In Which I go to Meet Someone who I only Know Vaguely and then Proceed to Get Drunk with Her.

I took an excursion to Bamberg - I imagine you have all seen the photos already, if not follow the link in the title.

It is the home of Rauchbier - a dark malty beer that tastes like bacon. No but really, it tastes like smoked meat. I am told by a certain knowledgeable someone that Bamberg is the original home of rauchbier, though I am yet to find anywhere selling it. I must look strange, walking into supermarkets, heading directly towards the beer section (which is always immense), looking around, looking confused and then leaving again. I'm sure somebody somewhere wants to teach me how to shop. Probably Tops.

There's a huge festival happening tonight so I appear to have arrived at the best time. My host used to teach at one of the schools that Paul taught at, and I have met her all of once. For about five minutes. In the supermarket. And then I was supposed to meet her at the train station. Surprisingly though, this wasn't that hard. Perhaps because Germany isn't that full of blondes as it was back in the forties.

Important interjection - asians speaking German is weird.

Moving right along, Bamberg lacks for shade. It's bloody hot and I could really do with a tall tree to lie under. And yet, and yet, and yet...

I devoured some watermelon I bought from a street market. It was bigger than my head but I figured I could pretty soon make it smaller. I must have looked rabid, plunging my face into this piece of watermelon, in the middle of a grassy patch all by myself. Om nom nom!

I love buying food in Germany when at festivals. Their idea of good food is fried onions shaped like a rose with garlic sauce on top (and hopefully a mint or two on the side) or meat in bread. You can get any kind of meat in bread. Most common are sausages or steaks, but you can have an entire chicken breast if you want. Or tongue, still shaped like tongue. Or meatballs which refuse to stay in the bread. You can always tell how drunk someone is when they order these by the amount that remains in the bread when they go to take a bite. I saw someone begin with five and end up with none before he even had a bite. At which point his beer was going to be particularly meat-flavoured.
And the Germans being Germans, you can also buy bratwurst that has been marinated in.....
BEER!

I had a pretty good time out with Yvonne (my host) and her friends - more fun than I thought I'd have. Speaking a foreign language whilst intoxicated is always best because grammar can go out the window and you only worry about getting the words out. They'll figure it out and if they don't, then we can all put it down to the beer. I didn't throw up, though Yvonne placed a bucket insultingly in front of the couch upon which I was sleeping.

Aside from Rauchbier and drinking, Bamberg seems kinda boring. I've wandered around the entire place already and it's hot and I'm bored, but my train doesn't leave for ages. So I'm writing. I'm composing a list of things that I miss (to follow).