Regensburg via Wahalla to Straubing

Departure from Regensburg was easy. Seems that that Regensburg population doesn't get out of bed before 9am on a weekend. I on the other hand was struggling with staying up at night. Doing over 40kms of cycling a day was influencing my sleep patterns. By the time I was finished each day on the bike all it would take is a meal and an ice cream and I was done. Plus, with my trip being destination to destination I was perhaps more aware to be on the road to the next stop to ensure I would see something at the other end. Even with late sunsets and daylight saving time it didn't mean museums or churches were always open later. I guess I could have taken the other view and seen the towns before leaving each day however I wasn't taking a chance on the weather changing. If it was fine in the morning the rule was, ride!

Not far out of Regensburg was one of the tour stage highlights. A place called Wahalla. Personally I hadn't heard of the place until I started researching my trip watching you tube videos of cycle rides between German towns. It's a memorial of German historical figures that was created by Crown Prince Ludwig in the 1800s. Think a room full of statue heads. Creepy indeed by our expectations of what makes a memorial.

My initial thoughts on arrival were quite justified. Why build it on the top of a hill. Why must they always build these things on a hill. You see I had managed to detour off the bike path along the river to a point where I could see the building. Taking the straight line theory to the building I thought the front stairs were how you had to get there. Fortunately for me I had encountered stairs at the walking path. This justified my dumping the bicycle at the base of the hill as I'm in the middle of the countryside. There was no one there to steal it. I was therefore only pulling myself up the hill.

I was led towards the visual front of the building with the couple hundred giant stairs going vertically up from the base of the hillside. It wasn't until I had accomplished the climb and was walking around the back of the memorial that I got even a glimpse of the carpark. I didn't have a car, and therefore hadn't seen the real tourist road to the memorial. I did suspect half way up the stairs this would be the case. I could only be sure that even royalty would not have built in this position if they expected anyone to visit it. My only reward was knowing the others visiting the memorial didn't have the bragging rights on having climbed the stairs.

After completing the climb around Wahalla it was smooth sailing to Straubing.  Can't say I really achieved much in Straubing. It was a nice town. I just walked up and down the main street and the town centre. There was the world cup being played on big screens inside all the beer gardens but nothing I especially happening to make my stay memorable.