Before the excursion: : I woke up at 1 a.m. At this point I had awakened before 2 a.m. every morning. I wrote an email to Sue. In it I described my activities of the previous two days. I also included this bit of news.

Six people on the ship have tested positive and have been removed to hotels. We are now down to 121. They said that only two people tested positive in 14 days on the last cruise.

The weather has been fabulous. It was 82 yesterday in Salzburg.

I went back to sleep at about 2. I managed to sleep through three REM and non-REM cycles before I awoke at 6:30.

When I awoke I made the startling discovery that my cellphone was not recharging. The only thing that I really needed the phone for at this point was to communicate with Sue when she picked me up at the airport in Boston.[1]

I had been plugging the phone into an outlet in the stateroom using the cord that came with it. I turned it off to save whatever battery remained, and I resolved to plug it in to my PC via the USB port and a dongle that came with the phone while I was busy ashore. The worst thing was that there was no way to determine if it was recharging without turning it on.

At breakfast I added a bowl of cereal to my usual selections from the buffet. I sat by myself near a window. This was a mistake. The sun was in my eyes, but there was no easy way to do anything about it.

At about 8 a.m. the ship docked in Regensburg. The first two syllables are pronounced like "Reagan's"; the Germans pronounce all terminating g's like unvoiced k's. The all-day Munich Highlights excursion departed at 8:30. The two walking tours were scheduled to leave at 9:30.

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The Regensburg Walking Tour: The guide for our group was named Justina. She pronounce the first letter like a J rather than a Y, as Germans would ordinarily do. The weather was pleasant enough but not as sunny as on previous days.

Justina.

Remains of a Roman wall.

Original Roman stones.

Justina arranged the tour so that we saw Regensburg in more or less chronological order starting with the Roman settlement dating from the first century AD.

Many commercial buildings in the old town have artistic signs like this one depicting Jonah.

I liked Justina's style, but in the last twenty years of traveling in Europe I had already seen my share of Roman ruins. It was hard to pay close attention to the details.

The pedestrian bridge was on the site of the original Stone Bridge and the wooden bridge before it.

Justina's favorite 3D map.

After the construction of the Stone Bridge Regensburg became a prosperous and important trading center connecting northern Europe with Venice and the East.

The Sausage Kitchen has been in business in one form or another for over 900 years.

Cooks in the Sausage Kitchen.

The crossed keys are the symbol of the city. They are on the bridge and all public buildings.

The crossed keys related to Regensburg's unique history. In 1245 the Holy Roman Emperor allowed Regensburg special status as an Imperial City not subject to the Bavarian king. The town council voted to become Lutheran, but Charles V, the emperor who was most devoted to Catholicism, still visited it often.

Goliath House was built in the thirteenth century. The painting was done in the 1570's

The strangest aspect of this peculiar relationship was the "Perpetual Diet of Regensburg", which started in 1663 and was never adjourned until 1806. It had been ceded so much power that its members feared that if they dissolved, the emperor would never call another session.

A rare German balcony.

In Regensburg height was a sign of status and wealth.

I never pass up a chance to photograph a Dachshund

The Habsburgs used the Diet to consolidate their holdings. In later times it degenerated into a meaningless organization.

I think that this balcony was on the side of the cathedral.

These keys are on the Rathaus (Town Hall).

I found it strange that Charles V, the most Catholic of emperors, tolerated a Luther council in such a key city.

I think that the two figures over the entrance to the Rathaus represented craftsmen and merchants, but I might be wrong.

The streets were narrow, especially above ground-level.

Our tour ended at the cathedral. Justina told us a little about John of Austria, but for some reason she did not show us his statue, which is a copy of the Spanish original. If she did, and I just failed to take a photo of it, I cannot imagine why not.

The powerful Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, visited Regensburg in 1546 for the meeting of the Imperial Diet, when he was 46 years-old. He met a singer named Barbara Blomberg. In February of 1547 she gave birth to a son named John. The emperor recognized him as his son and had him taken to Spain, which was at that time an imperial territory, where he lived as a second-class member of the Royal Family. He was recognized by Charles's son and successor, Philip II.

John was named commander of the Christian forces that faced the Turkish navy in the decisive Battle of Lepanto. The Christians lost 13,000 men, but the Turkish fleet was destroyed, and 10,000 enslaved Christians were rescued.

Justina mentioned Lepanto, but she emphasized the romance between the emperor and the singer. I don't think that John ever returned to Regensburg, but he did meet his mother at least once in Spain.

He died at the age of 31. His mother, who had three children with the man whom she had later married, lived to be 70.

The spires of St. Peter's Cathedral would be more impressive without the scaffolding.

I recognized the papal insignia from a mile away.

Close-up of the inscription. I had to look up Urban III. He was pope when Jerusalem fell to the Muslims but died shortly thereafter.

Justina did not mention Regensburg's other favorite son, Josef Ratzinger, who was a professor and administrator at the University of Regensburg from 1969-1977, at which point he was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising. From 2005 until he retired in 2013 he was Pope Benedict XVI.

There was also no mention of Peter the Hermit, whose followers in 1096 rounded up all the Jews in Regensburg and forced them into the Danube, where someone performed a mass baptism. Maybe this was covered in the Jewish version of the walking tour.

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After the walking tour: Shortly after the walking tour ended, the ship departed and executed some kind of maneuver while lunch was served in the restaurant.

I ate lunch with Boris and Marty. Nothing on the menu really appealed to me. So, I just ordered a hamburger. It was OK, but I resolved not to order it again unless I was really desperate.

I tried to explain what I had learned about the complicated situation surrounding the Council of Ferrara-Florence. In the first place it ended in 1439, fourteen years before the siege of Constantinople. Moreover, Pope Eugene IV himself was at the time on the lam, having escaped from an angry mob in Rome in a boat disguised as a monk. He stayed with friends in other cities.

His terrible relationship with the city of Rome was more than matched by the antipathy of most bishops of Western Europe. At the recent Council of Constance two competing popes had been deposed, and one resigned. A new one had been elected. Based on this precedent the bishops at the Council of Basel had deposed Eugene and elected a different pope. However, when, after the patriarch had died, Pope Eugene persuaded the other members of the Greek delegation to Ferrara-Florence to support an agreement that seemed to reunite the Church. It was an enormous public relations coup. All of a sudden Pope Eugene IV was a hero throughout Europe. He could even go back to Rome.

When the delegation from Constantinople returned home, they were vilified by the officials there. I am sure that the people who stayed behind asked whether Pope Eugene had called a crusade. He had not. The non-attendees refused to ratify the agreement. The Westerners blamed them, not the pope, for the ensuing disaster.

I had to rush this explanation because Gary had announced that the ship had docked again, and he would be guiding those who wanted to spend more time in Regensburg back to the Stone Bridge.

A group of fifteen or twenty of us, including a couple of ladies who worked in the ship's laundry, walked from where the ship was now docked on the island of Stadtamhof to the Stone Bridge. A bus would pick us up at a stop near there at 5:15. An alternative was to go to the Sausage Kitchen on the mainland at 5:00 and walk across with a guide carrying a "lollipop". It sounded complicated, but Gary insisted that "You'll see."  

 
It was, in fact, trivially easy.

Waiting for Gary to lead us back to town.

Casting off.

Ouch!

We had to wait for a few minutes for everyone to assemble on the dock. The walk to the Stone Bridge took about ten minutes. Meanwhile, the ship departed for Kelheim.

The view from the entrance.

The high altar.

The windows over the high altar.

My primary objective was to purchase the grooming items that I had forgotten. I thought that my best chance of finding a store that sold them was south of the Dom. Since I had quite a bit of time, and we did not see the interior on the morning tour, I stopped in at the Dom first. It was dark, but still impressive

The organ pipes were at least 30 feet of of the ground

The best of my windows pictures.

I did not notice the Gargoyles in the morning.

I walked around the inside and outside of the cathedral taking photographs. I also picked up a pamphlet there, written in English, that has a lot of interesting facts. I did not count them, but the pamphlet claims that there are almost one hundred images of St. Peter in the church.

My new favorite store.

Both items for less than €3.

Yes, it's owned by TJX.

I had gone into a department store just south of the Dom in the morning, but I did not find what I was looking for. The Müller store that I found a block or two away did not look like a department store from the outside. The entire ground floor was devoted to what would be called "health and beauty" items in the U.S. Most of them were oriented toward females and wannabes. However, I did find what I was looking for.

In fact, I killed two birds with one stone because I paid in cash with a €10 note and received as change a €2 coin that I could use for a tip.

This was the first charging station that I had seen on the entire trip.

A plaque at St. Emmeram's.

A papal seal with no inscription. It could probably be identified from the two figures at the bottom, but not by me.

I had not anticipated achieving so much success so rapidly. I found a bench in the shade and sat there consulting my map. I had read about the Thurn und Taxis family and the abbey that had been given to them. I understood that on the grounds there was also a very nice church that was open to the public.

I found the huge Thurn und Taxis estate on the northern edge of the map. The church appeared to be outside of the estate. I took off walking to the south and ended up on St-Peters-Weg, which went along a very large fenced-in park. Eventually I came to the church.

The view from my seat.

Zooming in on the performers.

The fabulous ceiling.

The church was truly a wonder. Not only did it have beautiful decorations and comfortable benches to sit in. To my amazement, a small orchestra with a soprano was rehearsing a baroque piece by Bach or someone of his era. It was so nice to sit there and enjoy the moment.

I apologize for the occasional paper shuffling that mars the quality of the audio, but I still think that this is worth a listen. The speaker at the beginning is the conductor.  

I can never remember seeing a clock inside a church before.

Boats on the Danube.

The other bank.

After I left the church I walked toward the estate. I had read that there was a museum there, but I could not figure out where it was.

Very close to the church I spotted a small store that specialized in racy underwear and what looked to me like B&D gear. It seemed like a very strange location for that kind of shop.

Some houses right on the river.

The only trash that I had seen on the entire trip.

My favorite photo of the day.

It was a long walk back to the pickup spot. I took quite a few photos along the way. I arrived a little before 5:30 p,m, I found a nice place to sit in the shade on the grass.

City buses stopped here.

Gary did not know why this old locomotive was here

Somewhere in the area there was a large Ferris Wheel. I took this from the bus.

Before the bus that would take us to Kelheim arrived I took advantage of the free rest rooms. The bus was punctual.

The thermometer on the bus read 26°C.

The only marina that I saw on the trip.

The gasoline was €1.989 per liter.

It was 79°F according to the bus. The gasoline price was equivalent to $8.06 per gallon. Quitcher bitchin.

Kelheim was the last stop on the Danube for this cruise. The ship would soon be entering the Main Canal.

I don't know what this is, but I wish that I did.

The two ladies in white worked on the ship.

Back on the ship in Kelheim.

When I arrived in the stateroom I checked the phone again. It was still not charging, and the battery was at 30 percent. Every time that I turned it on it lost at least 1 percent. My new plan was not to use it until I reached Boston. I have always hated that phone, which had ordered pizzas while I was out walking four times. I ended up having to pay for one of those orders.

I ate most of my supper alone. It was some kind of chicken preparation that was absolutely delicious. Just as I was finishing the main course Steve, Denise, Bunnie, and Ed, the people from Saskatchewan who ate lunch at the big table in Salzburg came and sat with me. I stayed with them and drank wine until 8:30.

I had not had a chance to talk with them much in Salzburg. They had been at the other end of the table. When they told me that they were from Saskatchewan, I asked them if they were fans of the Roughriders. Boy, was that ever the right question to ask.

Ed and Steve were thrilled to know that I had heard of the Roughriders.[2] I told them that in the sixties and seventies I had live in or around Detroit for over ten years. The most powerful TV station there—by far—was CKLW from Windsor. Steve explained that everyone in Saskatchewan supported the Roughriders. Not only was it the only professional team in the entire province. It was also publicly owned. He compared them to the Green Bay Packers.

After I verified that the team's name was only one word, I asked him what had become of the other Rough Riders. The answer was that they were now called the Ottawa Redblacks, which must be one of the strangest names ever.

I informed them that my cellphone would not recharge. Steve told me that when he had a recharging problem with one of his previous phones he used a little brush to clean around the port. That fixed it. I said that I would try it.[3]

Ed mentioned that some of the best running quarterbacks in the CFL came from the U.S. He said that one guy just ripped the league up, and then he came back to the states and played in the NFL. I was pretty sure that I knew to whom he was referring, but the wine clouded my ability to remember his name until later.[4]

Ed and Bunnie had traveled a lot in an RV. Ed had a phenomenal memory for places. He said that he remembered being in Mound City, KS. I asked him if it was in the southeastern part of the state. He thought so, but wasn't certain. I related to them how altar boys at my grade school got to ride down to Mound City to see a shrine.[5] My most vivid memory was of one of the assistant pastors driving over 100 mph on the return journey.

When I told them that I lived in Connecticut, Ed mentioned that he and Bunnie had seen Martha Stewart's house there. I was pretty sure that Martha Stewart had lived in a well-to-do area somewhere in New York, not Connecticut, but I decided not to mention it until I checked. To people from Saskatchewan, of course this would be a distinction without a difference.

I told them about the beautiful church that I discovered in the southern part of Regensburg. We all agreed that the best moments in vacations are when you stumble onto something that is both exceptional and unexpected.

Steve introduce me to the concept of ABC: "Always be closing!" If he had applied at TSI for the marketing job, I would have hired him instantly.

After supper I listened to Gary's talk about the canal that we were entering. I could not understand why it was called "Rhine-Main-Danube" when it actually connected the Main and Danube rivers. I guess that the reason was that the portion of the Main that lies between the canal and the Rhine has been "canalized".

The project of attempting to connect the Main to the Danube has been on the drawing board since the time of Charlemagne. It was finally completed in 1992 after an expenditure of €2.3 billion over the course of thirty-two years. It was only a little over one hundred miles long, but unlike must canals, the highest point was in the middle. So for the first half the ship is raised by the locks. On the second half it is lowered.

Two major ports of call on this cruise lie along the canal—Nuremberg and Bamberg.

I fell asleep before 10, but I slept for less than ninety minutes. I got up and composed an email to Sue. This was how I closed it:

One really bad thing: I cannot get my phone to recharge. I have a direct AC cable and a dongle with a USB extension. Neither seems to work. It last showed 30% when I turned it off. Every time that I turn it on to see if it is recharging the number goes down 1%. Unless I can come up with a brilliant idea, I am going to keep it off until I have gone through immigration and customs at Logan. Is there any other way we can communicate--Zoom or Facetime or something?

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