December 21 – Regensburg, Germany

We had two tour options…city tour and Christmas Market or just the Christmas Market.  Since Paul and Mary had toured Regensburg on their previous Danube River tour they opted to just do the Christmas market.  Everyone else went on the tour of the town (apparently they had a pretty bad guide…no one was happy with him). 

The Christmas market was held at the St. Emmeram Castle, home of the noble family of Thurn and Taxis. The grounds of the castle included a forest and large courtyard.  These gave a wonderful background for the market.

The palace, it's courtyard and the surrounding forest made for a very magical market.  This is probably the largest and most beautiful of the markets we have yet seen.  They bill it as the "most romantic".   

The market was spread out both outside the castle walls as well as in the courtyard.  There was lots to see. 

One of the most interesting items for sale - the Hahn's 1/2 meter long sausage (feuerwurst).  The buns were half the length of the sausage.  Most buyers had the sausage folded in half to fit in the sandwich.

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More Regensburg Christmas Market

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There were also a couple of adorable alpacas in their very fluffy winter coats.  Adorable.

Tara arranged for a special meal for the group.  She was hoping for Indian but the kitchen staff was limited to what they had available…so the dishes were more Indonesian.  We had a spicy soup, salad, and three dishes…beef, chicken and egg/potato.  It was all excellent.