The next stop of our trip to Bavaria Germany was our day three visit to the city of Regensburg. Here we go!
Regensburg is situated along the banks of the Danube river, and is about an hour and 20 minute drive from the city of Nuremberg.
The weather was grey and dreary on the day of our arrival but we didn't let the gloomy sky stop us from enjoying ourselves.
We wandered the old town and did some shopping, something that is very unlike us while on vacation.
My wife had been on the hunt for for an old fashioned ring from the "Art Deco" period for several years and by chance, Regensburg happened to be an absolute "hot spot" for that particular style of jewelry.
There were numerous shops dedicated to selling jewelry from that time period throughout the old town, so there was a pretty big selection for her to choose from.
We mostly stayed outside the stores and shopped from the windows, but we did go into a few shops at points along the way.
My wife ended up finding a ring in one of the stores but unfortunately I can't take a photo of it because its packed away already for our upcoming move.
I have no photos of the jewelry shops either. I guess I was caught up in the hunt and didn't think to take any pictures. There are often "No Photo" signs posted on shop windows as well and I generally like to respect those requests.
My third caveat for not having pictures would be that at the time I didn't realize that the focus of my post would be on our shopping experience, so I didn't even think to take any. One never knows what they will be inspired to write about in the future. In this case it's ring shopping.
The shop owner where we bought the ring was so friendly and helpful and provided us with some history on the time period and of her collection of jewelry that had been in her family for a long time. She had also purchased entire collections of jewelry from other families.
I knew we were going to end up buying something from her during our discussion, even before my wife found something that she liked. She was just so sweet and friendly, we just couldn't leave without buying something. In the end my wife loved the ring that she found and it felt good to support such a nice woman.
Art deco is a design style that dates back to around the 1910's, before WWI, and continued on through the 1920's and 30's.
The style gets its name from the French (i.e. Arts Décoratifs) and began being used internationally shortly after the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts event that was held in Paris France.
The style is characterized as being of "fine craftsmanship," "luxurious materials" and "modern designs." Source.
David vs Goliath mural
Some people believe that the war greatly influenced the mindset of the people at that time and led to the birth of the new era. The devastation of war made people realize that life could be short so they took on the mindset of, "lets have some fun." It wasn't called the Roaring 20's for nothing.
It became a time of decadence and exess where people dressed in their finest clothes and wore their finest jewelry. This was also around the time when Tutenkhamun's tomb was unearthed and a treasure trove of lavish jewels and gems were discovered. Many designers were influened by the jewelry discovered in the tomb and began adopted ancient Egyptian designs. Source.
Okay, I've said all that I want to say about jewelry and the Art Deco period so perhaps I'll get back to Regensburg itself. Something that I would recommend doing in the city is crossing the 12th century Steinerne Brücke (Old Stone Bridge) for an awesome view of the town along the Danube.
I liked the view of the old gate and clock tower and all of the colorful buildings built along the river bank.
We crossed over to the other side of the city but didn't stay long over there.
Aside from a few shops and cafes and some more colorful buildings, there wasn't really a whole lot going on.
Something very cool and unexpected was happening in the river that day though.
A "Search and Rescue" team of some sort was doing drills in the water. We stopped and watched them for a while.
They would jump in the fast moving water on one side of the bridge and another person would pick them up on the other side.
It was a neat little event to just stumble upon by chance. Bonus entertainment is always welcome on any trip vacation.
From there we took one last look at the city on the water and then made our way back over to our vehicle. My wife was happy wearing her new ring. It had been a year or so of searching for it but now she has a nice little souvenir memory of the city. Last time we were in Germany I had boughted a Cuckoo Clock so I guess now we both have our own souvenirs from the country.