Theo and the Angel's Leg in Bamberg

 Why do people travel? What is it that they're really looking for? Dan, Theo and I decide to stop in the historic city of Bamberg, Germany, not because it is a UNESCO world heritage site, not because it has some of the greatest examples of medieval architecture in the old part of the town which can make you imagine you've stepped back in time, and not because they brew a concoction of "smoked beer"--all of those would be good reasons. No. I push Dan and Theo to stop in Bamberg because of an angel's leg. A memory I have that haunts me from when I first saw Bamberg years ago.

Let me start from the beginning. Walk through Bamberg and you are immediately struck by its location near a river and the wide variety of houses. They are different than houses in the states. The architecture is old and at times amazingly quaint. They are the kinds of houses you want to see the inside of--the rooms, the furniture.

We walk along a river and I can't resist taking a video of the houses that butt up against the water.

We enter the old town. Statues sit on buildings above doorways:

Or they are just there as you walk along a bridge:

But the most amazing site is that some of the buildings in the old town are decorated with murals that tell a story. I have never seen anything like it. As we pass building after building, sporting angel murals, I am getting more excited because I know the angel leg is close:

Theo, who is usually pretty easy going (as long as there are snacks in the picture) balks. He lets out a big meow as we are going up one street and down another.

"Believe me, Theo, the angel leg is sticking out of a building. You will love it."

Theo knows about angels (no, not from church) but from our Christmas tree which has an angel sitting on top of it every year. He's 

been an eyewitness to Mico (his younger brother) racing across the living room and toppling the angel off her perch. 

But angels on buildings? I don't think he believes me.

Dan is also skeptical. "Do you really think a mural of an angel is all that exciting?"

"Trust me, boys. You've never seen anything quite like this before."

All I remember from the trip years ago is that you have to cross over a bridge so when I spot a bridge, we walk in that direction. From a distance I think I see it:

I walk faster and Dan shouts out, "I see it. I see it."

Impressive as it is, it is not what I want and need to see. "Does that look like an angel's leg to you? That's an entire baby angel."

And then I do see it. The angel leg I've been looking for. "There it is."

It is unusual. Half mural/half statue. A little freaky. "Well," I say in triumph. "Am I right? Isn't this the craziest thing you ever saw on a wall of a building?"

Dan holds Theo up so he can get a better look. 

No comment. Not even a meow.

I turn to Dan. 

No comment. 

"A bust?" I ask incredulously.

"Let's go eat," Dan says. Who can argue with that?