Bamberg – Germany.

Friday 18th October 2024.

Day 35.

Today’s journey of 112 miles was achieved mainly on main roads a lot of it dual carriageway with no speed limit, cars passing us made it look as though we were in reverse.

Bamberg is a town in northern Bavaria laid out over 7 hills where the Regnitz and Main rivers meet. It’s old town preserves structures from the 11th to 19th centuries including the Altes Rathaus ( town hall), which occupies an island in the Regnitz reached by arched bridges.

Wandering off down a side street we came across the small church of St Elizabeth, third church was consecrated in 1354 having been built to attend to the needs of the “Hospice of the Holy Spirit” in the Sand district of the town. Michelle wandered in and was amazed at what she found, the original stain glass windows were replaced by eight stained glass windows in a contemporary design depicting the legend of Holy Elizabeth and her seven works of mercy.

Of course eventually thirst raised its head and we sat outside a restaurant where most of the people were devouring wurst (sausage) in all shapes and sizes. We had a beer each and I tried the local “brew”.

My beer was brewed a few metres away from where we were sitting in the brewery, pictured above, which is a smoked beer brewery Schlenkeria. The beer definitely tastes of smoke and I didn’t find it unpleasant. Michelle stuck to regular beer.

The historic part of the town is surrounded by a modern area with pedestrianised streets, modern shops and a market running the length of one street. I bought some roasted chestnuts, our daughter Emma’s favourite nut, and enjoyed eating quite a few whilst Michelle went in a shop.

Why a photo of a bendy bus at the top, well the first stellplatz we tried to get on near the town centre was full, there would have been room for more motorhomes but people had parked selfishly taking up a lot of space. So we drove onto a different stellplatz that had space but was about 2 miles out of town. No problem, the number 902 bus stopped outside the stellplatz ran every 15 minutes, on time, so we hopped on one. A new experience, different to yesterdays Czech Republic bus, as this cost €2.40 each one way and we had to buy a child’s ticket for Layla at €1.20. Twelve euros return, a little more than yesterdays 7p. The bus drivers were very helpful and gave advice on how to save money if we use buses again.