Saturday 10th October – Bad Abbach, Germany

The weather forecast for was not good and, unfortunately, it was correct. We had our first serious rain of the trip and it was 4 o’clock before the clouds parted and we had some sun.
Photos: Late afternoon sun at our pitch.

Friday 9th October – Bad Abbach, Germany

The forecast promised us a dry day and so it turned out. It was however much cooler today and having temperatures close to or over 20°C every day so far, the 14°C maximum was a bit of a shock. The T-shirt was replaced by sweatshirt and fleece and we set off before 09:00 to walk the 25 minutes to the bus that took us into Regensburg. The German bus service is very good and here we were able to buy a 24 hour pass for €5.50.
The bus station, next to the train station, is on the edge of the centre of the city and a short walk took us to the cathedral. The hugely high nave is impressive but most of the interior is surprisingly plain, the exception being the stained glass windows, which are dark but beautiful and very intricate. The other highlight is the Baroque silver altar that dominates the view down the nave.
We saw the name Dr. Johann Maier, a preacher at the cathedral, on a large plaque in the nave and also on his grave in the crypt. Using Google we were able to establish that in April 1945 during the Nazi retreat, he publicly pleaded with the authorities to surrender the city rather than have it destroyed during a battle. For that he was sentenced to death and publicly hanged.
We moved on to the Tourist Information Office that is housed in the City Hall. This is also the building where civil marriages are held and there were wedding groups all around the square, with at least three couples waiting for their ceremony.
We always like to try to get a town/city self-guided walking trail and we were directed to a QR code where we downloaded an app. This gave us an interesting guided walk with spoken information at interesting points.
Jane fancied a pizza for lunch and we stopped at L’Osteria, found a table in the window and ordered two pizzas. The waitress explained that their pizzas are very large – did we really want one each? The man dressed in a red T-shirt sat at the next table turned out to be English and he advised us to have half each. He said that he had been starving himself for 3 days so that he could eat a whole one. We now realised that he had ‘Viking’ on his T-shirt and he explained that he was the cruise director for one of their boats. Viking have come under fire recently because their Danube cruises have turned into coach trips with the boats as a base. He explained that the Danube is the lowest ever since records began and many sections cannot be navigated. Viking have boats all along the river that are either stranded or can only move up and down a short section. Viking have had to organise coach trips to transfer the passengers from one boat to another further along the river. It must be a logistics nightmare! Our friend said that it is the most difficult time that he has had in his fifteen years working for Viking. Having said that, he also said that the passengers have been very positive and understanding.
We continued the walking tour to the famous Mediaeval bridge. Built between 1135 and 1146, it has hardly been changed since it was built and looks just as good. I climbed the bridge tower to see a view over the bridge and the city.
We walked back to the bus station and caught a busy bus back to Bad Abbach for the walk back to the campsite.
Photos: The Main-Danube Canal on the way to Bad Abbach; The Baroque altar of the cathedral; A novel method of wine transport; Evidence of the Roman fort of Castra Regina – the Porta Praetoria; The Mediaeval bridge – Steinerne Brucke; Reputed to be the oldest street food shop in the world, the Wurstkuche was built in 1320, probably for the workers building the Steinerne Brucke and it is very popular with tourists, especially those from the cruise boats that dock close by – there was a long queue when we were there; A view from the bridge looking back to the city; A view looking east along the Danube with an old mill on the left and an historic paddle steamer, now a museum, in the distance.

Thursday 8th October – Bad Abbach, Germany

We have been very lucky with the weather ever since we started this trip but we heard our first drops of rain during the night. The forecast for today was for showers but we had already decided to have a relaxing day catching up with chores, reading and writing blog. The rain was only brief, light showers but we were happy to be inside.

Photos: None

Wednesday 7th October – Bad Abbach, Germany

I went back to the museum at 9 o’clock when it opened. I have my own wood-fired oven and I often bake an oven-full of bread in it. I was very keen to see how they made their bread and how they used their oven.
First stop was the bakehouse to see the oven. We had noticed the smoke rising from the oven before the museum opened and, sure enough, the fire was roaring away. Walking back to the farmhouse, I found the kitchen and asked permission to enter. A large saucepan of water was boiling on the stove and the kitchen was very warm and humid. The two bakers, Angelika and Rosemarie, were kneading the dough in a massive trough. It takes 30 minutes to knead the 65 kg of dough, then it is smoothed over and wetted. The dough isn’t covered but the very steamy atmosphere stops it from drying out. After half an hour, they shaped the dough and put it into floured baskets for the final rise. I was really surprised to learn that the traditional Bavarian loaf size is three pounds, not measured in kilograms. I know that they use imperial pounds in Brittany but I had no idea that the measure was used in Germany.
Rosemarie pulled the fire out of the oven into a large tray that was then stored under the oven. Angelika ferried the loaves from the house kitchen to the bakehouse whilst Rosemarie mopped the oven to remove the ash and residual pieces of charcoal. They checked the temperature of the oven by throwing a little flour into different parts of the oven. If the flour turns black, the oven is too hot but if it slowly turns brown, the temperature is correct. Satisfied that the temperature was correct, it was time to put the loaves in. Working as a well-drilled team, Angelika brought each basket across, tipping the dough onto the peel and Rosemarie expertly placed it in the oven. The door was closed and the loaves left to cook for 30 minutes before they were all removed and checked. With a wood-fired oven the floor temperature will vary in different areas. Each loaf was checked and the ones with a darker bottom were then placed back into the cooler areas. The door was closed again and, after a total baking time of approximately one hour and forty five minutes, the loaves were taken out. This seemed to be a very long baking time even given that the loaves are very large. However, they had a digital thermometer and I checked the temperature of the oven before the loaves were put in and it was 220°C. Putting 65 kg of dough would reduce the temperature despite the size and thermal mass of the oven. I checked the temperature straight after the baked loaves had been taken out and it had dropped to 115°C. That explained why the baking was so long – my 1 kg loaves only take about 45 minutes but the oven is normally hotter when I put the dozen loaves in and it is certainly well over 115°C at the end.
The loaves were taken over to reception and I paid for my loaf. Angelika and Rosemarie were very patient, especially as much of the conversation had to be done with Google Translate. They kindly let me photograph the recipe and showed me the ingredients. One of these was intriguing and I will probably not be able to get it in England – Brotgewurz, ground bread spices. Like many German breads, this loaf has added spices and, although the packet listed coriander, caraway and fennel but I don’t know the proportions – I will have to experiment when I get home. Angelika asked me to send photographs when I make the bread at home and we exchanged email addresses so that I could do it. With many thanks to the master bakers, I made my way back to the van to have lunch with Jane and we enjoyed the delicious warm, crusty loaf.
After lunch we set off for our next port of call – Regensburg. We had identified an ACSI campsite that would give us access to public transport into the city – Campingplatz Freizeitinsel at Bad Abbach. The campsite is separated from the town by the Danube and a canal but there are bridges that will allow us to cross. The journey was very pleasant, mostly on small roads through more of that lovely Bavarian countryside with its open fields and woods set in a gentle rolling landscape.
Photos: The oven; Kneading the dough; Smoothed dough rising; Shaped loaves in their baskets; Putting the loaves into the oven; All loaves in the oven – beautifully placed; Tapping the first loaf out to make sure that it is properly baked; The final results; Wood stacked in the oven for the next day of baking; With the master bakers.