Danaudurchbruch bei Weltenburg, Bavaria, Germany. 1996
On another of Matt's Great German Adventures (the first spawned two more visits), the Danaudurchbruch came highly recommended by MAP's Dad, Hans. We were on the way to Regensburg anyway, so it would make a nice stop.
Hans, was such a kind and engaging person. One of my strongest memories was our wine discussions. Hans was "into" wine (as I would be later in life) and turned his nose up at most German wine (which was white) and preferred reds from France. Since I was still young and on the path to wine knowledge, I challenged him and felt sad that he didn't like German wine. After all, German wine was (and is) quite well-known in the USA - Gewürztraminer is popular these days, no doubt for the umlaut and pronunciation alone. I tried excellent reds at Hans' table all the while moaning that white wine was just as good. Oh Hans, with the exception of Pinot Grigio, you were so right and I was so wrong! I love red wine now. White wine is only for drinking after mowing the lawn in the summer or as an afternoon refreshment on a hot summer's day in Italy post museum viewing.
Wine disagreements with Herr Hans P notwithstanding, MAP, SF (his fiancee), and I were off on a road trip from Munich, MAP's new home, to Regensburg with a stop in the Danube Gorge. The geologic feature, if compared to even the Delaware Water Gap or some other such river narrows in the USA, was quite tame. Lovely, for sure - but wow? no. I did not care - I was in Germany! That made it exotic and exciting. Luckily, nestled in the Danube Gorge was a beer brewing monastery. That made the place better immediately. Thank you God for monks who were pious and alcoholic. A pint of cold, fresh German beer always made everything better.
The Jura Mountains (well....hills?) extend up from Switzerland as a kind of back side to the Alps. They are just about finished by the time they reach Regensburg, but presented one last small barrier. Near Kelheim is a short canyon that the Danube has to push through on its long journey to the Black Sea. I was greeting the Danube a second time in Germany. First, I saw its source in the Black Forest on my First Great German Adventure, and now this time at the "durchbruch" the place it bursts through those low hills to join the Altmühl River. Soon after, two more rivers empty into it in Regensburg and the Danube suddenly becomes a very large river. At Donaudurchbruch, the Danube is still small and scenic.
My travels in the USA many years later taught me that my own country had so many beautiful places that surpassed those in Europe. The Danaudurchbruch really is just a short, rocky valley with a monastery. In America it might not even be famous beyond the monastery, yet in Germany it is a place of "important scenic beauty". In those early years, for me anything in Europe just had to be better than anything similar in the USA. I have seen even minor state parks in the USA that surpass "scenic places" in Europe I previously swooned over. I feel sad I matured into this thinking so late in life. Things on our own doorstep really are often ignored because the grass certainly must be greener elsewhere. At least I did finally learn this lesson, even if it came quite late.
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