Amberg

Despite the fact that the forecast had predicted rain, when we arrived in Amberg (forty-five minutes from Weiden) yesterday, the wind had blown all the clouds away and we enjoyed gelato while we walked around the stadtmitte underneath clear blue sky. Yogurt with cherries for me, Smurf-flavored and watermelon for Brittany (the Smurf-flavor was blue and undefinable, but good nonetheless).


We saw people walking on the balcony around the clock tower and tried to find the way up. We walked around the entire cathedral and tried several locked doors (some were teeny), to no avail.


Giving up the search for the stairway to the clock tower, we strolled along the main street, enjoying the nice weather, until the crowds thinned and we came across this empty cobblestone street. It happened to be the Amberg library, with statues of men reading on the steps. Brittany took my personal favorite picture:


We walked back to the river to see the Spectacle Bridge, named so because the arches' reflections in the water create two circles, like spectacles.



Last but not least, a friend had told Brittany that Amberg boasts the smallest hotel in the world, but Brittany didn't know where it was located. So we went back to tourist information, hoping that they would point us in the right direction. If they didn't, no big deal, on to Vilseck for dinner. But if they did and it wasn't too far away, we could try to find it. The woman knew exactly what we were talking about, and she pulled out a map. Turns out the Wedding House, or Eh'häusl, as it is known, was less than ten minutes away, back the way we'd come. While we walked back down the sunny strasse, Brittany read aloud the legend that goes along with the Wedding House:

"According to legend, a couple could only get a marriage license by the municipal authorities if they owned a house or some property within the city. A clever husband-to-be discovered a courtyard between two estates, acquired it, put up a front wall and a back wall completing the structure with a roof. Technically this fulfilled the regulations. The legend has it that in the following years the "Eh'häusl" very often changed hands thus enabling many couples to enter matrimony."

Finding the little house was very easy. It had a very notable door, and the flower boxes were decorated with wedding rings. Knowing that we had found this tiny attraction was fun partly because the street was deserted except for us.


An ominous dark cloud was quickly blowing our way and we felt raindrops, so we hurried back to the car and headed to Vilseck for dinner.


Brittany and John's favorite German restaurant, Gasthof Specht, is located in Vilseck, about twenty minutes from Amberg. Schnitzel! Delicious fried schnitzel. Although not with noodles. I am truly my mother's daughter, as I'd sung "My Favorite Things" to Brittany before eating at the restaurant, and when I called my mom later that night to tell her I'd had schnitzel without noodles, she began to sing it as well... My schnitzel came with onions and a fried egg, with tater-tot-like potatoes on the side. Brittany's favorite schnitzel comes with a mushroom gravy.


Tomorrow we leave for Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a town on the border of Bavaria and Tirol (Austria). We'll be staying for a couple days, but prepare to hear all about the Zugspitze, the highest point in Germany, upon my return. "Tschüs" is the Bavarian farewell, pronounced "chuse." Tschüs, dear readers!