Bamberg again

Today I was in Bamberg, one of my favourites cities in Germany, again, after the visit I paid to my friend Timo two years ago (http://antsanch.blogspot.com/2009/02/something-more-than-basketball.html). I must admit that before buying my Lonely Planet guide of Germany all I knew about Bamberg was that it has a quite good basketball team (Brose Basket), in German terms.

Firstly, it was quite difficult to arrive to Bamberg due to the neverending roadworks we found in the highways there. Germany started to built its net of highways more than fifty years ago and it seems it has decided to renovate all of them at the same time. This trip has also been useful for me to maintain my idea that the lack of speed limits makes driving uselessly dangerous.

Bamberg has its own Little Venice, a group of houses built close to river Regnitz. I was extremely disappointed at first sight, but afterwards the impression was improving. This row of houses (see below) was built by fishermen in the Middle Age, when they prefered to stay outside the city walls, but closer to the river. Anyway, I expect the real Venice to be much more charming that the one in Bamberg (with due respect to Bamberg, of course).Bamberg's Town Hall was built in the Middle Age in an island in the river, just not to favour one of the two neighbourhoods living on both sides of the river. It is quite a remarkable building, with a strange feature: whose the hell is the leg through the wall?

Around the Town Hall there are a number of places when one can taste the local beer, called Rauchbier in German (something similar to "smokebear"). As I do not like beer, I cannot say much about it, but it seems to be quite soft and tasty.

Bamberg is also known as "Franconia's Rome", because it is built on seven hills, like the Italian capital. Of course, both cities are not comparable, but some of the hills in Bamberg are really remarkable.

In one of them, the cathedral dominates, together with the Bishop's Palace (special attention must also be paid to its rosegarden), the city centre. Inside the cathedral, a statue of a riding knight has become its symbol. Nobody knows who is this knight, but it seems that he holds a crown with the town itself over him, what may imply that he was a prince. But, on the other hand, he is not carrying any weapons and wearing the normal luxurious clothes of princes. The cathedral hosts as well the only Pope buried north of the Alps.

Finally, the former abbey of St.Michael's dominates the city centre and allows to get nice views of the city. Today it is a house for senior people, but it still keeps the air of an ancient abbey. In its church, the tomb of Saint Otto can be visited. I was surprised by the fact that there is a hole in the middle of the tomb (something similar to what magicians do sometimes in their shows). The ceilings of the church are decorated with a collection of medicinal plants, since it seems that this abbey was particularly active in this field of medicine.
All of this makes Bamberg one of my favourite cities in Germany. When compared with other similar towns like Heidelberg, it is not so crowded with tourists, what also adds a positive point to the Franconian town. But, as Heidelberg, it also has a US Facility (whatever it means).