of doors, some overly large, and this one, very small.

This is Schloss Thurn and Taxis, which Matt especially wanted to visit because of "The Crying of Lot 49" by Thomas Pynchon. The Thurn and Taxis family was instrumental in the post office throughout Europe in the 16th century, and then after around 1806 began setting up breweries and building castles. The family is actually still around and still lives here. They're still filthy rich and their old brewery company still produces Thurn and Taxis beer. The grounds are immense and so is the castle. I couldn't photograph it entirely!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

To Live in the Moment Without Fear

By
To Live in the Moment Without Fear  is a work by Yuko Shinoda from Gifu, Japan.  Danced by six women, the dance investigates what it means to be a part of a community threatened by a disaster that takes a life.  Premiered June 5th 2011 in Nagoya, Japan, the dance features a strong movement aesthetic that draws from traditional Japanese dance as well as contemporary styles and contact improvisation.  Shinoda's use of space and timing, as her dancers flow in-and-out of solos, duets, trios, and unison, creates a sense that the dancers are unified and alone at the same time.  In the end, Shinoda's view of life is clear: we must tend to the fallen, but we must never surrender ourselves to fear while we are still alive.
3 comments
Read more

Yokohama, Day Four: Roppongi Hills and Shibuya

By
We met Nik's girlfriend, Megumi, for an amazing lunch on the way to Roppongi Hills, where we met up with her friend Misa. Roppongi Hills is an incredibly upscale shopping district in Tokyo, even more upscale than the Ginza. I couldn't afford to look at the stores. We passed by a German-influenced illumination display, honoring 150 years of German-Japanese friendship. It was really beautiful and seemed traditional (I'm going to run it by my German friend to test its authenticity).  In the first two pictures you can see Japanese people chowing down on dark lager and brats, as well as a lovely carved statue with figurines and candles that constantly turned on a podium. Misa was hungry so we got her a lunch snack, and when Matt saw a bagel place he succumbed to his Jewishness. Pictured is his bagel with cream cheese and lox, which he ate in the face of Christmas with Nik. Roppongi Hills also has many beautiful sculptures, including a giant spider of which I didn'...
Post a Comment
Read more

Gamagori Fireworks Festival

By
Takeshima, at low tide. Every year, on the last day of July, a big fireworks festival is held in Gamagori, Japan.  Fireworks are very big in Japan, with each major city priding itself on its particular display, and swearing up and down to anyone who will listen that their fireworks are the best in the nation.  Gifu's displays were canceled this year because of the earthquake, so we took the opportunity to travel a little more than an hour by express train to Gamagori.  It's a cute little town, not far from Okazaki, with a famous island that is entirely shrine space (seen in the picture to the right). It was a wonderful, if long, day.  Four of us set out from Gifu and picked two more friends up on the way to the island.  We arrived early, perhaps too early, but we did miss the worst of the afternoon sun as we wandered around the island.  Even though I was very diligent about my SPF 50 sunblock, I still managed to get burned on both shoulders before the...
1 comment
Read more