So it was an 8.30am departure this morning. Slept rather well last night and had a lovely breakfast. Special of the day was Banana Pancakes. The rest was buffet style with an egg station where you could get your eggs cooked to order.

On the bus for about 1.5 hrs to Regensburg. Normally the boat would have been docked there and we could have just walked into town. Today was the first day we got to try our "quiet boxes". Each person gets their own earpiece and that way you can listen to the guide without them having to shout. We had a 1hr walking tour in town. Was looking forward to seeing the stone bridge but it is currently undergoing renovations and was all covered over. We did stop by Historische Wurstkuchl, the world's oldest sausage kitchen - serving Regensburg sausages since 1135.

The town does have a UNESCO rating but the town itself didn't do much for us. Very old heritage buildings that were beautiful but didn't have the same feel as the other towns we have visited. The most outstanding was Dom St Peter, a beautiful cathedral. The outside reminded me a little of Notre Dame in Paris and the stained glass windows inside were breathtaking. The markets weren't very exciting but I had the traditional Regensburg sausages on a roll for lunch while mum had a mini pizza type dish with sourcream, bacon and shallots. We had one in Munich and mum has been looking for them ever since.

From here, we went to Schloss Thurn & Taxis. This family set up the first European postal system in the middle ages and in recognition of their services, was given titles and when the system was fully taken over by the government, they were given this former St Benedictine monastery as payment. The family still reside here on special occasions but not in the wings we visited. They used to have a residence in Frankfurt and they replicated the rooms in part of the palace here and that is what we were able to visit.

They also have a Christmas market here within the courtyard of the palace and around the outside. It was one of the nicest we have been too. They had fires burning around to warm up by and and just had a real medieval feel to it. Unfortunately we had to leave at 3.30pm and didn't get to see it all lit up once it got dark which is what I had been looking forward to when we booked the cruise. Oh well, at least we got to see it. We bought a couple of small items and then had the bus ride back to the boat.

Yesterday and today has been the coldest so far of the trip. Starting to have to put a couple extra layers on. Snow flurries were promised today but we never saw them unfortunately. Tonight was the Welcome Dinner (just a few nights late) but all it meant was to get dressed up a little more than usual.

Sitting in the lounge at the moment, enjoying a Baileys while I do the blog and update photos. Another early start tomorrow so time for bed.