Wednesday, July 22nd - Bamberg

We arrived in Bamberg around 6:30 (so we were told) and we were up and had breakfast and off for our tour of the city at 9 a.m.  We had to go by bus for a 10-minute drive because the canal where we are parked is definitely in the industrial area.  It was quiet as we were the only ship docked but the businesses on the side were at times making some noise.  However, breakfast on the front deck was still very enjoyable.

Our tour  started in the Green Market, which aptly enough is where fruits and vegetables and flowers are sold.  It is not a very big market in comparison to other markets we have seen but the produce on display was very colourful and looked delicious.  Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, watermelon, apricots, etc. on the fruit side and onions, radishes, potatoes, broccoli, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, etc. on the vegetable side.   The market is in a great location close to the river and close to both the old town and the new town so it is handy for everyone.  And it is on the north side of the river where most of the agricultural land is.  There is also a statue of Neptune or Poseidon in the square but they just call it the man with a fork because that's what the town folk called it years ago when they didn't know who Neptune or Poseidon were.  And this spot was our meeting place for the end of the tour so it was pretty easy to find.

Our next stop was the Old City Hall, which is constructed in the middle of a bridge.  Apparently the bishop, who was in control of the city as well as the church, didn't like the thought of them building a city hall and having control over any of the city's affairs. His solution to keep them happy was to give them permission to build the city hall but to tell them they could not build it on any city property.  So one night they put down some pilings and built the city hall in the river, which the bishop did not control.  The building went up in the 15th century and in the 17th century frescoes were added on the outer walls of the building, and it really is quite impressive - and unique.  One of the pictures on the outside even has a plaster leg sticking out of the wall and pointing to the painter's signature.

From there we walked up the hill to the Imperial Cathedral, the Old Court, the New Residence and the Rose Garden.  The Cathedral is also known as the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. George and the current building was built in the 13th century to replace Emperor Henry II's cathedral that was destroyed by a fire.  It is a combination of Romanesque and Gothic structures.  Inside there is a statue of a horse and rider from the 13th century that is said to be St. Stephen of Hungary.  The finely sculptured tomb of Henry II and his wife Kunigunde and the humble tomb of Pope Clement II are also in this part of the church. The church itself has a high vaulted ceiling and lots of arches but the walls are basically plain stone.  Along the outer walls there are many paintings and sculptures and the front Mary altar is small but nice, leaving the large arched glass windows to be the main adornment.

To the one side of the cathedral is the 15th and 16th century Old Court or former residence of the bishop.  It is a very impressive Renaissance building on the outside and now a historical museum on the inside, which we didn't take time to visit.  The large New Residence is just beside it and it is now a museum that shows how ornnate the rooms were at one time  It looked really interesting but we didn't have time to take the next tour that lasted an hour so we had to pass that by too.  Behind it there was a beautiful rose garden and park with a fantastic view of the city.

At this point our walking tour ended and we had some free time so all went our own way.  I decided to head up to Michelsberg and see st. MIchael's Abbey.  The church and courtyard were very nice but currently under renovation so you couldn't actually go in to see the Baroque interior.  I think the whole area is now a brewery or brewery museum but it would have been nice to see inside anyway.  The garden behind did give me some more great views of the city and a path and stairs back down to the old town.  Once back down by the river I had a wonderful view of Little Venice, a group of fishermen's houses on the other side of the river - very pretty and definitely Venetian looking on the waterway.

I crossed the bridge and walked through Little Venice back to our meeting point and arrived with a few minutes to spare so I paid a visit to St. Martin's Church.  It too is under renovation so it's a bit hard trying to get a real feel for these places.  It was definitely a lot smaller and darker than some of the churches we have been in.  The group was gathered so we headed back to the buses and our ship which was awaiting us at the canal.  After a quick dip in the pool to cool off and lunch, we set sail for our next destination.

Bamberg is known as  the historic city built on seven hills and tries to compare itself to Rome.  It was established in the late 10th century, if not before, and because it was a relatively unimportant city it survived WWII relatively unharmed.  The old original buildings are now a UNESCO world heritage site and strolling through the streets is a real treat.  Of course they are also well known for their smoked beer but I didn't bother too give that a try.

We went through the Bamberg lock as we left the city.  It has a 33 foot rise/fall and it is definitely not one of the fast-filling locks as it took us quite a while to get through.  It was as tight as any other lock though and we did do a fair bit of bumping off both sides.  The upper deck is still closed because of low bridges but we're hoping that changes soon as we get off the Rhine/Main/Danube canal and on to the Main and Rhine rivers.  It will take us until noon tomorrow to get to Wurtzburg for our next stop.

Well, I've just discovered that we are now in the Main River but it still has lots of locks.  We seem to hit one about every half hour.  The sides of the river are busy with summer campers and swimmers and fishermen and boaters.  While we stay in the main channel, there are many smaller bays and streams and they all look so inviting.  The countryside was really green when we set out and there were vineyards and green fields in the distance.  By the end of the day it was looking less green and lush along the river but still very nice.  We had a thunderstorm and rain while we were eating dinner and in the evening.  That meant there were very few places outside that you could go and stay dry.  We found the one possible place and sat out there by ourselves enjoying the evening.  Hopefully the rain will reduce the humidity and temperature a bit because it really has been just a bit too hot.  Today when we got back on the bus to return to the ship it was 38 degrees.  The pool felt incredibly nice when we got back.