Memorial Day weekend didn't go quite as we planned. We wanted to go camping near Pottenstein, but the forecast all week called for a 70% chance of rain on Saturday (and then some again on Monday.) Camping is great until it rains and rains and rains (see: our southern Germany summer trip of 2017) and then it's just no fun at all. So at the VERY last minute we decided we were going to go Czesky Krumlov in southwestern Czech Republic, which we were all okay with. Until 5:40 am on Friday morning when Natalie got sick. You never can tell with her if she legitimately has a stomach bug, or if she just ate too much junk at her brother's baseball final game BBQ the night before. But since no one else got sick, and she only got sick once... I'm gonna go with the latter.
But since we didn't KNOW that at the time... we opted to stay home for the weekend. Have you ever had the entire family get sick with one toilet in a hotel in the Czech Republic before? No? We haven't either, and I'd really rather NEVER find out how that goes. So home, it was.
But that turned out to be okay because there's a million things I still want to do locally before we go home (this year? Next year?) And one of them was the Walhalla Memorial near Regensburg!
Hilariously, I found a bedazzled boat that took you from Regensburg to Walhalla and back, and it did this 3x a day. So you could take the boat from Regensburg to the memorial... stay a few hours, and then wait for the next boat to come back and pick you up.
But I'm totally not kidding when I say that this boat was bedazzled. With Swarovski crystals!
We found a table in the shade and prepared to enjoy some lunch on our little cruise down to Walhalla.
Cuties, ready to set sail!
The reason this Swarovski crystal bedazzled boat is so funny, is because in a few weeks, we are going on a cruise on the MSC Meraviglia which has a Swarovski crystal staircase, kind of like this one, only bigger and more bedazzley. So we joked that this was our trial run!
The inside, while empty because it was a sunny day had a beautiful crystal flowered ceiling.
I felt like I was back in DC enjoying the cherry blossom festival!
Riding the Danube with the Bavarian flag flowing in the wind.
The floor was made of a bunch of crystals under glass.
The first views of Walhalla are very impressive. The second thought you have (after, wow it's so pretty!) is... Wait. I gotta climb up those stairs?
Ok, I'm totally not afraid of those stairs. My FitBit is gonna love me today!
You can choose to get off the boat and explore Walhalla (and wait for the next boat to come pick you up in a couple of hours) or you can just stay on the boat and have another beer!
Staircase to Walhalla, this way. Use at your own risk! Branch falling off danger! Without winter service care!
Natalie took a break about halfway up to admire some (Pop Pop) sheep and the Danube.
Oh man. We still have all that way to go?
One of Todd's many stellar panoramas.
The stairs seem imposing but there's only a few hundred of them. (!!!)
We're ready to explore Walhalla! Also: digging that guy's beard on the left.
We love these columns because we don't have to climb anymore stairs!
The views from the top of Walhalla are magnificent. From here, it looks like Todd would just fall off the side of a cliff if he went over the edge, but in reality, there's more stairs beneath this.
Those sheep are looking MUCH smaller from up here!
When you've finally hiked to the top, you're rewarded with insane views.
For 4.50 Euro, you can go inside. I'm not gonna say it's totally worth it, but some of the busts are actually kind of amusing. There's a total of 130 that honor important figures in German history. There are also 65 plaques (above the busts) for those who did not have any pictures to model a bust after. The whole place is kind of the German Hall of Fame, so to speak.
Natürlich, Einstein is one of them.
Ludwig I (not our favorite guy, the mad King Ludwig II) is featured here as the King of Bavaria, and since it was his idea to build this monument when he was Crown Prince in 1807, then he is obviously featured prominently.
Someone actually put creepy eyeballs in Mozart. He was born and raised in Salzburg, but his dad was from Bavaria, and Mozart himself did spend some time in Germany in the late 1780s. But he's crazy weird looking here with his eyeballs rolling back in his head.
After we looked at the 130 busts of Walhalla, we went off in search of some bier and Eis.
On our way, we found this model which shows you the scale of Walhalla as a whole.
There's a little food truck in back of the structure, but it still provides nice views of Walhalla and the Danube.
ALL the vices. And no, those cigarettes are NOT mine!
We had a little bit of time to kill before the boat came back so we followed the trail that ran parallel to the Danube. There were a ton of bicyclists on this trail so you really had to try not to get run over by a bicyclist!
Ever the sharp eye, Grant noticed this mutilated snake in the middle of the bike trail! Gross!
Forget bike trails... I need more of this in my life!
We went back to the dock with a few minutes to spare and got a good seat on the boat. The ruins of Donaustauf belonged to the Prince of Thurn and Taxis, and he and his family lived there from 1843 to 1880, when the castle burned down (and now this is all that is left of it.)
Bailey's having beers (and Fanta but that's not fun alliteration) on a boat in Bavaria.
We followed this boat from Switzerland up the Danube.
The power lines have floaters so the airplanes won't get snagged, to quote my favorite song.
Believe it or not, that is a dike system that the stairs sit on here at the Donau Treppen Schwabelweis, It was completed in 2011.
I have no idea what this sign means. Sport, this way?
High water marks! High water marks! When we got off the boat, we headed toward the Stone Bridge and we saw this high water mark sign. (Hochwassershutz means "high water protection.") The little paragraph at the bottom explains how these pictures were from the 1988 flood, which was bad but wasn't near the 100-year flood... which was at the top of this sign (well above our heads!)
Following these guys under the trees that line the Danube as we head to the Stone Bridge.
I know I've posted about Regensburg before, but the old Stone Bridge is the oldest stone bridge in all of Europe! The last time we were here, it was under construction.
The Danube really gets going under this bridge. It's fun to watch the tourist boats fight the current.
Todd and Natalie were here in Regensburg the previous week for a school field trip, and he said all of the scaffolding beneath the clock on the end of the bridge was new since then. Europe: Always under construction! Also: How is he going to be in 4th grade soon??
Natalie missed going to the Regensburg Cathedral on her field trip because the field trip went until 5 and she had to be at her dance recital dress rehearsal by 3:45 so they had to leave early. Todd told her we would go visit the Cathedral, even though she went there back in 2016!
This is by far one of the physically darkest churches we have ever been to. Thankfully there were some candles to light it up!
I know I mentioned this in one of my previous posts, but the stained glass here is really outstanding. We decided to head back after visiting the Cathedral, and when I got home, I noticed I was sunburned! Not bad, but I really can't tell you the last time I got sunburned! I just. don't. burn. Hilarious!
Until next time Walhalla and Regensburg!
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