Bamberg

We hadn’t intended to travel to Bamberg, Germany but when we went to Wurzburg, we met two very nice ladies who said Wurzburg had been demolished in the war and most of the beautiful architecture was not ancient but rebuilt to look the same as it had… meaning it wasn’t authentic.  We were disappointed but that’s another adventure story.  They said to visit Bamberg because it had the historical buildings we adored.  We scheduled a trip at a later date to see Bamberg.  And we were so glad we did! There just wasn’t enough time to see everything.

There’s a base in Bamberg so we checked it out since our military credentials would allow us to go on base and shop at the base exchange.  We were less than impressed after having spent time on the four bases in Stuttgart which were much more impressive.

A cold and cloudy day met us as we made our way to this lovely city. Although it is not on Germany’s famous Romantic Road, personally, I think it should be.  It’s picturesque and quaint. Since we got a late start, and it was a little further afield we opted to stay the night and return to our home in Plieningen in the morning.

Unfortunately, we did not plan on staying the night so we had no luggage, toiletries or medication. But we decided to tough it out for one night. We located an IBIS hotel which we thought would be nice because my husband’s sister had stayed in one and she doesn’t stay in any junkie places.  While it was “nice” for European standards, it wasn’t what I would call a great hotel. If a micro-hotel is like this, then I’d be claustrophobic. But for one night…what the heck! The bathroom was so small you could barely get to the toilet. And the shower was a tiny triangular shaped thing. The only saving grace was it had a very cool sink! But I worried about getting up in the night and bumping my head against the wall when I got out of bed.  There was less than ten inches between the bed and the wall.

After checking into the hotel, we tooled around town on foot. It’s an absolutely lovely city and one I’d like to revisit, but not stay at the IBIS.

We ate at a local restaurant called the Schlenkerla which had a pub-like atmosphere and we sat at a long trestle table with another couple at the other end. It appeared you sat wherever there were seats, and it didn’t matter if you didn’t know the person or not! We had their local specialty:  stuffed onions with potatoes. We weren’t disappointed with the fare offered. The building drew us in!

The buildings in the old city were beautiful, especially the old courthouse which was built right in the middle of the river and accessible by two bridges. An amazing feat for the year 1386! Its medieval buildings were authentic and water surrounds the old city with its water canals. It reminds me of Venice. The old town is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

I wished we’d had more time to visit the seven churches on the seven hills surrounding Bamberg, but we didn’t. If you ever get to Bamberg, make plans to stay for at least three or four days to see everything…but don’t stay at an IBIS!

Another adventure awaits!  Next time…who knows?