2011 Forchheim Annafest

Travel arrangements went well and ROC joined PV on the Nurnberg to Bamberg train at Forchheim - where ROC had been camping out for a couple of days.

Back at the station we found that the branch line’s trains from Forchheim to Ebermannstadt were not running as the torrential rains of the previous few days had washed away one of the level-crossings. There was a bus replacement service and with true German efficiency it got us to Pretzfeld nearly as quickly as the train would have.

The bus back was a luxury coach which did not bother with the intermediate stops and whisked us straight back to Forchheim.

After the meal we headed for the station and the next thing we remember is being woken by some German lads on the train. For some reason they thought we were cool and the most boisterous wanted our opinion on his singing voice. He was very good and we agreed if we had ever watched the X Factor and knew what it was all about, he was talented enough to appear. As the chat continued it transpired the train we were on was headed for Nurnberg – totally opposite to the direction we needed. Anyway, with no toilets on the train we decided to stay on to Nurnberg so PV could relieve himself before getting the next train back to Bamberg. All objectives achieved, but please note the only toilets PV could find were in McDonalds and cost €0.50 per slash – worth every cent.

PV had worked out a little brewery tour via train for the day. First up was Kronach which turned out to be a rather pretty little town with a schloss on the hill overlooking the settlement.

Back to the station and back to Lichtenfels which we had passed through on the way to Kronach. Didn’t really see much of the town as the brewery was on the outskirts in the village of Oberwallenstadt and we took a taxi.

The ordered taxi arrived in time but the train to Kulmbach was running 15 minutes late! Not only that, the indicator board kept showing the wrong information. PV pointed this out to the waiting driver and guard and was rewarded with a Gnue. Luckily a young lad had his home made mobile ghetto blaster (shopping trolley, 12 volt car battery and stereo) with him to entertain us while we waited. It was a bit of a walk from the station to Hofer Strasse past the site where the Kulmbacher Beerfest would be held the following week. Not an unpleasant stroll though, as it provided views of the overlooking hilltop castle. From the bridge the view of the allotments provided an insight into what some Germans do on the weekends – each one had a substantial shed (cabin) on the plot complete with brick bar-b-q. Mind you, the return walk was through the old part of the town and much more picturesque.

Our extended visit to Kommunbrau had put us an hour behind the ‘optimum’ schedule and by the time we got to Ebensfeld it was getting dark.

Back in Bamberg we headed back to base.

Today we were actually going to do the Annafest. Train to Forchheim and a festival special bus from the station to the festival grounds (Kellerberg). The following Kellers were visited.

You have to pay a returnable deposit for the Krug (€5) at each Keller visited and pay for every piss. The beer was about €7 for .5 ltr. At the Eichhorn Keller, Norbert was working on the Krug stand; Ziggy was serving. We managed to get on the table with Wolfram Mayor and his family. Very nice chatting to them and after his family left we bought Wolfram a Neder Swartz-Anna and made our wibbly wobbly way back to the station and home to Bamberg.

With PV’s flight not until 19.00 we had a chance to do a bit of a reconnoiter of Nurnberg in advance of Mengo’s trip later in the year. We had a look round the centre and then headed out to Klinikum to try Landbierparadies Haxenhausle – it was closed until 16.00h.