Bamberg a pleasant deviation

Sunday 29 July 2012 – Bamberg a pleasant deviation

Day 107 and 52 to go

With a rainy morning to welcome us we were glad we had decided we would move on today. While there were things I was hoping to do in Prague today we just couldn’t be bothered with moving the van next door and figured we may as well head back into Germany. While Paul was checking the road atlas yesterday he realised that Bamberg in Germany was pretty much on our way to Frankfurt and seeing there was a beer tour to complete in Bamberg it seemed like an obvious stop.

So I paid up with no words said about yesterday’s lack of power and we were on our way at 8.50am. The streets were fairly quiet being early on a Sunday that was a blessing. We didn’t have the traffic to contend with just the cobbled roads and lumpy bitumen. 30min later we were back on the highway and heading for the German border.

I was tired still and kept taking 5min catnaps along the way. At 10.30am we passed over the border with no passport checks again. The highway was moving freely and we were making good time as we travelled west. An hour later we were off the main highway and heading towards Bamberg. I had found a park and ride that had a rest stop for campers and included electricity and we pulled into the parking area at 12.15pm.

We set up the van, sorted ourselves out, worked out which direction we needed to walk and then followed the GPS to Klosterbrau. We had to cross over the Rhein canal then walked down the quaint cobbled streets to find the brewery where we had lunch and Paul enjoyed one of the local speciality beers. 

With lunch consumed and feeling better we walked through the town and up to the Dom where suddenly we were confronted with many tourists, most of them sounded German. We passed through the Dom Platz and passed the Neue Residnenz before wandering passed the next place Weinstrube that was closed unfortunately.

We moved into the tourist mecca of Dominikanerstrasse where we had two places to visit; we started with the Ambrausianum a relevantly new establishment opened in 2004. Paul enjoyed one of the brews before we crossed the street and sat down at Schlenkerla. Paul had one of their smoky rauchbiers while I enjoyed a glass of wine. It was so lovely sitting out in the sun and just people watching as the tourists groups we ushered through by their bossy guides.

From here we crossed back over the river via the Old Town Hall that is built on the bridge straddling the river. It is very pretty. We walked through the main shopping district that was particularly quiet and many shops were shut. We walked over another canal and then on to the Brauerei Spezial’s where we sat in the back beer garden surrounded by the old building. Paul had one of the Specizil Rauchbier’s, another smoky beer.

The final place was on the opposite side of the road and didn’t open until 6pm so we crossed back over the canal and then walked along the water’s edge returning to our van. We did a quick clean, I added some photos and bits to the computer and then I read some more of my book while Paul had a nap.

We played a game of cards and then made a hotch potch spag bog for dinner with the things we left in the fridge. We played another game of cards and by 9.30pm it was time for bed.

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