Day 7--Regensburg to Deggendorf, Germany

HARE vs RABBIT

Day 6: (Tuesday, July 1)-
Regensburg to Deggendorf, Germany
Distance: 94.77 km (58 miles)

X+: More Roman settlements mark our route today along with Benedictine monasteries, including one near Metten. Bibliophiles will want to stop for a tour of the library in the Abbey of St. Michael of Metten as among the 160,000 volumes in this historic collection is one of the earliest bibles printed in Germany and a 1493 "Nuremberg Chronicle," one of the earliest printed world history books (printed in German and Latin).

We left this morning at 8:45 to mild temps, but it reached into the high 80s by mid-afternoon. There were big hills in the distance and two smallish hills to climb. We rode mostly bike paths—one along the top of a levee—and quiet roads through small immaculate towns.

It is amazing how much wildlife one sees when pedaling a quiet bicycle. My favorite animal sighting was the European hare. It is HUGE! When I first spotted one ahead on the trail, I thought it was a good sized dog.

Today, while riding the levee, I saw a pair of hares up ahead. One ran off the levee and across a field. The other tried to hide in the bushes. Only trouble was, this animal is so large that its ears stuck out of the top of the bushes and gave it away. I was riding by myself but laughed aloud.

Here’s what Google says about the hare:

“The European Brown Hare (to give the hare its full name) lives either alone or in pairs, and is rarely confused with a rabbit since the hare is much larger. If you are not sure if you have seen a hare or a large rabbit, it was probably a rabbit! Hares at a distance are commonly confused with dogs or even small deer. The hare can move very fast when required - up to 70 kmh. The young of the hare are born with fur and vision, unlike rabbits, that have neither.”

We stopped in Straubing, about half way to Deggendorf, for lunch, a drink and a rest.  We found Marion and Fred in this wonderful picture-book town with its gates to the main square. I took several photos of the pastel buildings that lined the square and of the entrance and exit gate towers and also one of the mural below in which the townspeople confront a rabbit? That small bunny is certainly not a European hare.

Some canoeists fight their way upstream; a modern bridge across the Danube

Fred and Marion and Judy in Straubing

Pretty farm along the river

Some of Straubing's pastel buildings and its wonderful Disney-like clock tower and exit gate

Judy and I each bought a large, delicious-looking, cream cheese-filled pretzel in Straubing, thinking to have it for lunch. That we did as soon as we found a quiet shaded spot to eat. Imagine our disappointment when we found that our pretzels were filled with BUTTER not cream cheese. I had to scrape most of the butter off in order to enjoy the pretzel.

Our next stop was at the Benedictine Abbey near Metten. We could see its onion dome towers from quite a distance. The interior was fantastically ornate and gilded, especially the marble statues forming the columns in the architecturally magnificent interior of the library. 

What the Guidebooks say:

The Metten Abbey was founded in 766 by Gamelbert of Michaelsbuch. For many centuries Metten was under the lordship of the Dukes and Electors of Bavaria. Besides the work of land clearance in the Bavarian border territories, the monks were very active in education. Members of the abbey were not only schoolteachers, but also members of the Bavarian Academy of Science in Munich and professors of philosophy and theology in Freising and Salzburg.

      After secularization in 1803 the Abbey's property was confiscated, and by 1815 had all been auctioned off. King Ludwig I of Bavaria was persuaded in 1830 to re-establish the monastery, which by 1837 incorporated a boarding school, in continuance of its educational traditions, which the monastery has run to this day.

The Benedictine Abbey's onion dome towers and the magnificently ornate library

The Abbey sanctuary, if that is the correct word for such an interior

The painting above the main entrance

Now I ask you. . . A cigarette machine on a residential lawn

Our other adventure for the day was taking a wrong turn and riding down into Bogen on a busy highway. We asked directions to the Donauradweg, and a woman told us of a bike track which we took. But it didn’t feel right, and we found that it was the wrong one. We stopped a farmer coming from his garden, and I asked for directions to the Donauradweg. The farmer told us to take a right at the next intersection. Lo, when we got to the intersection and took a right, there were our arrows. We followed the chalk arrows for the rest of the ride, which was flat and easy on the track but became hellishly hot.

Our hotel in Deggendorf is Hotel-Gasthof Hottl. There was no elevator but a wide staircase to the second floor and then quite a hike to our room which was up several other series of steps and in the back of the hotel.

After we cleaned up, we walked to a bike store several blocks away. Here I bought a new pair of gloves because my hands have become sore, particularly my left hand. The bike doesn’t quite fit, and I have too far to lean to grasp the handlebars, thus put too much weight on my hands. We ran into Bob and Ron and Marion and Fred again and I took the photo below of them.

Deggendorf central square and clocktower entrance; Bob, Ron, Marion, Fred, Judy

After buying the gloves, Judy shopped for American products that she wanted and also this day for a bunny she wanted to attach to the back of her bicycle. After entering nearly every store in town (only slight hyperbole) she bought a small bunny on a keychain. Then it was time to find an Italian ice cream stand. I enjoyed a good coffee gelato.

Flowers in the form of the European Union on the square

We ate dinner at the hotel outside under umbrellas at 7:30 pm: huge portion of wienerschnitzel and FF and a cabbage salad. Ice cream for dessert. I’m still not fond of German food.