By the next afternoon

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DESTINATION -By the next afternoon we were on a train headed north to lovely Bamberg, a UNESCO World Heritage city built on seven hills. The hills provide superb views of a beautifully preserved Old Town crisscrossed by branches of the Regnitz River. Some consider the city's Domplatz to be one of Europe's loveliest squares, and many of the city's buildings, including the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. George, are magnificent.

But Bamberg has other claims to fame. It has the highest concentration of breweries in the world and calls itself the true home of beer, a place that is "a symphony in B — Baroque, bread, bridges and beer." Our work was cut out for us.

We made our first stop at Klosterbrau (3 Obere Muhlbrucke), founded in 1533 and the city's oldest brew pub. I felt as though I were stepping back into history at this atmospheric place, which had a plethora of fine beers on tap.

There were many good brew pubs in this town of 70,000 but one stood out: Schlenkerla, known for its smokebeer, a Bamberg specialty (6 Dominikanerstrasse, www.smokebeer.com). The black, dry beer tastes of smoked ham.

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