Awesome Augsburg

Beautiful scenery along the Rhine River
with grape vineyards (taken from the train)

We left Dusseldorf on a fast, comfy train headed for Augsburg.  Train lovers that we are, we were looking forward to a relaxing 5 ½ hour train ride.  But we got so much more.  Our train ran on tracks that literally hugged the banks of the Rhine River, giving us a remarkably scenic ride.  This part of the Rhine is fairytale Germany at its best: quaint little villages nestled along the water, ancient castles standing guard on the mountain tops, and row upon row of vines gracing the hillsides.  Blue skies, lots of sun, our train ride could not have been better if we’d planned it this way.

Pretty pastel mansions in Augsburg, Germany

Munich gets ridiculously crowded and expensive during Oktoberfest, so Augsburg, only 30-40 minutes away by train, made a perfect base.  To be honest, we didn't expect much from Augsburg; our sights were set on Munich.

On our first night, we wandered over to Augsburg’s pedestrian area and were blown away! Stately mansions in colorful pastel shades lined wide thoroughfares with charming cobbled side streets meandering off in all directions. 

Gorgeous Rathaus (city hall) and nearby tower
in Augsburg, Germany

The Rathaus (city hall) was designed to impress; it was a massive building whose windows were lighted after dark with stunning results.  Obviously, the people of Augsburg are doing okay because the ground floors of the beautiful old buildings were filled with upscale shops, especially high end jewelry and clothing stores. The size and style of the place was actually overwhelming.

More German beer!

We ate dinner at “Bauerntanz” (barn dance) in a room that made you feel as if you were dining in an authentic Bavarian farmhouse.  Of course, we had to taste the local beer.  It was excellent, but then, we have never found a German beer we didn't like!

German Wedding Soup

Our waitress was a lot of fun and helped us choose some outstanding local dishes.  This part of Germany is called "Swabia", and many of the food dishes are unique to this area.  We started off with Wedding Soup which was one of the strangest soups we have ever tasted.  We loved it, but what a conglomeration: wonderful beefy broth with noodles, little toasted bread balls, a liver dumpling, and weird wrinkly green beans (we think).  Anne selected a Swabian specialty for her main dish in honor of our “Swaby friends” (you know who you are!).  Her dish was similar to macaroni and cheese but with cheesy dumplings almost like gnocchi.  Frank had delectable grilled pork with veggies.  We topped it all off with an Apfelstrudel . What a fabulous meal!

Augsburg after dark