The Romantic Road and Bamberg, Germany
/After Munich, Samantha and I drove "the Romantic Road" north. It's a tourist initiative to increase the flow of tourists to southern Germany, but it's also an unbelievably beautiful drive. Due to some unforeseen events, we swapped out our Opel Corsa for a Fiat 500 soft top. This obviously added to our enjoyment of the drive. Its mostly through small agrarian villages, which are gorgeous in their own right, but the real gems are Nordinglen and Rothenburg, two medieval walled cities dating back centuries.
We stopped for lunch in Nordinglen and then toured St. George's church and the walls surrounding the city. They both date back to the 1300's but the town really lacked the touristy feel we have become used to when we see things as old and as cool. After lunch, we drove on towards Rothenburg. I didn't know anything about the town, but Sam's parents said it was a highlight of their trip to Germany so we knew we had to check it out. We listened to a walking tour of the town, which took us through more medieval churches and walls. St. Jame's cathedral is home to a relic containing the (alleged) blood of Christ. Whether or not it really is Jesus' blood, the alter made to house the relic is the most incredible display of wood carving I have ever seen (unfortunately, there were no photos allowed in the church). We finished up our tour, and headed east towards Bamberg.
I was thrilled to arrive in Bamberg for a few different reasons. The first being that it is the home to one of my favorite styles of beer, Rauchbier. It is a beer brewed using smoked malts, and when done properly it is truly amazing. In addition to the smoked beers, there are several breweries in town brewing all sorts of styles and we tasted our share. The second reason was that it was Samantha's birthday on the 23rd, and we got to celebrate. There was a small rockabilly festival in town that day, so we spent the morning taking in the festival eating a good assortment of street food and drinking beer. That night, we enjoyed some amazing burgers at a local beer bar. I have been trying to avoid hyperbole in this blog, but I truly think it was one of the best burgers I've had. That may be four months away from the USA talking, but they were incredible. The following days we visited a beautiful castle nearby (no photos allowed) and some of the historic buildings in Bamberg. I would definitely love to come back to this region and explore some more, and sample some more of the beer. After Bamberg, we parked the car for a week and took a bus to Prague. Stay tuned!
