Bamberg cafe life!

After lunch, we are transferred by coach to downtown Bamberg. Mediaeval Bamberg is a World Heritage site and is one of my favourite towns. A city of gardeners and wine growers, it receives some 2 million visitors each year. It has an impressive cathedral up the hill, the Old Town Hall straddles the river, and there's a beautiful rose garden behind the Neue Residenz.

With a population of only 70,000, it has 10 breweries and some 60 different types of beer are brewed here. A specialty is rauchbier, a "smoked" beer. The malt is roasted over beech fire to give it that smoky flavor.

Rauchbier is a Bamberg speciality!

After a guided tour of the town, you're given time to shop for souvenirs or do some beer tasting. We headed back to Schlenkerla Rauchbier so that Tony could drink some. He likes it having acquired the taste in Berlin on an earlier visit. If I had to describe what it tastes like, it's almost like beer infused with smoked ham. The guide says "if you don't like the first rauchbier you taste, don't give up".

It certainly is an acquired taste and even our rugged group of Aussie males did not finish their drink...that's saying something. So, if you're keen to have a go, head down to Schlenkerla Rauchbier, No. 6 Dominikanerstrasse, which is the most famous brewery.