Pick-A-Day

August 2012
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Two days in Augsburg.

Augsburg Rathaus

The Rathaus – overlooking a bleak, construction filled, plaza.

Augsburg

The main drag. Emphasis on “drag”.

After accumulating way too many overtime hours at work, I cashed some of them in this week, taking Monday and Tuesday off, in order to go to a conference down in Augsburg.

This wasn’t my first visit to Augsburg – my first visit was dominated by a jetlagged induced sleepy fog, and I spent time either sleeping or attending events. I never actually saw Augsburg, if you will.

Sunday I saw Augsburg.

Now before I say anything, let me preface my remarks by noting several relevant factors: (1) It was a Sunday, so local shops were all closed; (2) it was a stifling 33C; and (3) the city is a massive construction site which makes walking in a direct line between two places fairly difficult.

With these facts in mind, you can take my opinion of Augsburg for what it’s worth.

I don’t think much of Augsburg.

If you followed me on Twitter, the word that best describes Augsburg is bleak.

But I don’t know why – and that’s the part that puzzles me. It has all the right elements to be a charming, nice, interesting Bavarian city – complete with (individually) fantastic buildings with awesome façades. It has the stereotypical large, grand open plazas where people can gather. It even has decent (if somewhat perplexing due to construction) public transportation. But even with all of this, I was left cold.

Walkers Reflected

An empty store front in Augsburg reflected passing walkers quite nicely.

Well, cold is entirely the wrong word – it was swelteringly hot – so I was left moist from sweat and parched from dehydration – and I was starving because I’d eaten breakfast at 8:00 – I finally found what I can only characterize as the “least worst” option on Maximilianstraße, Augsburg’s main drag, and was left unimpressed. About the only positive thing I could say about my (not cheap) lunch was that I was no longer hungry.

I'll take the left...

There was, at least, some very nice eye-candy. I’ll take the piece on the left.

But again, I’m puzzled as to why I feel this way because the city seems to have all the right elements to be a genuinely nice place to visit and to live – even if its charms seem rather elusive to me.

1 comment to Two days in Augsburg.

  • It sounds as if Augsburg should have a city motto of, “You can’t get there from here…”

    Much like how it was at my mothers house earlier this summer. She has 2 routes in from town that are practical, a 3rd that isn’t so practical (10-mile detour), and the 2 shorter routes were both being worked on for a month simultaneously.