Regensburg, or the Final Germany Post

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!