A Saturday in Regensburg

On Saturday, I went into the city of Regensburg to see what there was to see (and perhaps do a little bit of shopping). As I had said in my first blog of this series, it is a very old city and there is much of interest. However, you can read about that on the Regensburg tourism site.

Unknown to me when I planned my (business) trip to Regensburg, last weekend was very busy. There was the Regensburg marathon (mainly on Sunday), which brought many people into the city. In addition, because it was the first weekend in May, it is considered to be the official start to the "tourist" season. Saturday was also the "Nacht der Offenen Kirchen" (Night of the Open Churches). And, the weather was incredibly nice. I don't know if my impressions of the city would be much different if I had been here on a different weekend. In any case, here are a few interesting things that I observed.

Many cities in the US have a local "farmer's market." In Regensburg last Saturday, it seemed like the whole city was a farmer's market. Each "square" (in German, you call them "Plaz," and we don't have anything quite exactly equivalent in most US cities) had several tents, tables, and trucks. There were many plants to buy (especially flowering ones as it is the time of year to do your Spring planting), along with assorted meats and cheeses. In some places, there were ice cream (Eis) vendors, beer distributors, and home-baked goods. One of the markets also had a variety of cooking oils (mostly olive oil) and some locally-made wines. Many people had wooden baskets that they carried to the markets to fill with all these goodies. I suspect these many markets matched what we had in the US many years ago. In some of these places, there were also some musicians and other activities. And, yes, there was at least one man playing an accordion on the street corner (what most Americans might think of as "traditional German music").

In the inner city of Regensburg, really the "old" city, there are many new and old shops. You could easily spend days just looking at all the many different things to buy. If you want some current clothing, you can find that. If you want shoes, you can find those. Need a purse? Yes, there are many options for that too. Of course, you can shop for typical "tourist" items, such as shirts, post cards, coffee mugs, and so on. You can also shop for more traditional "German" items, such as a Bierkrug (commonly called a "beer stein" in the US), cuckoo clocks (which are usually Swiss, not German), traditional Bavarian clothing (Lederhosen for men, and Dirndal for ladies), and so on.

I went into a couple of bookstores, to see if they had any history books about Regensburg. Of course, they did, although they are written in German (surprise). They had picture books that were available in multiple languages, including English. More interesting, though, were the Bavarian-to-German dictionaries. Yes, you read that correctly. Many years ago, when I first learned to speak and read German, I was told that "Bayrisch is different" (according to my German teacher, whose ancestors hailed from much further North in Germany). I had not realized how different until coming here. Aside from specific words that they use in Bavaria, they also have a slightly different way of pronouncing the common words. You might compare the differences between Bayrisch and German to be similar to the differences between American and British English, or perhaps the differences between Southern American English and New England American English. Of course, the Bavarian people think their German is the "pure" German, while others feel completely different. I don't have an opinion, but it certainly has made for an interesting (re)learning experience for me.

I can't leave this topic without mentioning at least a few of the really interesting buildings in Regensburg. There is, of course, the twin-spired St. Peter's Cathedral which is worth a visit even if you are not Catholic. The old City Hall (Alte Rathaus) is also pretty interesting. If you happen to visit Regensburg, you will also see the old stone bridge and some other remnants of very old Roman fortifications. I could go on for some time, but I won't. Look for another blog entry soon.

Posted at 09:02AM May 07, 2008 by jcinfoblog in General  |  Comments[0]