After a few days of sightseeing - just B and the visitors because the girls had school - we caught an early Saturday morning train to Nürnberg. It was one of the few locations that none of us had really explored. Sure, the girls and I did a quick weekend in December to see the Christmas Markets but we saw more Glühwein and sausages that day than we did of any of the sights.
It is a short train ride at just over an hour and the girls entertained themselves nicely...
We were staying just a couple hundred meters from the train station so we were checked in and on our way to the city center by mid-morning. First up, the church of St. Lorenz - gorgeous but we have seen our fair share of gorgeous churches while living in Europe.
We had been go, go, go since very early in the morning and at this point, the girls needed a bit of a break. And since it seems that there is a Gelateria every time you turn around, Gelato it was.
Snack time over we headed into the main square. This is where the Christmas markets are stationed and I did get a chance to walk a bit of it in December but it was so overly crowded I didn't get a chance to see much of it. This time it was much less crowded and I was finally able to get a really good look around and we even got to watch the clock chime and dance at the hour.
The Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain) is from 1396.
Once again, we decided to take a break and grab some lunch. We popped into the nearest restaurant and it turns out that we had stumbled into one of the oldest and most traditional places around - it was built in 1313! It is a small place with communal tables and it has a very short menu - you can get sausages (in plates of 6, 8, 10 or 12) with potato salad or red kraut or you can have pork knuckle or pork heart. That's the extent of the food because of course, they had beer and wine. Which we partook of along with our sausages (none of us were up for the other two choices).
We all got one of our favorite things...
Sated and warm again, we were off to the castle grounds. Perched high above the city, the grounds are a complex of buildings set withing the city walls and are noted to be one of the most formidable medieval fortifications. The castle once signaled the power and importance of the Imperial city of Nürnberg. Having been laid to ruins during the war it took about 30 years for the restorations to its present state to be completed.
The Tiefer Brunnen (Deep well with building) on the far left of the picture and the Sinwellturm (Sinwell tower) in the middle. The second picture is the opening in the castle walls.
The Upper Chapel inside the Imperial Chapel.
Reading up on the history.
Goofing around as we wait for the show...that never showed...
I think I found Wall-E
We wandered around a bit more but we were getting cold and the girls were asking for more Gelato...and the grandfatherly figure that was with us readily agreed. First, we made them walk back down the hill and through our final church of the day - St. Sebaldus.
Another Evangelical Lutheran church, this one is just as magnificent as the last architecturally but has the added feature that it contains the actual remains of St. Sebald! The relic shrine, designed in 1391 is the most important work of art in the church.
The details were amazing but it was freezing inside this church (colder than it was outside by far) so we stepped out, ran into the first Gelateria we found to get some ice cream and Glühwein (couldn't come to Nürnberg and not have any) and head home for dinner. With such an early start to our day, we were exhausted by 5:30 as Stinkerbell proved by barely keeping her eyes open through her pasta course. We retired early beause we still had a full day ahead of us on Sunday.
Kayaking Chilkoot
They Did!
Down Below and Up Above
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