Get Thee to a Nunnery!

Just read that throughout the years, Regensburg has played host to at least 6 monasteries. Well no wonder I see my daily nun! Duh. We’ve had Benedictine monasteries, Carolinian, Dominican, Minorite, Scottish-Benedictine (and how that’s different from Regular Benedictine I have no idea,) and even one that was kind of a dorm for wealthy old women. Now I have yet to research what makes an abbey different from a monastery different from a cloister, but I will. This is gonna be an on-going process, I have a feeling.

Regensburg truly has a volatile history when it comes to religion. Tim and I are actively trying to piece all of this together, but it’s difficult to get the big picture. From what we understand, Regensburg was Catholic before the Reformation, then became Lutheran shortly thereafter (so we’re in the middle 1500s now.) Actually the Duke-type people in Regensburg had a pretty major part in igniting the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), even though the conditions were ripening for some time before it. (Side note: Tim read Germany lost a third of its population during the war because most battles were fought on German soil. That and the fact that the plague had outbreaks as well.) After the war, the city went back and forth from being Protestant to Catholic often, depending on the beliefs of the reigning Prince. How’d you like that? Today you’re Protestant, tomorrow Catholic. Even the clergy had to change, or choose to leave the city.

Unfortunately, Jews have been persecuted here since the dawn of time too, like so many places we’ve visited in Europe. It seems that Christians were not allowed to lend money, so in time of need, they would borrow from the Jews. When the debt could no longer be paid, the answer was simply to run the Jews out of town. And thus, the debt was cleared. Gives you a little insight into some history well before our years, doesn't it?

On a much lighter note, my nun spotting is going very, very well. I’ve even included our visitors and my husband on my quest. We’ve seen a nun eating ice cream in Prague. A nun on the boat to the Cloister Brewery (atta girl!) We saw one on a bike in Wurzburg. And actually, one day Amanda and I saw a nun, a monk and two priests all in the time frame of about 10 minutes. But to top it all, Tom, Jennifer, Tim and I ducked into the Cathedral Dom to check it out and ended up getting blessed by the Bishop of Regensburg. Not bad, huh.

Fish and Visitors

You know that old saying (think it's Ben Franklin) that Fish and Visitors smell after 3 days? Not true. Totally not true. At least this is what I keep telling myself as I prepare to be a visitor in the states for almost a month. (Okay, the fish part may be true. I left salmon in the fridge for almost a week once. Pee-uuu!)

After having a steady stream of visitors (stream--get it? I’m going with the fish metaphor here) we’ve just shipped off our last guest on Wednesday. I tell you what, it is so much fun to finally be the destination. We've spent pretty much every weekend for the last 7 years in a guest bedroom of either a friend or family member. Now, it feels like the tides have changed and we are getting to play host and hostess and return the favor.

A few High-Lights:

• Catching up with my old friend Amanda. Her visit was wonderfully low key, focusing less on the touristy side and more on real-life Bavaria. I did manage to take her on a few Death Marches and a road trip to Prague for lunch.
• Soccer game in Munich with my bro and sister-in-law, followed by dinner at the Weissesbrauhaus (an old haunt of Hitler and cronies.) Did I mention that it’s “Spargel (asparagus) Season” here? Great cream of asparagus soup to accompany our sausages and potato pancakes. We also took them for a boat ride up the Danube to the Cloister Brewery, where Monks have been making beer for nearly 1,000 years. (Yep, I said a thousand. It’s not a typo.)
• Middle Ages Festival in Rothenburg with my former Bradley student Kristen. This medieval walled-city from the 1500s had a weekend long, town-wide Middle Ages festival, complete with parades, wandering bands of singing knights, court jesters juggling, and of course, beer tents. Not to mention we had a breakthrough with the German language. Tim and I stayed up until 4am speaking German with our Pension Proprietress and her husband. Exhilerating.

A few Low-Lights

• Amanda and I were searching for a great workout the form of a Yoga class. Yoga class—check. Great workout—uncheck. Think I’ll keep looking.
• Middle Ages festival in Munich
  What we had in mind was a carnival atmosphere, with people dressed up in Elizabethan clothes and perhaps a simulation of knights jousting. What we found was a cross between a Star Trek and a Dungeons and Dragons convention in a mud pit. (The irony is that we found the perfect festival in Rothenburg a few days later, but Tom and Jennifer had already headed home.)
• My Midnight Dash to Berlin
  Lovingly called my “blitzfahrt” by my husband. Kristen was supposed to take a train from Regensburg to Berlin on Tuesday to catch her flight home early on Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, in Nurnberg at about 8pm, we realized that no train could get her there in time. Thus, the mad dash. We were successful though. Tired, but successful!
  

Anyway, tell Poor Richard that his Almanac is full-a-crap. He just needs to throw out the fish…