Saturday in Nuremburg

Side note: To finish up the last post, our afternoon was thwarted by the religious fest - none of the galleries we wanted to see were open! Oh well, we had a great time walking around. Now on to Nuremberg....

Nuremberg was an interesting day trip, although it's a slightly long day from Munich unless you're a hardcore traveler. Um, and I guess we were yesterday (3 museums in 9 hours!!!). The city had been preserved from medieval times until WWII when about 75% of the city was leveled by bombs. It was rebuilt and restored based on what it looked like before so you can see still some of the buildings from the 14th century.

An interesting part we learned about was there was a big synagogue (that looked beautiful in the pictures), which was torn down right before WWII. Nothing was ever built in that spot - as far as it looks like on the map - so the plaza seems like it's now a haunting reminder to its residents of the part Nuremberg played in the persecution of the Jews in WWII (e.g., Nuremberg laws taking away rights of Jews, the Nazi rally grounds and later the Nuremberg trials to prosecute the army leaders).

I regress, back to present day - we took a really early train at 7 am and got into Nuremberg around 9. Walking from the train station into the old town, we stopped by a few fountains (more on those in another post as they have water spouts in unusual spots) and a large church. Crossing over the river on one of the several bridges, we reached the Hauptmarket, central market, where the stalls were just setting up; that's how early we were.

We took a quick coffee break to set a plan of attack and then we went up to the artist Albert Durer's house, still standing even after a bomb exploded in front of it in WWII. One side and the roof had to be restored, but it was looking good after more than 500 years. Inside, there was a museum about Durer, how the artist's family lived and the time period on an audio guide with his "long-dead" wife (seemed to be a pattern in Nuremberg). After that, we walked around the city until we came to a lunch place... Mexican food that was SOOO not even close to being Mexican, it was disturbing. To give you an idea, picture slimy neon orange "cheese" on a burrito filled with spinach and green beans (no arroz con frijoles anywhere). Then and there, we decided never to try Mexican food in Germany ever again.

After our disgusting lunch and some excellent chocolate to get the bad taste out, we walked along the river and then crossed it to go to the Germanisches Museum, a massive museum about German cultural history dating way way way back. We saw everything from musical instruments to paintings to ancient tools to clothing styles through the centuries to Jewish tombstones that had been recovered. It was a large and varied museum with just about everything in it, but I wanted to learn more about Nuremberg's history.

So we went to the city museum Fembohaus for an overview and we had audio guides again with more long-dead people talking to us about the house's history. It was fascinating to see the contribution of each family member throughout the centuries to the house's decor and use. They also had amazing photographs from pre- and post-WWII bombings that showed the house and the cityscape. They did have films about Nuremberg's role in WWII, but unfortunately, it was all in German - no English subtitles or English selection on the audio guides. Sometimes I'm amazed at how much this country doesn't cater to tourists in its museums and historical sites. It's a shame, but I guess they don't get as many tourists as Spain which had a lot available in English at heavily-touristed sites.

Wrapping up our day trip, we had a lovely, quick Italian dinner before climbing on the train, thoroughly exhausted from our day. During this week, I'll post about other aspects of our day trip. Next week I'll be in New York for the week so it'll be a little quiet on the blog (unless Greg takes over... *hint hint*).

I'll leave you now with a photo of me taking over Nuremberg. This is what happens when you leave Greg and I alone, waiting for a video and with only a small city model to look at.

Top 5 Favorite Trips in Germany

Unlike the list of our favorite international trips, this list was harder to rank because we loved each of these places for different reasons. Here are our favorite trips in Germany:

Berlin

Ahhh, chilly, frosty Berlin! The nonconformity and edge of the people in Berlin was in such contrast to the conservative nature of Munich - it was so refreshing. If you're looking for a place to visit with great museums, food and design inspiration, Berlin should be on your list.

Don't let the snow in these pictures scare you - it's probably gorgeous May through October.

Lindau


The harbor at dusk



Greg planned this trip on his own for our second anniversary in November. It was the perfect time to visit because the folliage was beautiful and Lindau was quieter than it probably was in the summer. To get to the city, the train crossed a bridge across a section of the lake and Lindau looks just magical. Most of the weekend was spent walking around the small city and Lake Constance, but we did also check out their fabulous museum while there.

 
Nuremberg


One of Nuremberg's fountains



Greg calls this city "the city of fountains" because there were really so many fountains, including a huge, amazing one featuring various sins like gluttony, avarice, hatred, etc. Of course, there were many other things to see in the town, but that and the house of Alfred Durer, a painter, stuck with us.

During the war, the city was almost completely wiped out, but they did a wonderful job rebuilding it and making it look like it did in the pre-war days. This was a very fun place to walk around in and they also have a few good museums... and supposedly an amazing Christmas market, but we didn't see it.

Bayerischzell

We saw Bayerischzell first in the winter when we went cross-country skiing and loved it. The track was fantastic and wound its way by a river and through a plain, ending with a warm plate of kaiser schwarm at a local restaurant.

I think Bayerischzell was the best cross-country skiing we did while in Germany and it was too bad we found it so late. At least we have the memories!

Eichstatt

Unlike our other vacations on this list, this trip we took with our family that lived there - my aunt Na'ama and uncle Gil, and their kids: Shai-Li, Amit and Yuval, and their friends. It was a full weekend with canoeing, exploring ruins, hikes with kid-and-Greg-friendly activities, and chipping away for fossils. When we eventually have a home in the US, ask us to show you our fossilized worm poop slate.

I think this trip was important for us because it was our first and we really bonded with our family through it. Greg hardly knew my family at that point and it was a pretty quick way for him to get to know them all. The German-Portuguese family that also came with filled us in on the history of the area we were in and about Germany in general. It's hard to believe that we took this trip in August of 2009 and we had just moved to Germany a few weeks before. 


Greg swinging across a murky pond







Our canoe, which was always the last one in



Fountains in Nuremburg

Greg wanted to call this post "Leaky Nipples" because of a fountain we saw in Nuremberg with the water spouts coming out of the woman's busty armor plate. But my good taste prevailed. We've compiled photos of the beautiful fountains that we passed while in Nuremberg:

hence the name "leaky nipples"

Spouting ducks

The seven stages of marriage fountain...

Apparently, at one stage, you get really fat. I haven't gotten to that yet so I don't know.

Eventually, you kill each other.

As you can see, this artist probably had a really healthy relationship with his wife.

And one of me - yes, that's my winter coat I'm wearing!

Why I love Snowy Days in Munich

Walking back home from work tonight, I reflected on the snowy powder coating the ground and realized that I enjoy snowy days in Munich so much more than I did in the U.S. Here's why:

• I'm not driving in it. It's much harder to die while walking in the snow than driving in the snow. I know that sounds melodramatic, but the crazy, horrible drivers in the US really come out on those days. I remember many a snowy day in Denver when I would have to drive to work and would dread it terribly because the roads were not plowed and the drivers could not control their cars well enough. I would grip the steering wheel the whole way to work. And it's not like it would be the normal 20-30 minute drive either - it took extra long because of the snow, too! Here I just have to go 7 minutes to my metro station and then I'm pretty much covered until I get to work. Focusing on my feet instead of the car in front of me is much easier.

• Munich is gorgeous when covered with a layer of glistening snow. Everything seems to shine and twinkle so brightly with the snow. All the houses in our neighborhood look like a classic European town. Granted Munich doesn't have the old-time flare that other cities in Bavaria do (like Garmisch, Regensburg or Nuremberg to name a few), but it does have an understated European vibe regardless. The Christkindlmarkts get that added touch of nostalgic beauty to them when it snows. Everything just feels like how December always should be - warm fireplaces, chestnuts roasting, snowy winter wonderland all around. I'm just waiting for some reindeer to show up here somewhere.

Not quite a reindeer in Schliersee, but close!

• People seem happier. Bavarians are an active bunch so I think when they see snow in their town, they picture themselves cross-country skiing in the city parks, trudging through the snow in their decked out winter boots, and warming up with hot drinks under the stars at the Christkindlmarkts. And it helps to have a variation to the gray skies, too.

• It softens noise. Not that Munich is a particularly noisy place, but everything gets a blanket of quiet, especially at night, when it snows. The peace pervades everywhere.

• We don't have shovel it. We had some back-breaking work in Denver whenever it snowed, but here our hausmeister (building caretaker) is supposed to do it. Apparently, it should be shoveled (sidewalk to the building entrance and sidewalk around the building) by 7 in the morning after it snows. Not that that happened this weekend or this morning, but since I'm not on crutches or using a cane, I could care less when he shovels it. As long as I can still get out my front door, I'm cool.

I, for one, hope the snow continues all winter long, but I guess the suckers people who have to drive or shovel probably would appreciate a few breaks in the weather. Happy snowy day to all!