No Need to Panic

Dad/Dave again, with dinner now behind us. I recognize nothing I say from this point on will compare to the drama of Bonnie's last contribution, but I continue nevertheless.

Regensburg - 18.11.08 (continued)
I woke up in this small city/large town to light rain and heavy overcast, but by the time I'd eaten breakfast and checked out of my hotel the clouds were breaking up and bright blue patches of sky showed here and there. Regensburg, it turns out, is a beautiful place when you're not driving around its sidewalks in the dark.

More on that shortly.

I took a long walking tour of the city and managed to see most of what lies inside its walls. This was partly the result of planning, partly the result of getting lost with some frequency. The most notable sights had to be the view from the far side of the Donau river which, based on all the postcards, is probably the city's most picturesque vantage point, and the inside of St. Peter's Cathedral, a massive Gothic church that is beautiful, inspiring, intimidating, and cold in equal measure.

From here it's off the Prague, and the excitement of seeing Bonnie has me smiling most of the way.

Stuttgart to Regensburg - 17.11.08
A thought on the drive before I really get started. There's no need for panic, or even concern, when you enter the Autobahn, but it is worth an 8-10% increase in your pulse rate. You (I) spend a lot of time getting out of people's way on this road and I'm going a good 75 mph for most of it. I learn something very early on. I learn (and readers with tender sensibilities should avert their eyes here):

Drivers in the left lane
DO NOT FUCK AROUND.

So, anyway...

My ability to read simple maps and clear highway signs having remained in California, I have some trouble getting out of Stuttgart. Things go well enough as I depart the airport in my rental but somehow, instead of bypassing the city center as planned, I'm soon headed straight for it. Taking rapid, but in the end ineffective, evasive action, I ping around the north side of town for a while and end up driving right past the park and climbing tower Julia and I visited yesterday. I have to say, it was much more fun with her along.

Somehow or other, by way of a route never to be duplicated, I find my way out of the city. Two and a half short and scenic hours later, I pull into Dinkelsbuhl for lunch.

If I did not already know Dinkelsbuhl is an example of a small and charming German medieval walled town, I might easily have mistaken it for a Disney-built replica of a small and charming German medieval walled town. It's that perfect. Think cobblestones, crosstimbers, pastel colors and gated towers and then throw in a scenic stream flowing past it all.

I enter a nice looking restaurant and order the Dienstag special instead of the 'Obama Hamma', (the chef's enthusiastic but otherwise unidentifiable culinary endorsement of our president-elect). I am served a breaded fish filet the size of a catcher's mitt (karpfenfilet in the local vernacular), along with a load of roasted potatoes that, under the circumstances, can only be considered gratuitous. I eat most of it all, and a chunk of one of my chocolate bars once I get back in the car. Autobahn driving is hungrier work than I thought.

After a relaxing drive along some scenic secondary roads, I enter the Autobahn for another breathless sprint and am soon on my way into Regensburg. A left turn for the city center springs up well before I'm prepared for it, and I opt to continue along in the right lane instead of acting like a Californian at rush hour. I figure it will be a simple matter to work my way back in that direction when the opportunity presents itself.

Two very quick turns later it appears I am driving on the sidewalk. This is just a theory. The cobblestones look a lot like those you see on many of the roads, but the increasingly narrow surface and the close proximity of pedestrians argue strongly in favor of it. And I suppose I should mention there is no curb and I can just about reach out and touch some of the shops I'm passing.

Alternating between first gear and neutral I pick my way carefully through a throng of shoppers who, I'm interested to note, appear completely nonplussed by my presence in their midst. But boy do I want to find a street!

Finally, as I round one corner of what turns out to have been Neupfarrplatz - complete with a pretty little church sitting in the middle of it - I catch a glimpse of some actual traffic and make for that with all possible haste. Getting back on to a legitimate road is like being able to breathe again. I congratulate myself on my composure in a tight spot.

Two turns later I find myself on another sidewalk! For Heaven's sake! Luckily for all of us it leads back to the platz I was just in so I already know my way around. This time, when I inch myself back to the one street I've been able to find, I park. I reconnoitre on foot for an escape route and find one that involves only a short 'pedestrians only' segment. After all the felonies I've committed it seems silly to quibble over this little misdemeanor, so I return to the car, take one more tour of the dreaded Neupfarrplatz, and am finally free.

I resolve to try the whole thing on foot in the morning.

Now, nearly 23:00 here in the present, I gotta go to bed. I'll return another time to report on my arrival in Germany and my too-short stay with the Seljes - complete with photos - as well as on Bonnie's and my continuing adventures in Prague.