Kyra's Excellent Adventure Part 10: Nuremberg

(The adventure starts here)

After we left eastern Germany, we went to the second of the major medieval towns we visited, Nuremberg, aka Nürnberg. There was quite a bit of discussion in the car as we were driving there as to whether Nuremberg and Nürnberg are the same place. Opinion was divided, but according to Wikipedia, they are one and the same, Nuremberg is the Anglicization, Nürnberg is the German form.

To be honest, by this point in the trip I was pretty tired and everything was pretty much a blur, so I'll just share some photos and what highlights I can remember.

We saw some cool Gothic churches, with amazing carvings on the outside and beautiful artwork inside.

And some other cool medieval buildings, including the Albrecht Dürer house, which we did not stop in at. We were heading up the (steep) hill to the castle, and were on a schedule to depart for our next stop later that day. Maybe next time.

This statue is in the marketplace where a famous Christmas market is held every year. We visited the market when I was 8 years old, and I still have and use a Nativity scene I bought there.

And here's the castle, which was an important center of the Holy Roman Empire government.

And we ate at this restaurant, Nassauer Keller, which is down in a cellar. Right inside the door is a fairly steep flight of stairs. The decor includes full suits of armor. If you look at the menu, my husband had the Nürnberger Rostbratwürste, and I had my usual favorite, Schnitzel "Wiener Art." Also in Nuremberg we finally found the elusive Spaghetti Eis (Ice cream), a favorite treat from the years when we lived in Germany. Vanilla ice cream pushed through a spaghetti press to make "noodles," topped with strawberry sauce and coconut flakes for the "parmesan cheese." My mom had especially been craving it, but for some reason it was really hard to find until we got to Nuremberg.

Along with being a center of learning and culture, Nuremberg does have an ugly history of persecution of Jews and as a major center of the Nazi government. It was extensively bombed during World War II. Most of the medieval buildings have actually been rebuilt since the war, and as we visited the city we got a strong sense of learning from the evils of the past and moving forward focusing on lessons learned and the good and beauty to be found in humanity.

So, one more stop after this, Rothenberg, and then it's time to fly home! But before I end this series and head out on my next adventure, I'll also hit a few other miscellaneous high points.