We came across a church service at a lovely old church, surrounded by the tightest, most beautiful, lush cemetery ever seen. The music can be heard as we stroll through, reading surnames, dates and taking in the detail and diversity of the tributes!
Continue on, see a must have bike for Haas. This is number four or five.
Grab a koffie at station and sit and enjoy sunny morning. While waiting for our train, an antique steam engine arrives. It felt like something from a movie. Steam, whistle, a smiling girl in a red jacket and hat leaning out window to the waiting friends. A beautiful scene. The steam engine, ran on coal, and was quite a sight. Dick Warnken would love to see this. But the scene ends, as quickly the tourists roll out of the train, headed to market. Good timing to leave town.
Couple hours on train, to enjoy the scenery, wish we had more time to explore the wine region we travel through. Next trip we will need to have more time. Wurzburg looks like a great town, with a fortress overlooking city and a residence damaged by war, but reconstructed. It is said one room is like standing in a faberge egg!
We continue on the train, through more rolling hills, wineries, Weyermann's malz..... Looking forward to arriving in Bamberg to explore.
The city of Bamberg is everything Haas has promised. Lovely canals, bridges crossing the rivers, winding streets, a university, beer! Beer has a long tradition , since 1122 legally, and rumor has it has no less than 20 breweries, and brewing up to 50+ beers. not bad for only 70k Bambergers
We grab a cab and are off to our hotel. Messerschimdt is the winner. A great location, lovely atmosphere, and even a bit romanik as the sign promises. We check in, and head out for the evening. We walk the city, cross the river, and see a bit more of what Bamberg has to offer, yet can only assume it is a small part of what is to be offered. We stop in to Spezial, a postcard german pub, long tables shared by friends, families and strangers. We grab a table, and order zwei bier from draft, and settle in. Soon after, we decide to order some food. Order Limburger. Response from Frau, do you know what that is? She seems worried, we answer Ya, she smirks and walks away. She brings back the sausage, and the limburger platter, and we are thrilled. Rye bread, cheese, onions and vinegar and oil, make for a nice alternative to our usual plan.
It is interesting to be out of the US, When in a cozy, dark, brew house a strange sound is the ring of the phone.
We find, the communities of beer halls are amazing. The locals, meeting each other, recognition and nods, smiles and glasses raised. This feels like coffee crew of my home town, if only it was embraced in US more. The feel of beer with out a party is a great part of the German culture. We are thrilled to partake.
Time to move on. We are disappointed Fassla is closed today, so we move on to the market, and look for a beverage, and some souvenirs. I am quite excited, as i assumed the xmas markets and Gluewein were over for a few days. Not to worry, mulled wine for me, and we carry on. Haas not as excited, how does an Xmas market in a brewing capital not have beer at the kriskindle market?
We come across, a lovely wood carver, and great items. Nativity scenes for some loved ones, and we move on. I find the purchase of the trip, a lovely mustard yellow wool jacket. Must buy! .We move on, and stop in for the famous roasted chestnuts, we have been talking about since leaving Utah. Small portion please. We try them, and both are quite disappointed. Haas would say the worst thing he has had in his mouth all week. Please hold your jokes. But he is determined to get rid of the taste, and open to many jokes from me. We move on. Continue on to a lovely bar, for local wines, and a dunkel for Haas. I am intrigued by the wines of the area, when asking the server, for the best regional wine, there is confusion on white or red. I end up with a red, that is lovely, but I can only assume, white is the way to go. We leave, and walk more of the city. amazing scenery, and great character, we stroll back to hotel. We stop in at bar, which is cozy. Chat with bartender/front desk/reception guy in charge. He is a little less enthused by the tourists on Sunday. according to him, Sundays are typically slow, code for, less people looking to be served in the hotel bar. We ask about the town where Chris' great grandfather was from, Breitenlesau. He chuckles, has he says the brewery town, with the crazy boss. This makes us even more excited about our adventure tomorrow. Yay!
But he does redeem himself, when he offers me a lovely white wine from the region, and leave us to chat, and enjoy our wine, bier, schnapps. we move on to our room, to finish our beverage. Time to update the blog, and book an automobile to head to the country to see where the Haas family emigrated from. Should be a good blog update tomorrow.
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