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Writer's pictureSElliott

Day 7 - Painted Stones and Wooden Cobbles

Updated: Dec 25, 2022

We were sailing all morning and early afternoon today to get to Bamburg. So that meant a lie-in!!!! Hurrah!! I thoroughly enjoyed mine.


In the morning we had Früshoppen. This literally means “an alcoholic drink before midday in company” and is a German and Austrian tradition of meeting with friends in a pub or inn on a Sunday morning. Basically it was a brunch of beer, sausages (one had a cheese filling) and pretzels. I didn’t care much for the pretzels as there was too much crust for my taste.

Picture 1 - Früshoppen

We arrived in Bamberg at around 3pm and got on the buses for the short trip into the town. Bamberg, located at the entrance of the Main Danube canal, has an impressive array of historical buildings and was designated a World Heritage site in 1983. The Regnitz river runs through the centre of town, separating the old town from the new. We arrived at the Concert Hall and then walked along the Linker Regnitzarm into the centre of town. As we arrived in the centre we had a lovely view across the river to Little Venice.

Pictures 2, 3 - Little Venice

We then climbed up to the Domplatz, or Cathedral Square. This square is surrounded by 600yrs of architecture from the cathedral (consecrated in 1012), to the Alten Hofhaltung (the residency of the bishops in the 16th and 17th centuries) to the more modern Neue Residence (residency of the bishops after the 17th century). I don’t know if they had finished building the cathedral though, as both its spires were wrapped in “bandages”!

Picture 4 - Bamburg Cathedral

Mum and I entered the cathedral, whose official name is Bamberger Dom St. Peter und St. Georg. It wasn’t as fancy as the one in Cologne and it had no stained glass windows. We then entered the grounds of the Renaissance buildings of the Alten Hofhaltung to admire the half-timbered buildings and flowers! This was the official residency of the bishops of Bamberg from the 15th century to 1602. Lots of lovely windowboxes!

Picture 5 - Alten Hofhaltung

We entered, through the Neue Residence, the rose garden. On the way through the Residence we walked on wooden cobbles – something that I’ve never seen before! Later in the trip I found out that they used wooden cobbles as they would muffle the sound of the horses’ hooves and carriage wheels.

Picture 6 - Wooden Cobbles

The rose garden was pretty, although some of the roses were past their best. It looked really nice with the residency behind it. If you looked closely however, you could see that the bishops must have been short of money when the residency was built – the stonework is painted on!

Picture 7 - Residence Rose Garden

From the cathedral we descended back into the old town, past a “nosey” bus – I had to keep an eye on Mum!

Picture 8 - "Nosey" Bus

We reached the Geyersworthbrucke - this pedestrian bridge gives one of the best views of the iconic Bamberg Town Hall. This is the town hall that, due to the Bishops’ reluctance in releasing any land for the construction, was built in the middle of the river! It is called the Altes Rathaus and has spectacular frescoes on both sides of the building, including some 3D elements!

Pictures 9, 10 - Alte Rathaus, Bamburg

We ended the tour at Little Venice - this is a colony of fishermen’s houses from the 19th century. After a little free time, in which Mum and I found a market to explore, we headed back to the bus and the ship, ready to continue onwards to Nuremburg and the ship swap to the Vega.

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