So I've been in Regensburg for going on two weeks now - having arrived on the 20th, I'm only just now starting to get settled into any kind of routine, and it will probably still be a while yet before any of us in my group of 23 students from Vanderbilt, Wesleyan, and Wheaton feels fully comfortable and at home in the new environment. Regensburg is a cute little town of about a hundred thousand situated on the Danube (der Donau) river in northern Bavaria (Oberbayern). It has a thriving and vibrant old city that was never destroyed during the war, making it one of the few truly old places in Germany - it wasn't bombed simply because there was nothing here worth bombing, and honestly still isn't unless you hate BMWs and want to destroy a factory. The entire town center (die Altstadt) has been declared an UNESCO world heritage site, because it looks basically the same as it did throughout the Middle Ages.
The beating heart of the city, die Altstadt is located straddling the Danube. In the middle ages, this made it a center of trade and Regensburg became a very rich city. It was even the seat of the princes council of the Holy Roman Empire for some number of years during the middle ages and Renaissance. Now, the Altstadt is filled with shops, bars (Kneipen), restaurants, and even student apartments. Unfortunately, none of the students in our group live in the Altstadt - we all live about 10 minutes away by bus in an area called Koenigswiesen.
One of the first things you'll notice about Germany upon visiting is the overabundance of bakeries (die Baeckerei). Germans love their bread, more than just about any culture in Europe. Specifically Bavarian (bayerisch) are the ubiquitous soft pretzels (die Brezel, oder die Brezen in bayerisch). Every bakery you go to has these, the student cafeteria at the University has them, they are served in bars, pubs, restaurants, and pretty much everywhere else. Bavarians eat them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, but most common I've found is breakfast: eine Kaesebrezen (a soft pretzel cheese melted on it) is delicious when freshly baked in time for breakfast.
The second thing you'll notice about Germany is how impressive the public transportation system is. In a city this size in the US, there would be no public transportation to speak of - even in cities 7 or so times larger, like Nashville and Charlotte, the public transit is miserable. Here, though, the buses run on time with a precision that is slightly scary. Every bus stop has a list of times, and the stops in the Altstadt have some kind of GPS tracking system to show you how far away a given bus is. The buses are not late: if a bus is a minute behind schedule, people start getting agitated and complaining. Germans take their efficiency seriously. They also don't talk on buses, which is weird in the extreme. When there isn't a loud group of Americans (Amis) in the front of the bus, its silent as the grave.
The third thing you'll notice, and the first thing you'll notice upon entering a restaurant/kneipe/bar, is that beer is not only inexpensive, but also significantly better than most everything found in the states. Beer is, quite literally, the same price as water and less expensive than flat water (Stilwasser) in most places. Disregarding touristy places, like the Hofbraeuhaus and Augustiner in Munich (Muenchen), food is reasonably inexpensive and very good.
Now I believe I shall end my first post, as some 300 vocabulary words are crying at me to study them. Look for more posts soon!
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