Bamberg

Having cycled just about everywhere over the last few weeks its about time we undid all the good work and discovered why this area is so popular 

Namely, the high concentration of private breweries. So off we go to Bamberg

How nice is this..

Sunny day, classic architecture…

Cheers Google..

When we arrived it was very dull and raining. Seems to be every time I organise a pub crawl it happens in bad weather…

With my new friend 'Private German Brauereis' book in my coat pocket we descend upon the city and get very agitated as its now dark, raining and the first brewery is full with no free tables..

We settle on Mahrs-Bräu and enjoy a cracking meal and some fine ale, my favourite being the seasonal 'Bock' beer

(Pat, how you would have loved this place)

Apologies here to my other male chums as I know they would have caused serious damage to the stock levels also but to a connoisseur of proper beer (Pat) this place struck me as the holy grail

We were so welcomed inside the barman sat us on the only spare table, reserved exclusively for locals

No mechanised pumps here...

They even had windows outside which you could lick should you wish to...

Next day the weather eases a bit and we stroll back in to town

The reverse of that famous photo earlier

We had a big discussion at this point how we seem to visit Germany when its cold and near Christmas and tentatively we decide that next year we will spend the festive period somewhere like Greece and travel back to the UK in the summer to visit.

The first MOT looms in April so will have to get a travel regime set in place for future years, flying back early december for example to visit family and friends and spending the winter in sunnier climes 

I suppose I just really miss wearing shorts, but both of us find the cold weather hard going…

More window licking...

This was very strange tasting beer, very smoky but quite good

Nina, being a girl, likened it to drinking the water left over from cooking frankfurters…

Not that she has done, but I ask you!

Most of the day was spent trotting round the shops, which gave Nina a fix or two and I suppose was payback for 'forcing' her to go beer drinking the night before..

As if we hadn't had enough we left Bamberg before dark and drove to another brewery out in the hills called Brauerei-Reichold where we supped a few and had a very nice meal

There is a dedicated stellplatz at the rear of the brewery and restaurant which made it all a no brainer for parking up with views over the forests and enjoying more German hospitality

Two novel ideas here, firstly in the shower facility I found a beer bottle dispensing machine that ejected the brewery's offerings at €1.00 a pop. I went to the loo and came back with beer…

Secondly in the restaurant toilets I encountered my first video urinal, how bizarre!

Kitzingen

We travel the short distance along the Main river to Kitzingen and arrive late afternoon then take a wander over the bridge from the river view stellplatz

We found the town a little disappointing really so came back over the bridge to enjoy some autumn sunshine and a round of Dunkles beer

Nina and her tree shots

We stay near to Kitzingen but select a stellplatz over the water in the next village and stay for a couple of days as its so nice next to the river

This remind us so much of the Danube and its huge barges

Our nearest neighbour decided at some stage he would live in a lorry and view life from his mobile patio doors…

Can't fault the guy for ingenuity

Out on the bikes we spot this number lurking amid the trees on another stellplatz

Nina moves me on like I had been caught eyeing up another woman!

Part of the cycle path being renovated

If it looks good you can bet it tastes good too!

Several small wine producing villages litter our route

We've never really paid too much attention to German wines in the past but the dry whites we've sampled here have been quite good

Buying direct from the growers is the best bet as its a fraction of the price charged in the Gasthauses

As darkness decends and we are a long way from the van we give in to temptation and sample this traditional German dessert, kaiserschmarrn

Pancake really but messed up and served with Preiselbeeren (Cranberries)

Concorde Factory

As some form of annual ritual we find ourselves at the stellplatz attached to the Concorde Reisemobile factory in Schlüsselfeld for a few days

Its not long after we arrive that we take to the showroom a few metres away and indulge ourselves in a slightly different world

After two years on the road and meeting other vanners and their pride and joys' we are quite stuck on the idea that should it ever happen that we buy another van it could only be one of these beauties

The quality throughout the range is first class especially in this, our favourite model, the Charisma 900M

Nina's oohs and aahs when she opens the huge drawers (potentially reserved for all things Girly) become repetitive and I'm lost for words

There are so many fundamental differences here to most motorhomes on the market including ours

You can judge the bling and quality finishing by the photos but its the more practical things that do it for us:

350L fresh water tank

Gel batteries

Porcelain WC (with holding tank and no cassette)

Double floor construction with huge storage space between floors

Massive (almost walk-in) garage

All these and many more….

Happy bunny….

To further complicate things on the end of a row of their various models usually lies the 'Liner', a monster of a van with usually a Smart car hanging out its rear end for bling value….

How wrong, instead a new model, the Centurion, is on display. Here is the rear bedroom...

This beast has a 'slide-out' section more common on big American RVs

Motorhomewise, the lounge is simply enormous and top quality too..

Checkout the total price detailed..

Boom! and the dream is complete..

Back on Planet near Reality we go back to our favourite model, the Charisma

This baby is our realistic dream 'Van' should you ever ask us the question

Its a bus really but we don't care how big it is

OMG, he's bust it!

(Perhaps the nearest I'll get to driving one)

Having parked up for a few days on the stellplatz with the bonus of free WiFi we have the dread that 'our van' is taking it all in and will duly drop the gearbox come start up time on our departure day

All by way of retaliation for lusting after other models….

We have our fingers crossed….