Bamberg

Bamberg Old City Hall

We got through 2 locks early this morning but were stopped before the third one. Our cruise director then put plan B into effect.  The ship tied up near a stone stairway on the side of the river and the crew secured the gangway to the stairs so anyone who wanted could go for a walk along the shore.

Painted side of City Hall

We spent a leisurely morning on board. After breakfast we had a gentleman speak to us about the history of the European Union, it's current status, and where it might go in the future. It was an interesting and informative way to spend the morning.

Inside Imperial Cathedral

After lunch we boarded buses for the hour drive to Bamberg, which should have been our next port.  Ray wasn't feeling well so I went on this one on my own.  Once we got to town we met our walking tour guide and began a brisk walk around the center of town.  First stop was the town hall.  Since there were differing factions on either side of town, they couldn't agree on where to build the city hall.  They settled the issue by building an island in the middle of the river and building city hall on it. 

Christmas Altar

Imperial Cathedral Rose Garden

Statue of Empress Kunigunde

Next stop was at the Imperial Cathedral. This was probably very impressive when originally finished, but at one point the church was "cleansed: by removing all color from the statues and reliefs. There are 3 particular items of interest. One is the Tomb Chest of Emperor Heinrich II and his Empress Kunigunde. She is revered as a saint. Another is the Tomb of Pope Clemens II. The third is the Christmas Altar, by the famous Nuremberg wood carver Veit Stoss. 

After touring the inside of the church, we visited the courtyard and the rose gardens.  There is now a museum in one of the buildings off the courtyard.  From the wall around the garden you can get a great view of the whole city.


On the way back the guide showed us where to shop, where to get a bite to eat, where to sample the "smokey beer" that Bamberg is known for, and where to meet the buses for the return trip.  I stopped for a beer and a sample of the local food, then did a little shopping before heading back to the bus.  We got back to the ship a little after 7PM, just in time for dinner.

There was a local band playing in the lounge after dinner but it was late and we have to get up early tomorrow.  The locks are scheduled to open after midnight tonight but we have to make up time to get back on schedule.  As a result, we will once again get as far as we can between midnight and 8AM.  We will once again tie up werever the captain has managed to get us to.  At 8:30AM we will board the buses again to go to our next stop, Nuremberg, but the ship will then continue on up the river and we will meet it wherever it can get to by 7PM.  It sounds like we will have to do this for the next few days to catch up.  

I'm very impressed with the efforts this line has made to get us to each of the cities on our itinerary despite the fact that the ship hasn't been able to get up the river.  They've hired the extra buses to take us to the cities on our itinerary and brought in tour guide from Globus, the parent company, to accompany us on the buses and hand us off to the local guides.  It's all gone very smoothly.