Onset of Winter in Bamberg

Bamberg, a.k.a. Franconian Rome. I kid you not. Built on seven hills, with important buildings on top of it (mostly churches, abbeys or cathedrals) and UNESCO world heritage.

We arrived in a snow storm, but next morning the worst was over. The old town core had survived the WWII bombing almost unscathed. We visited the famous old city hall, and marvelled at centuries old timber frame houses and other architectural gems from medieval times. What a lovely and picturesque place. 

April Weather

View from the hotel room

Breakfast room

The new Residence

Rooftops

Bamberg Cathedral

A walk-around in Old Town Bamberg

Lange Straße - home to countless breweries

The iconic town hall on the bridge

Little Venice

Former Abbey St. Michael

Castle Altenburg

Castle Colmberg

And back to April weather:

April weather: rain, snow and sunshine all together - Heidelberg edition

Yesterday had us sun bathing, today we got snow, hail and rain. Yet our visitors still wanted to visit Heidelberg (who wouldn't want to?). So we spent the day in town, visited the old city core, admired the restored old bridge and the famous castle which presents itself completely without scaffolding for the very first time in decades. Despite adverse weather conditions and temperatures around freezing point it was well worth the visit, and bonus: fewer tourists.

Since we had some time left in the day we moved on to castle Schwetzingen with  its huge garden. No surprise we had it all to ourselves. It had started drizzling, and we craved a hot cuppa or two by the time we got home.

A history lesson in the river Nahe valley

Nahe (Nava, Latin, derived from Celtic, meaning wild river) is a left tributary to the Rhine. Celts and Romans alike seemed to have had an appreciation for pretty and warm places back when Germany was just an insignificant part of the huge Roman Empire. 

The Roman museum of Bad Kreuznach offers an impressive exhibition of archeological findings including original floor mosaics, statues, everyday stuff, weapons, tombs and much more, all of this showing that the Romans used to live large. Alas taking pictures was not permitted.

We had Italian lunch in the old city core called Salt Market before we moved on to a unique rock formation.

Rotenfels, which translates to Red Rock at 200m height and 1200m length is in fact the largest rock formation of its kind between the Alps and Scandinavia. Hiking along the edge offers spectacular albeit a bit hazy views overlooking the Nahe valley.

Later the day we camp-parked in a vineyard's backyard, where we were offered a spontaneous wine tasting. The region is very popular for its white wines, and this specific winery is famous for its ecologically farmed produce. Needless to say, we took some of their bottles home.

Next day we visited the highest mountain of Rhineland-Palatinate: Donnersberg (thunder mountain). At 687m rather a hill, this massif used to be an important Celtic homestead. The only visible proof today are the remains of a former hill fort. 

We made it to the peak of Donnersberg, it's all downhill from there.