Happy Easter and greetings from Augsburg! Augsburg is a fairly large city not far from Munich in Bavaria. It doesn't have the narrow-winding-street charm of Bamberg or Regensburg but it has a fine Old Town and some very nice churches.
We are staying in the Dorint Hotel, which is about 10 minutes walk from the Old Town. It is in an unusual concrete round tower and the rooms are decorated in a retro '70s style.
David was curious about the building's date and found a whole Wikipedia article on it - apparently it was built in 1972 and is a close copy of the Marina City Towers in Chicago.
We continue to have very cold temperatures, a whole lot of wind, and a mix of snow and sun. It was snowing when we checked in to our hotel, but then the sun conveniently came out for a late afternoon exploration of the town. Here are a few photos from our walk.
Augsburg Cathedral is a mix of Romanesque and Gothic architecture and has lots of interesting sculptures, paintings and murals:
This evening we had a delicious Easter dinner in our hotel restaurant. They had a special buffet for the occasion, which included grilled turkey, steak, fish, German potato salad, assorted veggies, stuffed vine leaves, tortellini with cream sauce, roasted potatoes, and really good bread. For dessert there were several different kinds of pudding, including an odd one that tasted almost exactly like cake batter.
Most of our fellow diners were Italians, fully dressed up as always, but right next to us was an Asian-American family. We enjoyed eavesdropping a little on the latter. The teenage boy had a clear west coast accent, which was very friendly. Maybe they were even from Portland! We're not the types to ask.
Last night we had dinner at the hotel also, and we had some seriously fabulous pasta. David chose spaghetti with dill cream sauce topped with salmon and I had penne bolognese. Both were perfect. Breakfast is pretty good here too, complete with an omelette bar. This morning they include a loaf of the Easter bread we've seen in bakery windows, which is a soft white loaf with raisins and slivered almonds.
We are based here in Augsburg for two more nights and tomorrow we are making a day trip down the "Romantic Road" to the Neuschwanstein Castle, a.k.a. the "Cinderella Castle." On Tuesday we leave for Switzerland on our way to Italy!