Volume 2, Days 74-75
I ended up hanging out in the Airbnb until midday, mostly because I was waiting for the one kid to wake up because I had hung up some laundry in on the rack in his bedroom. It was pretty nice to have the entire morning to myself with a desk and a newfound motivation to study German. I got quite a bit done, but by midday as the sun shined brightly, I was eager to find my way on to the next destination.
I dutifully purchased my overpriced train ticket and kicked myself when we arrived in Bamberg and no one had bothered to check it. I could have bought a really nice meal for that kind of money. I’m not sure if it was the shortness of the route or the fact that it was Sunday, but there it was.
As things should be, the hostel I booked was a fairly short walk from the train station in the direction of the old town, the entirety of which is apparently a UNESCO World Heritage site. I had to call a phone number to get in touch with the hostel management in order to check in, but was rewarded by getting an entire dorm room to myself. It is so strange that despite the hostel being fully booked on Saturday night, come Sunday afternoon it was almost entirely empty. In fact, there were basically just three residents (apart from myself) for the two days I spent there: the aforementioned manager (who was orginaly from Greece), a Turkish-German college student cramming for a test, and a British girl on a world ramble.
There was a fully stocked kitchen with attached living room and an upstairs deck where I could have hung some laundry if I hadn’t just washed everything. I really liked the hostel because it had free coffee, tea, and cereal. It was too bad I arrived on a Sunday so I didn’t really have the option to cook for myself.
I kept studying for a stretch of the afternoon before going out into the town to have a bit of a look around. Bamberg is quite special with several rivers and canals creating islands within islands, while each hill is topped with a cathedral or monastery. In my hoppy bias, the town might be most famous for its “smoked” beer made with a deeply roasted malt. The city hall is on an artificially created island (reportedly because the prince bishop refused to cede any land for a public building).
Though I was tempted by many cafes and gelaterias, I decided to stop for a smoked beer at Schenkerla, a brewery that has been in business since 1405. Though I could have popped in for a full dinner, it seemed the thing to do is order a beer through a small window and stand in the street drinking it. I was worried that the beer would be too smoky (I’ve certainly been burned by American style craft beer makers who pour liquid smoke into beers and cocktails), but it was a full bodied, rich black beer. Quite nice.
After the beer, I headed back in the direction of the hostel to find something cheap to eat, eventually backtracking all the way to a cheap looking Chinese restaurant. There was a bit of a line and it was indeed quite cheap, especially when I decided against ordering a 5 euro meat dish. Despite ordering in Chinese, they gave me a fork and I burned the roof of my mouth, which is something that would never happen with chopsticks.
I returned to the hostel and hung out in the kitchen space, chatting a bit with the characters introduced above and getting some insight into their interpersonal dynamics. Considering most people zip by Bamberg on a day trip, they would all count as long term residents. I played a few rounds of Rummikub with the British girl before going to bed.
| Train | 14.3 |
| Hostel | 34 |
| Schenkerla Rauchbier | 3.1 |
| Stir-fried veggies on rice | 2.7 |
| Total: | 54.1 EUR (422 RMB) (USD 59.78) |
Running Total: 27153 RMB (USD 3846.66)
Daily Average: 367 RMB (USD 51.98)