A quiet morning as we are now entering the Main-Danube Canal where we will be initially passing through 16 more locks as we ascend then descend the upcoming landscape on our way to the Danube River.

For entertainment this morning there was another lecture by Dr. Urban on the state of Bavaria, through which we are now traveling. Again he made it very interesting and we learned a lot about the region, its people, and customs (like wearing lederhosen).

Shortly thereafter was a informative lecture/ demonstration by a local 7th(?) generation glassblower, Karl Ittig. We all felt he missed his calling; he should have been a comedian as he sprinkled many jokes throughout his demonstration of flame glass blowing using Pyrex glass. I was really impressed when I learned he is friends with the famous Seattle glassblower, Dale Chihuly, and even teaches yearly at the Chihuly Pilchuck Glass School. He helped Chihuly make those marvelous glass flowers that form the ceiling at the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas. This guy knows his stuff! Needless to say he brought along some product to sell after his demonstration and there were eager buyers, including us.

By early afternoon we had arrived at our destination, the city of Bamberg (pronounced ”Bomb-bearg”) where we were scheduled for a walking tour of the city. Bamberg is a moderate sized city with a population of 77,592. It sits on the shores of the Regnitz River, close to its confluence with the Main River. Probably its most famous sight is the old town hall which actually sits on an island in the river, sited there for political reasons. The other noted importance in the city is its reputation for “Smokey” beer, which is how beer smelled in medieval times because of the process of roasting Malted barley over an open flame. It is also commonly called “bacon beer” as its aroma leads one to think there is bacon in it.

Unfortunately our luck had run out weather-wise as it was raining and raincoats and umbrellas were the order of the day. Not to be deterred we ventured forth to see some of the local sites.

Thankfully it was a fairly short tour and we were free to seek out and try smokey beer as we had to kill some time before meeting the bus to return to the ship.  The ladies wanted pastry but joined us in a local tavern where Bruce and I downed a pint. Yes, it does smell smokey and yes, several of us thought they could pick up the bacon aspect. It does make make my top 10 list.

It was then onwards in search of the pastry for the ladies. We found a pastry shop near the old town hall. The three of them picked out tarts they liked. I was full and was going to simply sneak a bite or two from others. Jan also wanted a coffee and looking at the German menu saw something called Bailey’s Cup which she thought meant it was coffee with Baileys in it. Well….what arrived at the table was this humongous ice cream sundae that obviously had Baileys in it. We all had a good laugh and I got to eat most of it!! Moral of the story: if you can’t read German, better ask what it says before ordering it!

Luckily by now the rains stopped and we returned to the ship for hot showers and a change of clothes before dinner.

There was supposed to be a guest talent show tonight but no one had volunteered so it was cancelled and we had a free evening to read and get to bed early, as there was more touring to be done tomorrow.