Bridge Update, Sep…um…October 2016

On the Move

We’ve been busy, like everyone, of course. We’ve been concentrating on the resolution of a small real estate drama, and trying to squeeze progress in that area around not one, not two, but three vacations planned out in advance. But that’s all coming to an end REALLY SOON.

When the bridge renovation project was announced, shortly after we moved onto this island in 2009, I thought for sure we’d still be living here when the project was completed. Bad assumption on two counts: it’s taken longer than expected, and we’re just plain done with this apartment. For several legitimate reasons, really, but none of them individually was the kick-in-the-pants we needed to get up and move.

Consider the pants collectively kicked. Which means we won’t be living on this island to witness the grand finale of the bridge renovation project and the return of the Bruckmandl to his ouchy-looking post. ¹

We’re staying in Regensburg, but moving back into the postal code we had back in 2004, when we first moved here. It’s just on the edge of the Altstadt, close to the train station (good for my business trips to Nuremberg and Sarah’s rehearsals and concert planning stuff in Munich) and shortening my daily bike commute by about half. Our living space will remain about the same size, but with the added benefits of:

• more natural light
• more convenient parking
• a more modern set of kitchen appliances
• an extra half-bath
• windows in both baths
• a balcony
• a small patio
• a tiny yard
• no chance for water damage from an apartment above us

Bridge Stuff

Perhaps this is the final stage of the renovation of this bridge!

This is the last unfinished section of the bridge, snapped before it was closed off to pedestrians and we could walk the entire length:

Scaffolding is up on the West side of the middle section now:

This guy has been hanging around on the bridge a lot lately, airing out his feet and drinking a beer after a bike ride. They’re putting the final touches on the newly-opened section of auxiliary bridge allowing pedestrians to bypass the work zone:

They’ve started dismantling the pylons supporting the auxiliary bridge at the South end:

Random Shots

1. No joke, really — there’s a medieval torture device called the Spanish Donkey (spanischer Esel) that looks a lot like his perch. We saw it in the Fragstatt, the torture chamber attached to the Altes Rathaus. I do not recommend googling this device. [↩]