We rose a little later than planned this morning, with the aim of giving Clau a little longer to sleep, and also reducing the number of hours spent without a hotel in Nuremberg. In addition, we decided that as a last hurrah in the Platzl hotel, we would splurge on a hotel breakfast. It cost a pretty penny, but what a breakfast it was!
Totally replete, we finally rolled out of the hotel and onto the S-bahn in time to catch our ICE train from Munich Hbf to Nuremberg. In doing so, got our first use from the Eurail tickets - which went off without incident (impressive!).
In just over an hour we alighted in Nuremberg and crossed over the highway and into old town through the imposing city wall! We could immediately feel a drop in temperature as we walked out of the station. It was -1C!
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| In through the city wall |
Dropping our bags at the hotel, we made our way towards various old town landmarks, steering always towards what was billed as the most beautiful half-timbered street in the city "Weißgerbergasse". The first impressive landmark we passed (right next to our hotel) was the Weissturm (white tower). This tower, built around 1250, was originally part of a second inner wall that has since been demolished. Only the tower now remains, watching over the pedestrians that swarm around it.
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| The weiss turm (white tower) |
Continuing on, we eventually reached the river and passed over the Kettensteg (chain bridge) which was the first ever suspension bridge built in Germany - passing in front of the river's egress out of the city wall.
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| The kettensteg across the river's outlet in the wall |
No sooner had we crossed the river, we found ourselves at Weißgerbergasse with it's beautiful half timber houses. We oo-ed and ahh-ed at their loveliness and snapped some photos.
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| Weißgerbergasse |
Our hearts filled with the beauty of it all, we continued on Weißgerbergasse towards the Saint Sebald Medieval Church. Started in 1255, this is a bloody old piece of architecture. We had a look inside at the various jeebus worship goings on, and I couldnt help but be impressed by the medieval craftsmanship on the many many frescos and other figures scultped right into the storework. It was totally medieval.
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| St Sebaldus Church - Totally Medieval |
With lunchtime fast approaching, sustenance was in order and we decided to try out the Bratwursthäusle where Nurnberger sausages have been cooked since 1313 (amazingly). We could only get a table outside, and fuck me was it cold. Even with the overhead heater it still felt close to zero. But the amazing Nurnbergers and beer #7 of the trip - Tucher Hefeweizen helped a lot.
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| Wheat beer, Nurnbergers and Potato soup at Bratwursthäusle. |
Our hunger sated, we felt ready to explore the Nuremberg christmas market - one of the biggest and oldest in the country. Clau and Katrina headed back to the hotel for a rest, while Eb and I browsed the stalls looking for christmassy nick nacks.
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| Nurnberg christmas market, in the shadow of the Frauenkirche. |
A couple of interesting purchases were made, including a castle made from a mushroom, and a secret gerkin tree ornament; gerkins being big here in Nuremberg! We also had some sweet treats, most notably some fresh Nuremberg Leberkuchen (gingerbread) straight from the oven (OMFG!!) which was so deleriously delicious that I had to go back for seconds
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| Nuremberg Leberkuchen - OMFG! |
Eb and I wandered the market, and were finally able to hit all the stalls of interest. To stop ourselves freezing to death we stopped for an amazing hot chocolate, and grabbed a souvenir mug in the process. Definitely a great start to the more 'Chrissmassy' portion of the trip - I really felt the festive spirit today.
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| Hot chocolate helps when it's -1C. |
Postscript
We decided to have dinner in the hotel. Continuing the Franconian theme, I went with the pork shoulder which was nothing to write home about (hehe). But of note was the fact that Eb and I had one last beer for the day with dinner: bier #8 of the trip - Unertl Weissen. The beer was so average, I didnt even bother to finish it. Bleh!
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| Unertl Weissen - I suck! |
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