Day 15 Monday 15th June 2009 ienna to Regensburg

Day 15 Monday 15th June 2009 Vienna to Regensburg.
At 8am we trailed our bags to the Westbahnhof and boarded our ICE train bound for Frankfurt; we would get off half way at Regensburg. We found our reserved seats at the front immediately behind the driver. From where we sat we could see the track ahead. I thought, this is great I can watch how the driver takes a bend. Five minutes before departure our jubilation turned to despair; the rotten driver had somehow turned the clear glass panel into a mirror. Never mind the scenery through the side window was compensation enough. For a start we saw uninteresting buildings; in general the buildings I saw in Vienna were uninteresting apart from the very old, which were wonderful. We did not have to wait long for better scenery of timber pine forest followed by rolling agriculture and pastoral farm land dotted with occasional electricity generating windmills. At one stage we passed solar panels mounted in a field; there must have been an acre of them. We arrived at Passau on the border between Austria and Germany 11:20 am. The Austrian train crew gave way to a German crew and the mirror in front of us miraculously cleared. Three cheers for the German driver we could see the rail ahead and watch him control the train. We arrived at Regensburg on time at 12:30pm. After a short walk we arrived at our hotel; the Star Inn Hotel. Our room overlooks the railway; I am amazed at how many trains rattle by, both passenger and freight. I often wonder at the number of people who travel by train and think that if they all changed to air travel there would not be enough airspace for them to travel in. Yesterday while spending ¾ hour eating our salad and fish and chips at a restaurant at Schronbunn Palace I counted 25 planes coming in to land at Vienna; the first thirteen at the rate of one a minute. When we returned to our hotel room the aircraft were still passing over but the rate was slower. I am sitting at a desk in our room typing this listening to the trains and waiting for the rain to stop so that we can find a place to eat. At 6pm the rain had stopped so off we went. I thought we would eat at McDonalds as someone said they had complimentary internet. On the way one of Fay’s shoes came apart so we divert to find a new pair, which we did. As we had travelled almost half way across town we kept going in search of the Danube. In so doing we came across the old medieval section of the town. The buildings were very old and did not look as well built as old buildings I had seen in other cities. The cathedral though stood out as a fine building. The cobbled pavements and roads were rough; car tyres made quite a noise when travelling over them. We found a maritime museum on the river; one boat had an interesting funnel; it could be folded down to allow the boat to travel under bridges. On our return we dined at McDonalds; they do not have complimentary internet; seems I will have to wait until I get to Berlin on Wednesday.