April 5, 2018 ~ Bamberg, Germany

April 5, 2018 ~ Bamberg, Germany

Today we had a morning of sailing down the river, with our shore excursion in the afternoon.  It's nice to have some late starts and get caught up on a bit of sleep.  I have to say that this entire experience is just about perfection.  The staff is highly trained, friendly, always smiling, and many of them already know your name and what you like.  One of my favorite servers, Valenin, always brings me a glass of white wine without even asking.  Our regular breakfast server, Tina, does the same with my morning coffee and cranberry juice.  Our room steward, Nelson, makes sure that everything is clean, neat, and tidy every morning, afternoon, and evening.  The excursions are led by wonderful guides whose English is impeccable.  The crew on the ship are always busy scrubbing the exterior of the boat whenever we are in port -- keeping our windows sparkling clean.  The shore excursions go off without a hitch, and run like clockwork.  A couple of times folks have been left behind -- but because they ignored the meeting time.  I can't say enough about the service throughout the trip.

And now ... on to talking about Bamberg.  It is a town on the river Regnitz, close to the confluence with the river Main.  Located in Upper Franconia, a large part of the town has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993.  We have visited a number of UNESCO sites on this trip and also in the Azores.  Curious, I investigated UNESCO -- United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.  It is designed to identify and preserve natural and cultural heritage around the world - particularly those areas deemed to be of particular importance to humanity.  Bamberg's old town is a UNESCO site mostly because of its authentic medieval appearance.

Our guide, Moritz, is a post graduate student who expects to get his PhD in European History this spring.  Charming and knowledgeable (as usual), he helped to orient us to Bamberg.  The city extends over seven hills.  On each of the seven hills stands a beautiful church.  We did NOT see all seven hills -- just one - Cathedral Hill.  The other six are called, Michaelsberg, Stefansberg, Jakobsberg, Altenburger Hill, Abtsberg, and Kaulberg/Obere Pfarre.

Moritz, Our Guide

Michaelsburg Abbey

We had interesting weather today -- alternating between full sunshine as seen in the picture of our guide, Moritz, and threatening clouds as seen in the picture of Michaelsburg Abbey.  It did actually rain at one point, but we were inside the church at the time, and by the time we got outside again, the sun was shining once more.

Michaelsberg Abbey was a Benedictine monastery founded in 1015 after the creation of the Bishopric of Bamberg by King Heinrich II.  It served as the first bishop, Eberhard I's, private monastery, and the abbot answered directly and exclusively to the bishop of Bamberg.  It has had a colorful history according to Wikipedia, but it was dissolved in 1803.  The remaining twenty-one monks had to leave.  Today the abbey houses a municipal retirement home Bürgerspital. 

Medieval slaughterhouse

 The medieval slaughterhouse is located along the river, with the spoilings going directly into the river itself.  The fishmonger is next door.

Many houses had painted designs on the sandstone

You can see the dramatic skies in many of our photos.  The photo above is of the Rathaus (city hall) of Bamberg.  I love the painted designs!  We have seen many examples of this on our journey.  I wonder how they maintain the designs?

A view looking downriver

Queen Kunigunde

 

                           

 

Pictures of the Rathaus, or town hall, which was rebuilt between 1744 and 1756.  Notice the detailed painting of the outside.

The Schlenkerla, one of Bamberg's many taverns/breweries.

There are nine breweries in Bamberg:  Brauerai Greifenklau, Brauerei Heller-Trum (the above pictured Schlenkerla), Brauerai Kaiserdom, Brauerei Fassla, Keesmann Brau, Klosterbrau, Brauerei Spezial, and Mahrs Brau.  They are known for their smoked Rauchbier.  The locals say it tastes like smoked sausages, although we also heard it described as tasting like an ashtray!

Bamberg Cathedral (Bamberger Dom St. Peter und St. Georg)

Crypt of Emperor Heinrich and his wife Empress Kunigunde

 Moritz told us a "creepy story" about Heinrich and Kunigunde.  Heinrich had died several years before Kunigunde, and was buried in the Cathedral.  When Kunigunde died, they opened the crypt and allegedly said, "Move over, your wife has come to be with you."  According to the legend, Heinrich did just that!

Organ in the Cathedral

Picture of roofs from the Alte Brucke

Spires of the Dom

                 

  

              

 

 These two statues beside the door to the cathedral depict Christianity on the left and Judaism on the right.  Moritz told us that the woman is blindfolded because she is "blind to the true faith."

             

 

Below the statue representing Judaism there is a statue of a man wearing the typical hat of a Jew in those days.  A demon above him is trying to scratch his eyes out.

The Rose Garden at the Neu Rezidenz

 

                        

 

Signs of spring!  In the rose garden the workmen were preparing the rose beds for spring, and amongst the greenery along the sides of the rose beds were these pretty flowers peeping their heads out!

                    

 

 A stop for a warming bowl of soup, a glass of wine for me and a glass of beer for Jeff!

 

 

Our dinner had a Bavarian theme tonight.  I can't remember the German for it, but I can report that it was very tasty!

The weather was unpredictable, but we did not get rained on, so I call it a very good day.

Tomorrow .... Nurnberg (or as we would call it, Nuremberg)!