Europe 2010 Day 6 - Bamberg - A Day Trip

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1 Oct 2010

From Nuremberg today, we will be making a day trip to the city of Bamberg for which its old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site. In medieval times, Bamberg was ruled by Prince-bishops and was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The town was first mentioned in 902CE and was the centre of the Holy Roman Empire for a short time in the 11th Century. Bamberg is home to Rauchbier (smoked beer). A wonderful dark beer that has a barbeque flavour to it. The surrounding areas of Bamberg is one of the places in the world with the highest densities of breweries. Before catching the train to Bamberg on the €28 Bayern Ticket, we walked to the Hauptmarkt in Nuremberg for breakfast.€€€

St. Lorenzkirche in the morning


Closer look at the circular window pattern


St. Lorenzkirche up close reveals some interesting things


Breakfast at the Hauptmarkt, sausages in bun!


One long one


One shorter one, yummy!


Behind is the 4D gelateria where we had the €1/scoop ice-cream


Lost?


We caught the double decker train to Bamberg


Complicated train toilet door operators


Press the right flush! The red button looks like it will jettison you from the toilet seat


Arrival at the Bamberg train station (Bahnhof), we started with the blue route shown below by walking down Luitpoldstraße.


View Larger
Overall walking routes around Bamberg: Blue -- From train station to the famous Altes Rathaus then out to Altenburg Castle, Green -- Back tracking from Altenburg, to Michaelsberg Abbey, Red -- To the Cathedral, New Residence and finally to Schlenkerla for dinner.


Braurei Spezial, one of the places near the train station to have the local Rauchbier (smoked beer)


Down the Grüner Markt (Green Market)



At St. Martin Church (St. Martinskirche) on Grüner Markt


Inside the church


Fake dome created by perception painting


The Pulpit


Continuing down the road, we arrive at the iconic Altes Rathaus (Old City Hall) that is in the middle of the Regnitz river.


The Altes Rathaus up ahead


Houses by the river ahead forms the "Little Venice" of Bamberg


Coat of arms above the old town hall


Walking under


Saw this on the building on the other side, many builds have nice decorational statues


The Altes Rathaus, it was built in 1386CE.


The frescos on the altes rathaus


Nice red creepers


Finding our way slightly out of town to the Altenburg Castle


The long walk out to the castle


Altenburg Castle in a distance


Looking back at Bamberg town centre. It will be about an hour's slow walk from the main town area to Altenburg castle


Nearing the castle


Finally, almost there


Bridge to the castle gate


Entrance to the Altenburg Castle (1109CE). It was the residence of the Bamberg bishops from 1305-1553CE. The highest of the seven hills of Bamberg.


Castle tower


They used to keep a real castle bear here


There is just one restaurant up here, nothing else


What a waste, we were hoping for good views of Bamberg but the sky was overcast.


Walking back to Bamberg


Michaelsberg Abbey on the left, Imperial Cathedral on the right


Nice buildings


Attempting to navigate to Michaelsberg abbey took us to some dead ends


Navigating via landmark, the abbey up ahead, it is on one of the seven hills of Bamberg


We got lost at this point


Nice serene town


Pathway up to the Bamberg Residence


We finally found a small gate that led up to the back of the abbey


The back of Michaelsberg Abbey (Kloster Michaelsberg), a Benedictine abbey founded in 1015CE


View from the Michaelsberg Abbey


The Franconian Abbey Brewery Museum in Michaelsberg


Really small Guinness


Lots of Coasters


Different kinds of roasted malt used for beer


The front of Michaelsberg Abbey


Inside Michaelsberg Abbey


The Pulpit


The Altar


Next, we left the abbey and walked to Domplatz where the Cathedral and New Residence are.


The Cathedral (Bamberger Dom), a late Romanesque building built in 1012CE


Inside the Cathedral, big and plain


Bamberg New Residence (Neue Residenz, 1704CE), used by the prince-bishops and more recently by the disposed King Otto of Greece


360 video of Domplatz, the Bamberger Dom and the Neue Residenz


New Residence entrance


The New Residence Rose Garden


Stairway upstairs, it closes early in October and we missed it


Tired from all the walking, we headed to our final destination, Schlenkerla, for the famous Rauchbier and dinner.


Entrance to Schlenkerla, this place is first mentioned in 1405CE and is a historical brewery tavern


There are few separate dining areas inside, and they have an English menu


Rauchbier! (smoked beer), the default is the Märzen, €2.40 for half litre, comes straight from the barrel. It's fantastic, tastes like a barbeque!


Bamberger Zwiebel recommended by the waitress, its meat stuffed onion with smoke-beer sauce €7.80


Bamberger Sausages


Rauchbier Wiezen style, comes from a bottle at €2.60 for half litre


A small courtyard where you can buy the bottled rauchbier to bring home, I bought a Märzen and a Wiezen. Should've bought more.


Toilets with copper taps!


Walking back to the train station, the Bamberg "Little Venice" along the river


Back in Nuremburg with the €1 ice-cream from 4D


Too tired to walk further we took the Nuremburg U-bahn back to our hotel.

That ends our day trip out to Bamberg. Very manageable from Nuremberg with no need to rush. Bamberg is a very pretty town with nicely maintained buildings and sculpture. Unfortunately, the walk out to the Altenburg castle wasn't as fruitful as it turned out to be. Unless the skies are clear for pictures and good views I wouldn't suggest embarking on that. The Rauchbier more than make up for it though and is something that everyone should try. Tomorrow we will be leaving Germany for good and heading to Prague in the Czech Republic.

Check back for the next post soon.

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Europe 2010 Day 5 - Nuremberg - Around the City

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30 Sep 2010

Having left our final morning at Oktoberfest in Munich, we went back to our hotel at the Ostbahnhof, got our bags and moved on to our next destination, Nuremberg (Nürnberg). Founded sometime in the 11th century, the old part of the city still has most of its medieval fortifications: walls, towers, and including the Imperial Castle on a knoll. It was an important city during the era of the Holy Roman Empire as the Imperial Diets (Reichstage) and courts met in the castle. In modern times, Nuremberg is also where the Nazis were trialed for war crimes after WWII. Another thing that makes this city unique is the long line of market stands along the King's Street (Königstraße) from St. Lorenz church to the main market (Hauptmarkt).

Nuremberg Hauptbahnhof. Arrived in Nuremberg from Munich. Since Nuremberg is in Bavaria, the €28 Bayern Ticket can be used for up to 5 people.


Hotel Ibis Nuremberg City


View larger
Our walking route, from hotel near the Hauptbahnhof, along the markets, to the toy museum, up the castle and looping back to dinner.


Entering the Old Town of Nuremberg.


They have 3-wheelers here


St. Lorenz church, Bible Discovery house built 1350CE


Lorenzer Platz near St Lorenz Kirche


Markets along King's Street (Königstraße) as we head towards the Hauptmarkt (main market) from St Lorenz Kirche. The castle is at the back


Bird's eye view of the market stalls starting at St. Lorenz Kirche and all the way up north past the bridge to the Hauptmarkt.


Arriving at the Hauptmarkt, the wooden stall slightly to the left of the centre sells a large assortment of sausages.


The Nuremberg Hauptmarkt


Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche) cosecrated 1358CE at the Hauptmarkt


Golden Fountain at the Hauptmarkt


Up on the left is Sebalduskirche (St Sebaldus Church), the right is the Nuremburg Rathaus (city hall). Next we detoured to the Toy Museum.


The Toy Museum (Spielzeugmuseum)


Toys of yester-years, I had that He-man castle Gray Skull!


At the back of the museum, train tracks complete with pond and fish.


Entrance to the Nuremberg Imperial Castle, it is made up of 3 sections of buildings and was first mentioned in 1140CE


A well opposite the entrance


The Nuremberg Castle complex. Note the garden and the walls surrounding it. View larger


Castle walls


Part of the Nuremberg Castle, I think it is now also a hotel


The courtyard, there's a hostel in here. From left to right, the Heathen Tower (Heidenturm), Emperor's Chapel (Kaiserkapelle), and Deep Well (Tiefer Brunnen)


Sinwell Tower (Sinwellturm)


€2 Euro student price to go up


Going up Sinwell tower


Nuremberg castle courtyard from the tower


Other side of the castle


Nuremberg from the castle tower, the Altes Rathaus on the left and Sebalduskirche (St Sebaldus Church) on the right


Leaving the castle


The Nuremberg Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall) as we walk down from the castle


Sebalduskirche (St. Sebaldus Church)


A model of the town


Dinner place, Bratwursthäusle bei Sankt Sebald (Bratwurst House beside St. Sebaldus)


Location of the restaurant on Rathausplatz, opposite the Altes Rathaus, beside the church View Larger


Inside of the restaurant, it was rather warm inside, so we sat outside in the cold with gas heaters


Bread basket. The bread always look like toys. A few cents each.


Half a pint of Lederer (€2.10) and a pint of Tucher Old Franconia (€3.05)


The Nürnberger bratwurst (the local special sausage) with Horseradish sauce. It is smaller than most other bratwursts. We ordered ten at €9.90, they were nice to give us eleven.


Liver dumpling soup (€3.10), tasted like luncheon meat, it was delicious!


A pint of Tucher Hefeweizen (wheat beer, €3.25). That sums up dinner for €27.


Walking back at nightfall, here the Hauptmarkt Fountain


Frauenkirche at the Hauptmarkt at Night


We had ice-cream here, €1 for a single scoop cone, cheaper than in Italy


Back to our hotel

That sums up our walking trip around Nuremberg in the afternoon. The city is of a nice size for walking. However it also has a U-bahn system for tired legs that is covered by the Bayern ticket. From here, we will be making a day trip to the UNESCO Imperial City of Bamberg tomorrow. Nuremberg is also the transit point to the Czech Republic, and we will be departing for Prague after two nights.

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