We docked earlier than planned at Regensburg this morning. I looked out the window in time to see one of our crew leap from the boat to the shore. It was a good jump! Breakfast was a leisurely affair and, as usual, the food was very good, and plentiful. The only thing that could be better is if there was barista-made coffee available instead of the brewed coffee. You can stop by the coffee station on your way in to grab a milk-based drink so all is not lost.
Regensburg is a Gothic city which apparently was not badly affected by bombing during World War II. How much it was affected has a bit to do with which tour leader you had - according to the ones our mates took, the city wasn't bombed at all. Our guide said about 30% of the city was affected by bombing. The city was a target because there was a factory producing Messerschmitt fighters here. Wikipedia reports that on 17 August 1943, the USAAF suffered staggering losses in attacks against the fighter factory here and the ball-bearing plants in Schweinfurt. While the attacks were supposed to happen simultaneously, fog delayed take-off of one group of fighters and the others were intercepted by German fighters with major losses to the allies. The Germans were able to land, refuel and re-arm, and were airborne in time to attack the second wave of allied fighters. So 'the "old town of Regensburg with Stadtahmof" was left largely unscathed ... (and) was one of the few German medieval cities still standing ...'
Sooz came for a bit of a walk in to the city but, alas, didn't feel up to a walk into the Jewish Quarter. As it turned out, I don't think I discovered it in my ramblings even though I did find a plaque on the wall of a house which, when translated, relates to a Jehovah's Witness who died in Mauthausen concentration camp - the main one of nearly 100 further subcamps located throughout Austria and southern Germany.
Thank goodness M bumped into someone from the boat during her ramblings in Regensburg. She hadn't realised until then that the boat was due to leave port at 11.45am not 2pm. She had planned to do more exploring (near stores) but made it back to the boat in time - there may have been some rushing involved.
We are off to Nuremburg this afternoon. So far, we have been at one lock for over an hour, and at the moment we are sitting in another. It is funny to hear the guests over the other side of the lounge shout out 'Green light' just before we start moving out of the lock.
We attended a talk on the boat last night about canals and locks. It was very interesting, and informative. Locks have been around for centuries and are/were used in Egypt, China, India and other countries which I could name if I could get to my notes from last night. The over-60 locks we go through on our river cruise are gravity driven, with hydraulic action, and there are five different types. We are moving 'uphill' at the moment and will continue to do so until we reach the 'Continental Divide' - which is marked by a concrete wall on either side of that lock. I'm not sure how far the wall extends for and Ivan who gave the talk suggested it may not be worth getting up for because we will be there in the very early hours of the morning.