Bamberg

 It took a while to get to Bamberg though on the map it looked close. Throughout our trip we went through 68 locks.  Sometimes we would hit the walls and would be jolted awake.  From Amsterdam we took a series of waterways up stream to get to the Rhine, then turned on to the Main, then the Main-Danube canal to the Danube where the water went downstream .  To amuse us, a glass blower came on board using Pyrex glass unlike other blowers.  He spends plenty of time in my home town of Corning where Pyrex was invented.  He came from a family of glass blowers in Thuringia which unfortunately for them became part of East Germany. leaving there meant they would lose all their property so it was five years or so when they no longer could stand living there and they snuck out in the middle of the night walking to Franconia risking their lives. Much attention has been given to the deaths crossing the Berlin Wall  but the border between East and West Germany was much greater and many more people died doing that though it was much easier 

He brought plenty of things to buy.  I just for a few little things 

Bamberg was indeed cute. A big American military base was located there bringing basketball to the locals    The Americans left but basketball remains 

Lots of half timbered houses 

Not very interesting church 

Cormorants

Another half head

The Dom. Didn’t go inside. We would have had to climb back up this very steep hill.  I was cold and felt fairly sick

The old Rathaus built on an island between the two halves of the city

This city building and courtyard allegedly was used in the filming of The Empress currently streaming on Netflix which is the story of the beloved Sisi.  Apparently it’s cheaper to film in Germany than Austria. We have been watching it but I have yet to recognize this courtyard 

A gruesome reminder what happens to you if you commit a crime 

Looking down

The iconic photo of Bamberg. 

The glass lower

What’s this Star of David doing here? Not a symbol of Jewry but indicates to the illiterate that this a brewery. Rauschbier sold here, a unique product of Bamberg. All guides say you must taste it, I did not though I didn’t meet anyone who liked it who did

Another symbol: a pretzel means a bakery 

Painted side of the Rathaus