Blogs from Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany, Europe - page 2

Bamberg is yet another historic town near the confluence of two rivers, in this case the Main and the Reglitz. Bamberg's old town, with over 1000 years history, escaped bombing by the Allies in WWII and has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1993. Bamberg is built on an early medieval plan and has many half-timber houses and very old churches. Bamberg was made a bishopric in 1007 and bishops were later made princes of the Holy Roman Empire in the mid 12th century, so they were leaders of both the church and the state. According to our guide, having heard how other places were moving toward self-government, the people of Bamberg wanted the same. They wanted a town hall, but their ruler said no, not on my land you don't. So the clever townspeople, ... read more

Geo: 49.8942, 10.8855Our last day on the cruise. Visited Bamberg. Had a city tour as usual. Had some free time and it was raining a little again.And today is Sharon's birthday. We celebrated with some new friends at dinner. Three bottles of champagne and lots of fun. The staff and crew helped too. The concierge bought flowers, the hotel director sent a nice gift (Bavarian mug Salt & pepper shakers) plus lots of decorations by Dorina in the cabin. They really did a great job. Unfortunately the day and cruise had to end. It was a fun day.... read more

This morning we took buses into Bamberg and hiked up to ABC...Another Bloody Church! It is the Bamberger Dom of St. Peter and St. George which combines the Romanesque style with the gothic style. Pope Clement II (the only pope buried in Germany) is buried there along with King Henry II and his wife Cunigunde. It was beautiful along with another fairy tale looking city. We climbed down a quite steep staircase and made it into town. We had a smoky beer (Rauchbier) that tastes a bit like drinking a ham, but it was really quite delish! Bamberg was the second city to introduce book-printing and the town's history goes back to 902 A.D. Later in the evening, on the ship, we had drinks and games and dancing. Afterwards we went up to the sundeck for ... read more

At the end of every day, Bowen and I are amazed that we can be this relaxed and thoroughly happy. Today, I realized that for the first time in a LONG time I wasn't planning for, worrying about or even thinking about tomorrow. I am so grateful to God that our families are doing well right now and that we have been blessed with this once-in-a-lifetime experience. We're also amazed that every day brings new surprises, regardless of where we dock. Today, we were in Bamberg, a city of 75,000 which is another German city not bombed during WWII. Each of the cities we've visited have unique beauty and characteristics. One of Bamberg's claim to fame is their "rauchbier" which literally means "smoked beer." Several hundred years ago, all Brewers' malt was dried over open fires, ... read more

Geo: 49.8942, 10.8855We wake early in the morning, like 6. I slept ok this night and I'm ready to get going. Mom starts her packing routine, trying to put a 10 lb. pig in a 5 lb. sack. The bags are bulging with the same stuff we had yesterday. A real phenomenon. We have a nice breakfast that Karen makes while I work on the blog about Dresden. We do have what you might call a "sitiation". We need a cab but there's no one call it for us. I investigate and find a taxi stand in front of the Christmas Market. Karen says, "There's too many cobblestones. It's too hard!". We lock up the apartment, drop the keys in the mail slot and slowly work our way to the taxi stand. Within 5 minutes, one ... read more