Day 81 11 June 2015 Bamberg

There are many locks we are over it!  Today the half day walking tour of Bamberg took place under overcast skies but it was pleasant walking as it is supposed to reach 25 degrees. This medieval town is built on 7 hills with a church on each of them so consequently comparisons are drawn with Rome. The entire town centre is UNESCO heritage as is most of the sites we have seen.

The Bamberg Cathedral church has two tombs, one for Henry II (Holy Roman Emperor) and his wife Gisella.  What was unusual was that on the tomb she is on the right side where normally the King would be but she wielded quite a lot of power. The other tomb is for Pope Clements II who is the only Pope to have been buried north of the Alps.

The Town Hall

Plaque

Various views + tomb Of henry and Giselle and the new residence for the that was based on Versailles (certainly designed without the gold!) and the money ran out so they are missing a wing.

At the Town Hall there is a plaque to Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg whose widow is still alive.  He was one of the German officers who plotted to kill Hitler but who was to be one of the first to be caught and executed. Unfortunately it seems that his widow died some years ago in 2006 so our tour guide, the 23 year old Sabrina was wrong. US troops were based here until they were withdrawn in 2014.

After a milkshake and drop into the pharmacy and supermarket, we almost missed the bus by being in the wrong spot but we got there with a couple of minutes to spare.  I should have remembered the landmark the Messerschmitt Hotel.  Please note that it is a romantic hotel. When we returned to our ship we had to walk through another river boat.  That’s not unusual except that usually it’s a walk through although this time we had to walk up and cross over to the roof of our ship.  Some people whinged behind us but essentially their ship’s door didn’t align with ours and it was a good opportunity to see into their ship to see what is like. 

This afternoon I went to the Bavarian beer tasting experience.  They had the famous (apparently) smokey flavoured beer.  I quite liked it the only problem then was that I had a craving for BBQ chips.

Elizabeth skipped tea tonight as she is feeling unwell.  It seemed to hit her suddenly and she has a high temperature.  She slept most of the afternoon.  Whether she feels better in the morning remains unclear.  Poor thing.