This morning we arrived in Regensburg, Germany. We had an early breakfast and left the boat around 9 for our optional excursion. We first got on a bus and rode for about 45 minutes through the lovely countryside of Bavaria in southern Germany. We went through several little towns, past farm fields, herds of sheep, and finally to our destination-Weltenberg Abbey. It is the oldest Abbey in Bavaria-established in 620 AD. The present church was built in 1716. Only 9 monks live in the Abbey at the present time, but they still follow the Benedictine rules of work and worship.
The first two pictures show the worship part. The outside of the church is fairly unassuming, but the inside was very pretty. It was designed and built by two brothers. One did the painting and one did the sculpting. It is hard to see, but there is a large horse and rider right on the altar!
The picture above lets you know what work the monks do. Their beer is very famous in Bavaria and has even won worldwide awards. Who knew....
After our tour of the Abbey, we walked a short ways along the river. This is a view back at the Abbey grounds.
We were picked up by a scenic cruising boat. We sailed through this part of the river called the Danube Narrows. It is the narrowest and deepest part of the entire river. Reminded us a little of the Dells boat rides.
It was such a relaxing trip! While we were on the ride we got to sample the monks beer and have a yummy pretzel dipped in warm mustard. Pretty nice way to spend our time in Bavaria.
Hard to believe our next stop is our last. We are entering the man made canal that connects the Danube and Main Rivers. It is quite an engineering marvel and has a series of locks to bridge the two rivers. We will arrive at Nuremberg tomorrow morning and then spend our last day there. We have really settled into the cruising routine and both agree if someone offered it to us, we would just keep right on sailing!
Hugs,
Bob and Debbie
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