Today, we were on the the boat for the morning as we sailed towards Bamberg. We took the opportunity for a sleep in and skipped the normal breakfast as the ship folks had a ‘Fruhschoppen’ event schedule of 11 am. According to the Cruise Director, this is a Bavarian tradition to have beer and sausage straight after church and the word ‘Fruhschoppen’ means to have alcoholic drinks in company before midday.
We made landfall near Bamberg about 1 pm and boarded buses for the city centre around 2 pm. Deb and I decided to ditch the guided tour today, because we wanted to explore at our own pace. As it turned out we followed the tour groups around to all the scenic places, including the Cathedral, the Library, the Museum and the shopping districts.
Near the cathedral was the museum and the library and although we didn’t go into either, the flowers around them both were amazing. The fragrance of roses emanating from the gardens is a reminder to slow down.
It seemed we’d arrived in town for the Sandkerwa festival. For five days in late August, Bambergers gather to commemorate the consecration of the Chapel of St. Elisabeth in Bamberg’s Sand Quarter. But it’s really just a pretext, for during these five days, the entire Altstadt of Bamberg is turned into an open-air beer hall with music on every square and beer booths on every corner.
Bamberg is a town in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg has 80,000 residents, but that grows with the student poplulation swelling those numbers. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby Babenberch castle. It has been cited as one of Germany’s most beautiful towns, with medieval streets and buildings in the old town of Bamberg.
During the Second World War, the city was hit a total of nine times by Allied warplanes between 1944 and 1945. Bamberg was not attacked as badly as nearby Nuremberg, with only 4.4% of the city ended up being destroyed and a relatively low death toll of 378 civilians.
The benefit of treading our own path was that we could stop for a drink whenever we liked. We found a cafe in the main shopping district and Deb and I shared a plate of Bratwurst, with mustard and tomato sauce on the side. Delicious!
After that it was time to head back the boat for dinner and our overnight sail to Nuremberg.
Until tomorrow!
Rob's "Beats Working" Blog 