Germany Trip Part 3 - Nurnberg

Wednesday 8/12

We got up early and headed to the train station again... The trains always put me to sleep. After about 15 minutes, I was knocked out. Easy way to get in a midday nap... We train hopped back to Wurzburg and decided to make a stop in Nurnberg for the day(city's website)(wiki). Nurnberg was a neat town. We did the RS self-guided walking tour through the main part of town. (Most tourists towns have pedestrian only town centers) It was convenient to do this because the train station was right in the center of town. Right near the train station is the old city wall. 90% of the original wall is still standing. Most cities tore down their walls in the 1800's for expansion. Nurnberg didn't.

This is looking back towards the more modern part of the city. The bridge goes over the "moat."

Here's the main train station in Nurnberg. Deutsche Bahn owns the majority of the train system in Germany. It's government run. They also own lots of city buses in most major cities. We bought a 7 (nonconsecutive) day railpass which allowed us to travel on any DB train or bus within Germany (it also covered Salzburg since it's so close to the border).

One of the old guard towers.

The City gate near the train station.

I played "Tour Guide" for the day.

The area just inside the city wall.

These statues were outside the second story on the corners of several buildings. They were symbols of blessing to all who enter.

We stayed out of the Woolworth... :)

This day was Wes' camera day. (This explains why some of them are crooked :) ) I had been manning the camera for most of the trip. It was his turn. We enjoyed St. Lawrence's Church. Originally built around 1250, it was destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt in it's original style(use google translator to read the site). It had a very intricate facade. It was so tall, we couldn't get the whole thing in a shot. (We would have laid on the ground, but it was smelly from horse pee...)

Near the church was a fountain called the "Fountain of Seven Virtues." (Justice, Faith, Love, Hope, courage, temperance, and patience.) Don't quite know why the designer chose to have water squirting out of all their boobies... It was kind of funny.

Justice was on top and she was blindfolded.

ooops... ex-rated photo..

This building over the river is the Heilig-Geist-Spital (Holy Ghost Hospital).

other scenes from our walk...

"Apotheke" is German for Pharmacy (similar word to apothecary)

The fresh fruit and veggie market in the Market Square(Hauptmarkt).

HUGE figs!!

This is a store that sells oils, vinegars, liquor, wine and other things from the tap. (US website) You can bring in a bottle or buy one (They have lots of neat shapes and sizes) We got Mom a double bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar.

After our walk through town, we took a bus to the Nazi Documentation Center and Rally Grounds(informative site about Nazi museum and other museums in Nurnberg)(wiki). The museum is in a small wing of Hitler's unfinished Congress Hall. The museum was huge and took a long time to go through. (I didn't take any pictures inside-lots of reading and videos.) There were lots of interesting videos about the Nazi party and interviews from members of the SS and Youth as well as other people who lived through Hitler's reign. We planned to walk to the Parade/Rally grounds, but we ran out of time (We still had to take a train to Munich and check into our hotel). I think Wes was upset about it. He really wanted to see it. It would have taken us several hours more to see that section of the Center. The Rally grounds is what you see in a lot of Propoganda films.

We returned to Nurnberg and got on an ICE (Express) train to Munich. (Again I fell asleep). In Munich, our hotel was just down the street from the train station. The Hotel Royal. (Pictures of the sign and outside didn't make it...I have some of our room taken on the last day there) We were pretty tired of not understanding menus and were ready for something we weren't afraid to eat. So we did the touristy thing...We went to the Hard Rock (picture). It was expensive, but worth it! I think that was the first time I really felt full on this trip. Hard Rocks are always located in perfect places...right next to a major tourist attraction. Munich's Hard Rock was next to the Hofbrauhaus, the most popular beer hall in Munich. We walked through it but didn't sit down. We were tired and our feet were really hurting (again). Munich had paved streets, but most sidewalks and the pedestrian areas were made of cobblestones. We headed back to the hotel and crashed....