Travel Notes: Regensburg, Germany – Photofocus

Regensburg is a combination of old-world charm and culture.

As with most of the cities along the Danube, if you’re traveling via a river cruise, you just don’t have enough time to immerse yourself in each location. Regensburg would certainly be one of those places we would love to have stayed for a few days. Lingered in the outdoor beer gardens and wandered the historic streets.

No matter where you travel and how long or short your time may be, just make the most of it. Research ahead of time to make sure you don’t miss something that you really want to see. I know it seems like common sense, but sometimes when traveling as part of a tour or group, we tend to think we have to just go with the group every day. That is not always the case.

The Regensburg Bridge

The Stone Bridge in Regensburg dates back to the 12th century. It is a bridge of historical value enough to have a model of it currently residing in the Deutsche Museum bridges exhibit. It’s quite a magnificent entrance to the city.

Themes

While I deliberately choose themes at times when I’m traveling in order to rein in being overwhelmed with subjects, sometimes themes just present themselves to you. In Regensburg, there were bikes in my view quite often. There were also more windows that I found to be lovely subjects.

The cardboard cutout in that one window? It’s a reminder to always be looking for the unexpected.

People

People are typically not a main subject for me no matter where I am. But, many times they add to the story of your travels quite well.

It can be everyday life or a reflection on the region you’re visiting based on the costumes they may be wearing. Again, just keep an eye out for those who pass you by as you’re wandering around.

General scenes

Make sure to capture the overall essence of where you are. Street scenes, buildings, artwork and whatever catches your eye. Remember, you want to be able to tell the story of your travels. Think in terms of showing someone a slideshow or creating a book about your holiday. You’ll want to cover it as best you can.

Food

This Regensburg Sausage Kitchen is touted as being the oldest continuously open public restaurant in the world. Good sausages! Not only good food but historical as well, bonus.

Of course, food. How could that be left out of our travel notes? Often we grab phone shots just so we can remember what we had and share our meals with others at home via social media.

Tips:

• Before you leave home, if you’re camera doesn’t automatically update the time and date, be sure to change it to the time zone you’ll be visiting.
• At the end of each day as you upload (and backup!) your images, enter at a minimum the city name, and location in your keywords.
• Back up! Don’t rely on wifi/internet connections. Take a small external hard drive just to back up images each day.
• Use your phone to record information, addresses, restaurant names, wine you like, beer you like, menus from where you ate and anything else you’d like to remember once you’re home.