Gem & Llew: Bamberg

We left Nuremberg faily early the next morning and drove the less than an hour to Bamberg. A small, but old town. It was not destroyed by bombing. As we entered we passed the US military barracks. Strange. We had booked a small, family run hotel close to the centre. We got one of the 2 rooms with a sitting room.

Since we were there so early, we took off to see the town. A few blocks to the main street, again a pedestrian street. It was Sunday so not much was open except cafes, but it was fine and warm and all the sites were outside.

As it was the warmest it had been this season, EVERYONE was at the cafes. (It was still only about 12 C, so everyone still had jackets on, even in the sun.

Bamberg was also one of the main seats of the Catholic Church during the changes to Protestant elsewhere in the country, particularly in Nurember, just south. So there are a few Catholic Churches around.

Random statue of Neptune.

The city is on a river and has a unique city hall. It was built IN the river.

Has some wonderful decoration. See the interesting bit at the top and bottom?

Up the hill to the cathedral (1237). There was a concert so we couldn't go in. Oh well. An emperor and a pope are buried there.

Right across the square was the new residences of the bishops (17th C). The whole scene was rather reminiscent of Prague.

This used to be the courthouse.

Walking back, we saw good examples of old German architecture.

With the city hall in the back right in this photo, this is the river through town.

The buildings here led to the nickname "little Venice".

We found a nice pub that brewed its own beer. A verson of the local "Rauchbier" or smoked beer. Doesn't taste smokey, just GOOOOOD! We had it with very traditional food of prezel, white sausages and mustard. Classic combination.