We (my boyfriend and I) stayed at the Alt Ringlein Hotel. It's located in the very centre of Bamberg opposite the Schlenkerla Brewery which is famous for its smoked beer. As we were tired from travelling we ate in the hotel on the first evening where I had Schäuferla (a roasted shoulder of pork) with pureed savoy cabbage and a potato dumpling. I washed all this down with a Mahr's 'U' - the U stands for Ungespundetes which means the beer is unfiltered.
After the meal we headed over to Stilbruch a great restaurant/bar (if you're looking for the best burgers in town head here for their hearty Börgers which come with a large portion of salad and are great value, they also do really good pizzas which are similarly good value). I opted for my usual, a strawberry wine.
On Saturday we had a lazy day but did leave the hotel to go and stock up on essentials from the supermarket. By essentials I mean the German things I love that just can't be found easily in England. My top priority were the bars of RitterSport chocolate - not the best chocolate you will ever have but tasty nonetheless - however I did also pick up a local bottle of wine (Silvaner) an Apfelschorle (a fizzy apple drink) and some chocolate-orange Leibniz biscuits along the way. As you can see the wine comes in a bottle which is a different shape to your traditional bottle. It's called a Bocksbeutel and is very traditional for the Franconian region.In the evening we had dinner at Klosterbräu, my favourite restaurant in Bamberg. If you ever visit then you absolutely have to try the Haxe - pork knuckle - which comes with Sauerkraut and Kloß - pickled cabbage (it's so much tastier than it sounds) and potato dumplings. On this occasion I went for the Pils, however, I highly recommend all of their different beers. Aside from the food, the atmosphere in Klosterbräu is great, with its wood-panelled dining room and friendly staff.
We left Klosterbräu and headed to a bar called Lewinsky's. There's nothing that special about this bar in itself, however I love it because of all the wonderful memories I have of it, from my time spent in there with the other Erasmus students every Thursday. That and the bar serves my favourite beer, Zwergla, from the Fässla brewery.
On Sunday we continued the foodie theme with a trip to Cafe Müller. This is a lovely cafe in the heart of Bamberg where they serve everything from a Champagne breakfast to the traditional German Kaffee and Kuchen (cake and coffee). We opted for the sauteed potatoes with spinach and a fried egg, a simple yet tasty lunch, followed by cake - I had a raspberry and cream slice while my boyfriend had a cream slice with egg liqueur and walnut-cake base. Although the cafe does serve really good coffee I decided to have a warm milk with honey - my usual caffeine-free alternative.
On Monday morning we skipped breakfast in the hotel as we wanted to go to the Schlenkerla brewery opposite for a more traditional German breakfast of white sausage (traditionally made with veal but it can also contain pork), brezen (soft pretzel) and sweet mustard. My boyfriend also had a glass of their smoked wheat beer, a speciality which he thinks is delicious but which I cannot stand, I really think that smoked beer is like Marmite, you either love it or you hate it.
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| Weißwurst, Brezen, Süßer Senf |
The rest of our time in Bamberg was spent lazing around and enjoying yet more beer. It was great to go back to a place I love so much, it really is like a home away from home and I can't wait to return - hopefully in the summer for the Sandkerwa beer festival with other friends from my year abroad.Enough about my travels for now, with exam term coming up I will be staying in England for a while and will be back to posting about my cooking and local Cambridge eateries.
Bis bald Bamberg! Ich vermisse dich schon.
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