Donau # 3: ...Studies

Mon. Sept. 22, Tues. Sept. 23 (Days 3 + 4): Bad Abbach-Regensburg-Donaustauf-Valhalla

The River:

Our route:  Vienna is 280k east of Passau

High water at Weltenburg

  
     Perhaps I should introduce you.  The Danube is the second longest river in Europe, winding through 10 countries for about 2800 k before merging into the Black Sea.  Our week-long row is less than a tenth of this - about 260k.  From the 1st to the 5th centuries, it was the Romans' northern boundary.  In modern times, it is most notable because of the frequency with which it floods:  the Danube has flooded in six years since 2002, and in 2013, many of the towns we rowed  through were under water. 

Bavaria:

11th century Stone Bridge, Regensburg

      The last time I was in Germany was 1967 and I have never been to  Bavaria before.  On the way to Weltenburg I was struck by how verdant it is; we saw feed corn and other crops, grazing land, tidy houses and meticulous gardens.  After a couple of days I was wondering where the messes were; no dumps, no trash tucked into  corners, no debris anywhere.  Every village has a steeple, and many churches have the squat onion dome shape we associate with Russian churches; it was apparently a popular fashion in the 17th century. The Danube has a bike trail for its entire length, and every day, in every town, we saw people walking their dogs, bicycling, fishing right next to the river.

The Salt Warehouse 

 Regensburg:
     We end our second day of rowing at Regensburg, our 2nd UNESCO World Heritage Site.  In 179, Marcus Aurelius built a fort, Castra Regina (fort on the Regen River), here on the most northern point of the Danube.  You can still see the 10m. square outlines of the fortress's walls inside the Old City.  We returned the next morning and had a guided tour: because its star waned after a few hundred years when it was filled with wealthy merchants each of whom constructed a taller tower to show his importance (no comment...) it had no money to "restore" its buildings. It also avoided damage in WWII and so still boasts its Gothic cathedral, the Dom, its stone bridge, originally constructed in the 12th century and currently being rebuilt with its original stones, and its 17th century Salt Warehouse.  Incredibly picturesque. Now it's enjoying an economic boom:  the BMW 3 series is made here, there's a Siemens plant and a university with 20K students. So the city is in good shape; it boasts an unemployment rate of less than 3.5%.

Valhalla:

All 70 of us soaking up the sun

     In 1807 Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria had this idea that he would honor important Germans.  He created a building, modeled on the Parthenon, to house a collection of busts he'd commissioned of Germans famous in the arts and sciences (and politics), above the Danube between Regensburg and Donaustauf, where we ended our row on day 3.  The sun was glorious, the interior only mildly interesting and we were tired enough to enjoy sitting on the steps of Valhalla, completely content just to bask in the balmy evening sun. This has to be one of my favorite memories of the trip.

Bodily Functions:

Shane zoning above the Danube      

     On average, we row 6-7 hours per day, with a scheduled stop for lunch.  Almost no one in the boat can make it that long, however, without needing to deal with the other end of all the caffeine we imbibed at breakfast.  So we stop, usually at least twice a day, or whenever anyone asks, for a Pee-Shtop; sometimes we are lucky and find a small dock, concrete steps, or a gravel bar near the shore.  Barring that, we get as close to the rocky edge as possible and tie up to a bush,  a tree or a clump of grass.  Then everyone hopa out, men in one direction and women in the other, and we do our business behind whatever cover is available.  Good to avoid paths with people and dogs. Cornfields make the best traveling bathrooms; walk in just a couple of rows and you have complete privay, except for other rowers.