Oompah (Bamberg, Germany)

Today, dear reader, we awoke to an unfamiliar vista. It certainly proved that all stops on the Magnificent Europe River Cruise are not picturesque. We sailed through the night to arrive in the dark and opened the curtains to see, industrial Germany. Our destination today was the medieval town of Bamberg, but the port is all 20th century industrial. It won't win any world heritage awards, unlike Bamberg itself, which has been heritage listed since 1983.

Not the prettiest scene I've woken to on this trip.

It is a relatively easy day today, a visit to Bamberg for a walking tour and some free time in the morning and then an afternoon cruising to Wurzburg. The sundeck on the ship is closed due to the low bridges. There are points where we have only 7 cm clearance. We thought the locks were a tight fit. Speaking of which, the locks have increased in frequency although we are going down, not up, and the drop appears to be about half what we experienced on the Danube.

Better than the industrial look.

There was a 9am bus ride into town with a 75 minute guided walk around the medieval town centre. The old city is on the other side of the river and we were dropped at the Opera House. It looked nothing like I expected. The last couple of houses of opera we passed, were massive sandstone block structures with statues and gold leaf. This one was modern, an interesting juxtaposition.

Former fishermen's residences.

From there we crossed one of the many bridges into the cobblestoned streets of the old town. It is really is something to behold. Some of the buildings seem to lean in towards you as you walk past and when you reach the top of the village, the sagging rooflines of the older houses are quite visible. Despite this, they are still standing.

At the outset, we were very clearly informed by our tour guide, that Bambergers are Franconians (region), not Bavarians (state), who apparently like to yodel and do other strange, non-Franconian activities. They still have not come to terms with the annexation a couple of hundred years ago. It was Napoleon who gifted Franconia to Bavaria during the Napoleonic wars. Once this none-too-subtle delineation was noted, we commenced the walking tour proper.

Wasp tarts, they have a real sting to them.

Bamberg is known for its symphony orchestra, a current phenomenon and it's smokey dark beer, a not so recent invention. We didn't have the opportunity to hear the BSO but we could try the Malken. It's a big sale point, beer that has been smoked and has a smoky bacon or ham taste. Or not. Each to their own. We drank the beer. The smoky bacon was stronger on the nose than the actual taste. It was a dark beer, a little lighter than Guinness. I prefer the latter.

The pub with the smoke flavoured beer.

On the tour, we saw the cathedral which houses the bodies of 3 saints - the Emperor Henry II and his wife, as well as Pope Clement II. Next to the cathedral is a castle where the bishops resided in grand style. Apart from the size of the building, which had external walls that were painted to look like stonemasonry, the view from the manicured rose gardens at the back was panoramic.  We looked over the old city skyline which has not changed much since the first town map was produced in the 17th century.

The Sainted King and Queen in state

Stunning and they had Papa Meilland roses.

The two sections of the lower town (bishops on one side and common people on the other) are separated by a swift flowing river. On a man-made island in the middle of the river, is perched the Town Hall, originally constructed in the 14th century. Legend has it that, while it had been agreed that the people wouldn't have to pay any taxes, the bishop had refused to grant them any land to build their town hall. In response, the people rammed stakes into the bed of the river to construct the platform on which the building has sat for centuries, connected to the banks by two bridges.

The Town Hall or Rathaus

After a quick walk around the surrounding streets, it was time to head back to the bus and then the ship. There is no time to waste and after we boarded at 12:15pm, we were heading for the first lock before 12:30pm. With a light lunch over, and a couple of glasses of wine to aid with digestion, we went back to our cabin to sit on the balcony and watch Germany float by. Very pleasant. The industrial world has once again succumbed to the rustic.

Rustic is better than industrial

Despite the fact that we spent the day in Franconia, the theme for tonight's dinner was all Bavarian, including a mini-Oktoberfest and traditional biergarten music. The two Bavarian musicians are known as lock hoppers because they get on the ship at one lock and leave at the next. The distance between two locks has never been so far.

For your listening pleasure, or otherwise, here is a genuine Bavarian oompah band. Clearly this is the reason for today's title and while oompah may not actually be a song title, it's as close as I could get.

Until tomorrow.