Life is tough while on holidays - just managed to make breakfast this morning before doing a tour of Bamberg - beautiful Bamberg with a population of 70,000 and that has been UNESCO world heritage listed since 1983.
It was cooler this morning with a few drops of rain, but it cleared to a lovely day. Bamberg was untouched by bombing during WWII so it's medieval buildings are the originals (unlike e.g. Nuremberg which was 70% destroyed). Bamberg is famous for it's smoked beer (called Rauchbier locally) that we are told tastes like pork - we skirted that experience. Bamberg also marks the western end of the Main Danube Canal and takes us onto the Main River.
Although the tour included another cathedral, the Cathedral of Bamberg had quite a different feel with a somewhat simpler architecture - far less of the opulent gold trimmings seen on our trip so far. Up until the mid-1800s the pope actually ran the local area politically.
Aside from kings and popes of times past, Bamberg also produced people such as Messerschmidt and Levi Strauss.
We were back on board for lunch, then a presentation on the European Union by a PhD who is based in Nuremberg. He called himself a "lock-hopper" - he catches a train to nearby then on his fold-up bicycle rides to the nearest lock to intercept the boat, then is 'cast off' at the next lock.
The afternoon was cruising on the river on our way to Schweinfurt - a nice opportunity to put our feet up, doze, watch the scenery (including more locks) and generally relax for the first time since leaving Australia.