Cody Duncan Photography: Travel, Landscape, Climbing and Life

The stone watchman sits gazing towards the cathedral in Regensburg, keeping an eye on its progress.

The legend goes:

There was a competition between the bridge maker and the cathedral maker on who would finish first. The Devil heard of this and approached the bridge maker. In exchange for the soul of the first to cross the completed bridge, he would help the bridge maker finish first. The bridge maker accepted the deal. However, being a bridge maker, it was his duty to be the first across the bridge to show that it wouldn’t fall apart. Some years later the day finally came, the bridge was finished, well before the cathedral. So there the bridge maker stood, looking at his new masterpiece as it gracefully spanned the mighty Danube, remembering his deal with the Devil. Now, The bridge maker was no stupid man and had no intention of giving his soul to the Devil. He took off his hat and through it across the bridge; his dog quickly running after it, the first to cross the bridge…

Dollar has hit a new low against the Euro: $1.50 per Euro for the first time. I should have opened an account here last year, I would be several hundred dollars richer. German radio is saying that it’s a good time to take a trip to the US. So it goes…

Dollar/Euro over last 6 months:

Dollar/Euro over last year:

Spiegel front page this morning:

Regensburg is a cool city that I’ve visited a few times now, as it is only about an hour away, and has really good pizza! The city itself was spared “remodeling” during the war, so unlike Nürnberg or Berlin, the city center is pretty much in original condition, and even includes the remains of old Roman walls from the 2nd century.

“Who built this thing?” I ask, as the Walhalla appears on a hill in the distance.

“Ohhh, some 19th century megalomaniac Bavarian king…” Sabine replies, as if I should now be used to odd structures made by 19th century Bavarian kings with minor psychological problems.

So, who would have ever thought that there is a giant copy of the Greek Parthenon overlooking the Danube. Anyhow, its a pretty cool place, albeit a bit crowded on a nicer that average February Sunday. The local farmer’s wife was sure making a killing charging 1.50 Euro for the parking…

Despite the blue skies, I don’t think the temp has risen much above freezing since I’ve been here. Sunday morning was a nice and cool 14 degrees, the coldest so far, I think (or at least that I’ve been outside for). But the sun is out, so I shouldn’t complain too much. I still haven’t found the motivation to go for a run, maybe a few more days to adjust to the temperature…

Still a bit jet lagged the other night, took this out of the bedroom window at about 5:00am

If I search for Santa Barbara to Frankfurt and your website displays a flight and price, then don’t waste my time by telling me that the price is no longer available once I select that flight! I’ve spent the last hour on numerous websites looking for a good ticket price, and nearly every time, I get the “We’re sorry, that flight is no longer available at that price. The new price will be $99,999,999,681.00. Thank you.” If it’s no longer available, then don’t display it!!!

Blöd! (practicing my German)

Nice day today. Seems I still can’t remember it’s 2008 though. Germany in 10 days…