BAMBERG, GERMANY

  Life continues on the Viking Tir.  Going through locks at lunch

Just as we got up, my Blue Bar Pigeon said hi.

We docked in Wurtberg, and this was the view from our veranda.

Haven't found the name of these buildings, but the one below through the day.

We are in Bamberg.

Had a steak dinner.

This was DJ disco night, but I was so exhausted, went to bed early.  Lunch in Bamberg.

I was planning to take nap after lunch, so had two wines and beer.  Appetizers.

Can you believe lunch was tuna tatake?  However, the takuan-looking pieces below were mango.

Took the mangoes out, and added hot green tea to make it a tolerable chazuke.  Dessert.

Pre-dinner gin and snacks.

Caesar Salad and French Onion Soup, followed by Roast Pork with crispy skin.

1512 steps for two days, November 26 and 27.

As I indicated to you yesterday, I was on a Tauck river tour nine years ago, starting in Budapest and ending in Amsterdam.  

The following is from my posting as we were approaching Bamberg.

For a variety of reasons, one being a central location away from Berlin (too complicated with too many nations involved) and Munich (too south), and another because of the fact that the major courthouse survived the bombing, the first Judgement at Nuremberg of German officials involved with the Holocaust, occurred here.  Rotten Tomatoes gave this 1961 film 90%/93% ratings.  Here are before and after shots of Courthouse 600:

I say all this, for I don't plan to take the Nuremberg tour again.

Also from that same posting in 2015:  If you lived in Germany, another comparison with the USA:

• 89% less likely to be in prison
• 82% less likely to be murdered
• 84% less likely to have AIDS
• consume 50% less oil
• spend 47% less on health care
• use 41% less electricity

Germany is 85% the size of California, and here is a comparison with Japan, which has a population of 127 million (USA 319 million, Germany 81 million):

I thus wondered if these statistics had changed much.  

• So looking at that likely to be in prison number, the U.S. today has 531 in jail/100,000 population, while Germany had 67.  Still quite a difference.  Today a person in Germany is 87% less likely to be in jail.
• We are #6 in the world....or from the other end, #219, with El Salvador the worst at #233.
• On the other, and good, end (prisoners/100,000 population---lower the better):
• #1      San Marino  3
• #2      Yemen  14
• #7      Japan  33
• #26    Finland  52
• #46    Germany 68
• #85    France  115
• #91    China  119
• #118  Singapore  156
• #172  Taiwan  250
• #191  Russia  300
• #219  USA  541
• #223  El Salvador  1659

Well, that was quite a segue.  Regarding Bamberg:

• 
  Has been a town since the 9th century,
• Is on the Regnitz River, about 2 miles before it flows into the Main River.
• Witch trials in the 17th century claimed about a thousand victims in Bamberg.
• Germany is known as the Mother of the Witches.
• About half of anyone ever executed for witchcraft, were Germans.
• Germany alone had almost 25,000 victims.
• Makes you wonder if there is something about the culture here that can tolerate witch trials and a Hitler.
• Hit by air raids nine ties by Allied warplanes in 1944/45, but not as badly as Nuremberg, the next cruise stop.
• Had a population of 79,000 in 2022.
• 
  Cited as one of Germany's most beautiful towns, and is on the UN World Heritage list.
• After World War II, became an important Bavarian base for the USA, but closed in 2014.
• Like many important European cities, the Bamberg Cathedral, founded in 1004, is at the top.
• Known for smoked beer.

We next go to Nuremberg.

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