30 Days of Germany: Day 2 (May 22nd)–Bamberg, Germany

This past weekend my friends and I took a Sunday day trip to Bamberg, Germany. There wasn’t any significant reason as to why we chose that particular city – we just wanted to go somewhere in Bavaria that we hadn’t been before. So, for my second day, I’m going to feature some pictures and travel adventures from our trip to Bamberg.

We met at Hauptbahnhof at 9 am on Sunday morning and the twelve of us split up three Bayern tickets. The traveling menagerie – me, Eric, Nuno, Ana, Dieter, Sara, Anne, Simon, Kiira, Elisa, Florian, and Kaja. Our train left Munich around 10 am so we bought some snacks and beer and we settled in for the three hour train ride to Bamberg. I love train rides – especially when I’m with my friends – so the fact that we had to sit on the train for such a long time was not a big deal to me at all. We listened to each other’s iPods (Backstreet Boys serenades!), played games (between two different iPads, Ana’s phone, and my iPod), drank beer, laughed, talked, gossiped. When we reached Nuremberg, we had to switch to an SBahn and take another hour long train ride into Bamberg. By the time we got on the SBahn, it was already 12:30 and it was HOT. We spent the next 45 minutes on the suburban train sweating and drinking even more beer to beat the heat. But, it was worth it when we got to Bamberg and stumbled off the train – half of us drunk and smiling, having just thoroughly enjoyed our long journey. We ambushed the McDonald’s bathroom and Florian let me sneak into the men’s rest room on his receipt code. Win! Then we journeyed out into the city with no real direction or travel intentions – just a desire to wander around and find stuff that was interesting.

Anne and I with our Helles on the train! It’s not a Bavarian train ride without ‘em!

Our trash can on the SBahn. Party machen!

The city of Bamberg was quaint and absolutely beautiful. It rained for the first hour or so that we were there but that didn’t stop us from enjoying it. I think the gray skies gave the city a bit of a menacing charm – and I got to dance in the rain. No big deal! It’s just water! We wandered from church to church – one of which was located on top of this massive hill with breathtaking views of the city. We took pictures on the numerous bridges that we crossed – Bamberg has the reputation of being called Germany’s Venice, for the rivers and bridges and buildings located on the riverbanks. After the rain and after we emerged from two hours worth of dinner, beer, and good company in a traditional Bamberg restaurant, the city was ridiculously beautiful and we got some great pictures.

Lighting candles in the church – thinking of my ma!

The whole traveling group (from left to right) – Florian, Elisa, Kaja, Sara, me, Anne, Simon (we made him crouch down! ha), Ana, Nuno, Eric, Dieter, and Kiira

We made our way back to the train station just in time to catch a 7:15 train back to Nuremberg. We loaded up on snacks and beer (seriously, we were drinking ALL DAY) and jumped on the train that would take us to our connection train in the next city. We were all so tired but we drank right through it and as the train traveled on – we got sillier, louder, and more ridiculous. I’m sure that anyone who was on the train with us didn’t want to be and by the time we got to Nuremberg, we had more stores and more beer to buy. So for the last three hour train ride that would take us to Munich, most of us managed two to three beers each, and we even got away with playing a deliciously entertaining drinking game that involves whispering predictions of who’s most likely to do what and a lot of irony, laughter, and extreme entertainment. We made it back to Munich at 11:30 and while everyone else decided to go home, Anne and I thought it would be fun to keep the night going and we ended up at our favorite cluster of hostel bars. It turned out to be an epic fail as Anne had her money stolen and I had to borrow 10 EUR from a hotel desk clerk near my house because I didn’t have enough change to pay my taxi driver. Epic fail, lesson learned. But, in the end, it was a travel day success. This trip was one of the best that I’ve taken since living in Germany and is almost up there at the top with our 22-hour adventure to Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein castle in August. With only 27 days left in Munich, it is the days like this that I will hold on to and hope for as my time in Munich continues to dwindle down. I will never forget these days and I consider myself extremely blessed to be able to share them with the people that have made my experience in Munich so much better. Next time, road trip to Berlin! Woo!