Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany

Saturday morning in Dresden we picked up a Merc A160 and hit the Autobahn.  There were no speed limits but even this was too slow for many of the drivers who drove like there was no tomorrow, which for one or two of them I suspect there won’t be.  We were happy to let ourselves become “stuck” behind the slower vehicles in the inner lanes and move along at a more sedate 120.  Early on it seemed like there were many towns in Germany named ‘Ausfahrt’, but then we realized that must be German for ‘Exit’.  The road surface and signage were excellent, leading to a pleasant atmosphere inside the car, and we never once found ourselves Ausfahrting when we shouldn’t have.

We left the Autobahn after about three hours and motored into the perfect little medieval town of Bamberg in Bavaria, about 300 km south-west of Dresden.  The town centre is World Heritage listed, and deservedly so we thought.  The imposing ecclesiastical buildings and old palace are all in good repair, despite being centuries old.  The Cathedral of St Peter and St George dates from 1012 AD and contains the tomb of Clemens II, the Pope in Rome in 1046/47.  Although not German, he loved Bamberg and wanted to be buried here.

The streets of Bamberg are beautiful too, with neat characterful terrace houses decorated with window boxes full of colourful early summer flowers.  We spent the afternoon wandering around the town centre, looking around and in the buildings, before getting lost on the way back to our hotel with the result that our walk back was a few kilometres longer than it should have been.  But in the winding, elegant streets of Bamberg that didn’t matter.