Nürnberg

It’s a travel day, so it was an early breakfast (no lineup at the two coffee machines that are woefully inadequate to serve 100s of guests) and out of the hotel at 8:30 a.m. The train station was just a short walk away. We got on the right train, wrong seats first, then right seats. We are getting better at this train travel thing.

Our destination is Nuremberg which is Bavaria's second largest city after Munich, and a popular tourist destination for foreigners and Germans alike. It was a leading city 500 years ago, but 90% of the town was destroyed in 1945 during the war. After World War II, many medieval-style areas of the town were rebuilt. Damaged buildings were repaired in the original Gothic style, but some structures were beyond repair. Instead of replicating these exactly as they had been, or replacing them with modern-style buildings, post war architects compromised. The result is a “traditional modern” type of rebuilding in a modern style while preserving the medieval city’s footprint and using traditional building materials (such has native sandstone). Some blemishes on the buildings are patched bullet scars from 1945. The Christkindlemarkt is one of the oldest (it started in the 16th century), largest, and most famous of Christmas markets in the world – it draws a million visitors every year (I think they are all here right now!) Nuremberg is renowned as the gingerbread capital of the world.

The train got in as expected about 1:30 p.m. We could see the hotel just across the road from the hotel, and thankfully, our rooms were ready for us. The hotel staff are nice and pleasant and helpful – such a welcome change from our experience in Vienna. We dropped our bags in our rooms and gathered in the lobby. First order of business was lunch since we had just had nibbles on the train. There was a Hans im Glück restaurant near the hotel so off we went. That’s the same restaurant chain we ate in at Dresden overlooking the market. We pretty much ordered the same things we had last time because they were so good.

It was time to hit the town. The main street is a pedestrian thoroughfare during Christmas market season, so we just joined the throngs in the middle of the road and headed towards the centre of town. We soon split off into three groups as the crowds were huge and our needs/wants were all different. Sue and I pressed on into the centre of town around the huge church and braved the masses for a couple of hours. The place was mobbed with people – these markets attract Half of the people were carrying mugs of hot mulled wine called Glühwein so it was slow going. We saw a few things that we liked and earmarked them for a second look tomorrow. We were getting cold - the temps are a few degrees lower here than in the other places we’ve been in – so we headed back to the hotel. It felt good to get off our feet long before 8:30 p.m.

After such a late lunch, we had a dinner of cheese, crackers, wine, clementines, chocolate and stollen in the triple room (aka the dormitory). The serious soccer watchers turned on the game at 8:00 p.m. – it’s England vs. France.

I’ve booked us a walking tour for 11:30 a.m. tomorrow. It’s time to learn some German history.En savoir plus

What an amazing day! We left Frankfurt at 8am and travelled by autobahn for two hours to reach Rothenburg, a medieval walled town. It was truly beautiful and the Christmas decorations outside many of the houses added to it. There were lots of little shops and a particularly stunning Christmas shop with room after room of quality Christmas things. Added to the atmosphere was the Christmas market. The weather was lovely and mild - about 12 degrees with the sun shining. The only disappointment was that we needed more time to explore, and an hour and a half later we were back on the bus, heading for Nuremberg, about two hours away. On arrival there we went on a guided walking tour of the old town, ( actually reconstructed after the Second World War) and the castle. The view down was over the city and really beautiful. The streets were typical of German architecture. The day ended with time to be spent in the beautiful Christmas market there. It too was set in front of a church in a square and many of the surrounding trees were covered in lights, making it all very beautiful. The only downside was that it started to rain and we really were pleased to be back on the bus and heading for our hotel and dinner. We loved our day but ready for an early night.En savoir plus