I am still sticking to the plan of alternating between the States and Europe, so it is the Europe's turn this year. However, I may need to shake things up next year. More on this in the final part of the trip...
I took the 10:30am Emirates flight out of KLIA on Thursday 27/4/17 and got into Gatwick close to 8pm local time. After clearing immigration & customs and collecting my bag, together with wrongly taking the slower train to Beckenham and missing a couple of trams, I reached Firouz's place a couple of hours later.
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| Yayyy dah sampai! Freezing my ass off with just that fleece jacket |
As for Friday, I managed to get a few more winks before headed out to Stansted to take the 19:30 RyanAir flight to Nuremberg with Firouz. 1 hour and 40 minutes later, we landed in Nuremberg on-time, marked by the trumpet sound played over the intercom. It was my first time flying Ryanair, so I found it amusing :D. We even managed to catch the next available train to Bamberg with minutes to spare; I almost got left behind as I had trouble keeping up with Firouz because of his quick strides :D. Else, the next train would only depart an hour later, which means we would only arrive in Bamberg mignightish.
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| Shows how where Bamberg is with respect to London |
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| Amazing view from Thomas' balcony |
So Saturday morning arrived, and the first order of business was of course, breakfast! :D. Thomas made reservations for me at Hotel Europa, and I loved how they placed a place-card on the breakfast table reserved Awwww danke schön!
After breakfast, Thomas and Firouz showed me around town, starting with the market just across the river. I googled and found out it's called Grüner Markt (Green Market). The white asparagus were in season.
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| Places that we covered on that day; I forgot to pin a label for Michelsburg |
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| I wasn't expecting a river cruise boat of this size on the river/canal |
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| Spargels everywhere! |
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| We stopped for some delicious hot chocolate. |
A short walk away was Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall). Once you cross the bridge, you'd be in the old town.
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| Yay all three of us in one picture... and that's the lower bridge behind us |
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| Now who's limb is that? :) |
The next stops were Neue Residenz (New Residence), Bamberger Dom (Cathedral) and Alte Hofhaltung (Old Court).
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| Bamberg Cathedral |
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| Posing in front of the Neue Residenz (the resident of the prince bishop) |
According to Firouz, the courtyard of the Old Court was featured in the Three Musketeers film. Now that reminds that I have to watch that scene again. As for the rose garden, the roses haven't started flowering. Nonetheless, it provides a great vantage point of the old town and Michelsburg in the distance.
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| Yes, I'm a shorty :D |
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| That's the Michaelsburg Abbey in the distance |
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| Thanks to Firouz, my unofficial photographer, who took tons of pictures of me, and made me look more than decent ;) |
We didn't get the chance to visit the inside of Michaelsburg Abbey because of the on-going restoration work. Looks like I have an excuse to come visit again :).
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| Scaffoldings - a recurring scene throughout Europe because of the age of the buildings |
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| It rained for a few of minutes |
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| What Michelsberg would look without all the scaffoldings and in a nicer weather |
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| Heading back to the town center |
Once we got down from the Dom, I was shown the Little Venice. Must be nice to stay in one of those houses.
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| An attempt of panoramic shot |
We stopped for lunch at a nearby restaurant, where I ordered the salmon with white asparagus and potatoes dish. I'm drooling by just looking at the picture.
Since Altenburg castle sits on a hill, we opted for the cab, not before grabbing a really good gelato :). We'd burn it off when we walk back to town. Sure Zarin, keep telling yourself that :D.
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| Happy with my gelato. Can't you tell? :D |
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| Where Altenburg Castle is |
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| The entrance to the Altenburg |
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| BFFs! |
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| Baa chakkk (Pekabooo!) |
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| That was the tower that we climbed |
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| According to Thomas, people in the old days had obsession with locking up bears and all sorts of animals |
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| That guy on the right asked Firouz if he could take a picture of him taking picture of me :D |
We had a great walk returning to our hotel via the city center to freshen up before dinner at a Greek Greek restaurant. Thomas and I shared the seafood platter. I was really full by the end of it because the lady owner knows Thomas, and she fed us with additional plates of appetizer... :D.
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| The fish platter... wasn't a fan of the fish tho |
[updated]
Yayyy, this makes it another UNESCO World Heritage site that I've visited -
Town of Bamberg. Woohoo!
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