Walhalla, But not the Viking version

Yesterday we took a day trip to Regensburg, which is about 1.5 hours from us.  We'd been wanting to visit there for awhile, as it is a quick and easy day trip with plenty to see, do and eat.  Since we did so much though, I'm going to break up the post into two.

On a high slope rising above the Danube, sits Walhalla.  Commissioned by King Ludwig the first to commemorate important and famous German language speakers, both men and women alike, it is filled with marble busts of scientists, politicians, artists and great thinkers. Construction on Walhalla began in 1830, and was finished in 1842.

"At Walhalla's inauguration on October 18, 1842, there were 96 busts, plus 64 plaques for persons or events of which no portrait was available on which to model a sculpture. As being "of the German tongue" was the main selection criterion for the original 160 persons representing the 1,800 years of German history, the King included persons from, or who had been active in, modern-day Sweden, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland and the Baltic States.

Whereas the Valhalla of Norse mythology served as home to those gloriously slain in battle, Ludwig intended his Walhalla not only for warriors but also for scientists, writers, and clerics, and specifically included both men and women. Decades before the foundation of the modern German state in 1871, "German" was understood as "Germanic", and included Gothic, Langobardic, Anglo-Saxon, Austrian, Dutch and Swiss German figures, as well as persons who had gained fame mainly in non-German-speaking contexts."  

We spent about an hour there looking around, climbing the steps, and then enjoyed some "Eis", aka German Ice Cream, before heading back to Regensburg proper for more sightseeing.   We did want to take the boat there, but we left way too late to catch it on time, so that will be another adventure for another day.  It is a 45 minute boat ride from Regensburg to Walhalla along the Danube river.

While I was snapping pictures, my husband told me that our youngest daughter saw this bust and asked if it was Martin Luther King, Jr.'s father. Hahaha!

 The Beautiful Blue Danube

This would have been a perfect shot, had he not stepped in my line of sight.

I don't remember the cost to get in, but since we have the Bayern castle pass, it was free for us.  I think I'd love to go back with just Andrew so we can do the audio tour, and not have kids with us.  The kids don't mind doing these types of activities, but they get bored in museums.  I do know the audio tour costs 2 Euros per person. 

I love having sites like this close to us.  We have to remember that we don't always have to venture outside of Germany to travel and explore, as there is so much to see and do inside Germany itself.  We are on a vacation just by living here! Today I am planning on going to a Potato Fest in a village about 10 minutes from us, and our next "big" trip will be to Stuttgart area in few weeks to see the Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival, and see my friend Tanja whom I haven't seen in 16 years!  Look for the 2nd installment in this Regensburg blog post in a few days!

Adventures in Bike Riding

I sold my hybrid Schwinn at our yard sale in KS, and in restrospect, I probably shouldn't have, but oh well! I just upgraded to a cute mint green schwinn here with a basket! I love it.

I took her out for her maiden voyage today, a short 40 minute bike ride around our village. I was by myself, but I had fun.  Along the way, I discovered a field of almost dead sunflowers, the entrance to the air field (which is suspiciously closer to us than I knew! No wonder we can hear the artillery more than we did in Kansas), and an apple tree on the side of the road that was laden with large green apples.  I am not quite sure what type they are, but I took six home and tried one.  I promptly puckered my lips and spat it out, as it was most definitely NOT ripe yet. Maybe next month. I think it is a golden delicious or granny smith variety.  I love that you can find wild fruit trees here in Bavaria. That is unheard of in the states, at least where we are from.  Fruit trees are in abundance here, including cherries, plums and apples.  I am sure there are more too that I just haven't seen.

I also made some new friends, who promptly hissed at me when I came close.  Swans are mean, Yo! Keep away!  This beautiful family of swans lives just up the road in Heringnohe (Yes, we have a "castle" close by),

 One of these things is not like the others.

I was somewhat afraid that the female (I assume she was the one who was hissing at me to keep away) was going to call her family to arms, and come running towards me with their beaks wide open and wings splayed out, ready to attack, so I hightailed it, and went on my merry way.

Just a few feet down the road is Schloss Heringnohe, which I linked above.  The story behind that building is:

The castle belonged to a hammer mill , which of the hydropower of Wiesennohe, a tributary of the Vils was operated. The hammer is Heringnohe 1387 as owner Hans Hegner called 1438 Sulzbacher iron trades Albrecht Frank († 1480). His father had in 1400 can in large reservoirs Heringnohe invest to operate the hammer. In Albrecht Frank succeeded by his son William, who mostly in Regensburg lived and his daughter Ursula married with Lienhart Portner. This inherited 1517 Heringnohe; his son Albrecht Portner († 1540) got as next the Sulzbacher heritage, which his son Wilhelm followed, the goal for the hammer. The Portner the family was represented here by the descendants of Elias and Hans Adam. The latter refused to convert and must emigrate without he was compensated for his property. During the Thirty Years' War asked 1630 managers Johann Kohler to discount the burdens of war. The Good Heringnohe received 1631 Bamberger canon Ulrich von Plettenberg . 1641 Johann Kohler is run as Hammerherrenhaus.

Other owners were Kaspar Gessel (1683), then the farmer Count of Oberweißbach (around 1740). Georg Graf had two sons: Georg and Johann Georg, of which Georg received the Hammer Heringnohe and Johann Georg the Hammergut Altneuhaus. Johann Georg Graf is the progenitor of the family ennobled those of Grafstein. According to the Count of the Good Heringnohe went in 1847 to the family of Lindenfels who owned the hammer for about two decades.

March 6, 1867 came the possession of Christoph Kredler; under this went a the hammer. Under his son († 1931), the possession of debt again. The merchant Hans Götz from Freihung purchased the plant in 1931 and brought it to economic prosperity. After his death in 1957 Emma Götz and then the son Oswald Götz took over the estate. Today Joachim Götz is the owner of Heringnohe.

Thanks Wikipedia!

I was not planning on taking photos today, but blogging Inspiration hit, so please excuse the bad composition of these!

It's a quaint little place, I would be interested in checking it out more.  I think they do offer overnights there, I am pretty sure it is a guesthouse.

I was on my way home now, but took one more quick detour down a dirt road. Everything here is new and exciting to see, but this one made me turn around quite quickly. Bees. Lots and lots of honey bees.  I love honey, but I do not love bees. I heard the buzzing, snapped a quick picture, and left as fast as I could.  Shortly after I left, a man drove up to the road and got out of his car. I tried to speak to him, but he spoke not a lick of English, and my German is not so good.  I was about to explain to him I had google translate, as I wanted to ask if he sold honey, but he said goodbye and shut the door to his shed.  Ok then. 

And my last stop for the morning was this little bridge with a rambling brook right under it, which I saw right after I visited the makers of bee vomit, I headed home after that. 

And there you have it, this is all within a short bike ride from my house. Actually maybe a 5 minute card ride from our house, but I took my time exploring  and going all over the village. I absolutely love where we live, and when we eventually leave, I will miss it. Bavaria has already stolen my heart!

I used to be good at this...

What happened to my blogging motivation? I used to blog all the time before Barry died, and then all the time afterwards.  I kind of dropped off the face of the earth again and again.  I like writing, but I just don't do it anymore.  I realized this as I was scouring my old blog today looking for a recipe I haven't made in a really long time.  I used to write constantly, and now I am just sitting here at my computer, in my robe and pajamas at 0900 and feeling like I don't even know where to start!  I originally intended this new blog to be for our travel adventures, but how many have I posted since we got here?

None.

Way to go Joanna! haha.

So here's what's going on in my life right now...

I really have to go to the grocery store today as we are out of breakfast food, lunch foods, meat, fruit...you name it, it's gone.  But I also have a class at the gym at 2PM that I have to go to, and I really don't feel like showering twice today, but I can't go to the grocery store looking like a slob with greasy hair.

My kids are back to school now and settling in well to the DODEA school rhythm.  Teenagers are the hardest creatures to raise. They make me understand why mothers sometimes eat their young in the wild.  You try raising three at a time! HOLY SHIT.  And then add in one pre-teen girl to the mix, and it's a whole shit salad sometimes.  Anyway, kids are doing great with school and getting involved etc etc.  They like their new schools and seem happy to be here in Germany,  We will be doing cookie season with Girl Scouts again this year, but at least my youngest loves being in Girl Scouts.

We've gone on lots of adventures this summer.  We hiked up to some Castle ruins (Flossenburg, Ehrenburg Fortress), went to a concentration camp (Flossenburg), went to Garmisch and went sledding on the Zugspitze in the summer!  We also went to some castles (Hoenschwangau and Neuschwanstein), walked across the longest Tibetan style suspension bridge (Highline 179), and also explored Hitler's Eagle's Nest and some of Berchtesgaden.  We rode some really fun alpine slides, and went in a really old monastery (Ettal) that took my breath away, and then we walked though the Partnach Gorge which is absolutely breathtaking as well. Then I went to Poland with a friend of mine, and we bought lots of pottery!  And then I took the kids to Prague this past weekend as Andrew had to study.

We are still settling into our new house.  We still need to find a home for a few last minute things, and hang the last few items up on the walls.  I joined the spouses club again, and am looking forward to the luncheons and trips they do (I'm going to Oktoberfest later this month with the spouses club!!!). In a couple weeks we hope to go to Stuttgart to see my German friend Tanja that we have not seen in 16 years!  Contrary to Kansas, I have some really great neighbors.  I have become friends with a few of the ladies, and I am so glad that our neighborhood is more friendly than it was in Kansas.  I didn't know any of my neighbors and everyone there kept to themselves...here people are more friendly. Well, at least they are on our street.

That's all for now, I need to go spend money at the German Grocery store now and get my life together for the day.


I will try to post some pictures soon, but I need to get a watermark first before I put them up publicly.