reasons I am in love with regensburg: part three

             

reasons why I am head-over-heels-in-love with regensburg: part one, to be continued

           

           

           

           

The Donauradweg is my happy place. The solution to all the world’s problems, I think… There is nothing better than cycling beside sparkling waters in afternoon sunshine, bike-riding Danube-adoring companion beside you, with a riverside game of tennis (if you can call the mangled version of the game we played tennis…I’m skeptical), a Gasthaus stop for Sandkuchen and a Bavarian pink sunset in your immediate future. I can’t really put into words how much love I have for this place, how blissfully contented I am that it is Spring, how grateful I am to have a best friend and a bicycle and legs which keep me pedalling even when I’m giddy with the utter beauty that surrounds me and all the blessings in my life.

island farmer's market

           

           

One always knows it’s a Wednesday on this Danube island when the already plentiful bicycles lining the streets multiply into a calvacade and the pungent aroma of Leberkaese and Sauerkraut begin to permeate the air.

           

The once-a-week farmer’s market on this little slice of land, sitting acrest one of Europe’s great rivers, is quickly becoming my favourite time of the week. Due to an unexpected change in programming, I can now almost always spend time there in the morning: gathering armfuls of apples to make Strudel with, tasting cheese with the funny old man under his striped veranda, persuading sweet old ladies to give me extra flowers and people-watching as self-proclaimed silver foxes waltz down Hauptstrasse with floral fabric-lined wicker baskets on their arms. 

           

Piers and I are always making (ridiculously unfunny to anyone but us) jokes about the island which I inhabit - he is the ‘celebrity from the mainland’ and when I walk over the bridge into the Altstadt, I make a huge fuss about going ‘off island’ - but, in all truth, this farmer’s market is wonderful because there is no other means of purchasing Lebensmittel without crossing the water, due to the closure of all supermarkets ‘on island’. And truthfully, I just love the heady mix of senior citizens, OAP fashion (sincerely), locally sourced produce and bicycles galore.

           

           

         

         

           

Regensburg was never more beautiful than it was today. 

          

today it is raining in regensburg. heavy, icy, european rain which i am so thankful for. for the grey and the cosiness and the cathedral bells churning as rain pounds the pavement and as I pedal down narrow alleyways, cobblestoned, hair flyaway in the dark. watching fleeting clouds dance across the ever-changing, darkening sky. thankful for the clattering of my shutters, so loud it feels the world is tumbling down. thankful for the knowledge that it’s not. that the afternoon can be spent sitting in a warm room reading, drinking tea. there’s something of the wonderful in an oh-so-ordinary rainy day.

yesterday was nikolaustag. a tried and true german tradition i previously knew very little about. a gaggle of schoolchildren burst into the staffroom dressed as angels during the erste pause and started to sing. the teachers joined in. i marvelled at the entire spectacle, somewhat bewildered. but also very touched. it was entirely sweet. a little girl danced around the room distributing chocolate. later, as i was planning lessons in the school library, one of my abitur students slid a chocolate nikolaus across the table. ‘ein geschenk!’ he whispered. i am grateful for kind pupils who brighten every day.

it was also referendartag, meaning that every trainee teacher in regensburg descended upon the school for a reunion. every hallway was filled with people. children ran through corridors hollering. a fire almost broke out when a little girl with long hair knelt too close to the adventskranz (advent wreathes which now adorn every table in school!) there was a permeating sense of festivity. celebration. and chaos. and it was just nice. 

then christl dropped by with surprise nikolaus presents. she is so sweet to me. they insisted i come to dinner with them so we drove back to their quiet town in the rainy darkness and cooked a quintessentially bavarian supper: sauerkraut, kartoffelbrei, endiviensalat and (not so german) sojawurstl. we made plans to visit the princess’ christmas market on friday.

weihnachten is in full swing. the main street of my donauinsel is shooting stars from every lamppost and everywhere one goes, men perch precariously at the top of ladders. they are stringing up lights, brightly coloured ornaments, winter wreaths. they take christmas most seriously here. i have also seen the happy sight of children riding bikes with tinsel weaved around their baskets. an ingenious idea, which i may have to plagiarise. i’m making sure to appreciate every moment of december. because who knows when i’ll next have the chance to experience a bavarian advent? soon, i hope. because bavarian advents are magical. 

and, for that, i am also most grateful. 

auf wiedersehn! i’m off to smile in the rain.

Recently...

Some perfect late autumn days…

A magical sunset bicycle ride to (my new favourite landmark) the Walhalla Temple…

The first SNOWFALL of the winter on the 15th November 2011…a wonderful surprise on an early morning walk to school! (And nobody batted an eyelid whereas I walked around over-excitedly taking pictures…)

A day trip to Nuremberg with some of the loveliest girls on yet another school holiday (this time: Buss- und Bettag, a church holiday), where we admired the Christmas decorations, sat in a warm cafe and walked around the Altstadt (very pretty.)

Not pictured: remembering how much I love the youngest classes with their ten-year-old enthusiasm and endless questions, a twilight drive to Straubing with the Maiers, a fun evening with Piers and Eloise and her visiting friend, organising pen pal writing with the 9. Klasse, a tour of the Schloss Thurn und Taxis (Regensburg’s very own palace) and excitement for the en masse family visit this weekend!!