May the Force be with you…

Day: 9

Countries: 3               Cities: 5

Munich, Germany à Nuremberg, Germany

May the Force be with you…

Monday 28 December 2015

Music playing through the headphones stuck in my ears, right and left; cute, little, noisy kids just up ahead—kitty corner and just behind—surround sound coughing and babbling, a cacophony of cuteness; passing countryside out the window, picturesque of course—pass through a tunnel out into the fog…another, out into sunny, rolling hills dotted with bare trees and the half-timber houses that have marked the landscape and the change from one region to another.

Just under an hour spent traveling so far. Not too much longer left. Another full day ahead. New sights to see, new food to eat, new experiences to be had. Life to be lived. A day to be seized. Adventure awaits… 

~

Adventure was had. 30,000+ steps/13.5 miles of it. Uf-da was it a long day. But a good one.  We arrived in Nuremberg around 10:30, then navigated our way two stops via metro, then tried to decipher and navigate the directions to the hotel which we managed to get to with the help of some well placed blue signs. We dropped off our stuff and then headed to the main area in search of a cafe. We looked around and around, down cobblestone streets (and up cobblestone streets, as well).

On the way, we ran into a camel and this kind of weird marriage fountain. But the streets are so picturesque with their colorful, shuttered houses with tiled roofs. And almost every street and sidewalk we walked on today was cobblestone. Which looks pretty, but we have to remember to look at our feet more. We've gotten comfortable thinking we don't have to spend so much time looking down and ended up tripping a few times.

But it's so hard to remember to look at your feet because Nuremberg is so quaint and beautiful it just begs you to keep your head up and your eyes open scanning your surroundings trying to take it all in. It's just one of those places where you get there and immediately love it, like there's some sense you get that it's a nice place. I got it in Budapest and I have it here. And in Salzburg a little and in Vienna a time or two. It's that wide eyed wonder and oh my gosh look at that and that and that and that.!.!....!!!.... You know?

Gracie and I did a ranking of the cities so far: Nuremberg and Budapest are tied for first, although Budapest may have taken the cake if we'd had better weather. Both had that awe and immediate sense of “wow this is quite lovely”. Munich brings up the rear, but it's rating may be tainted/affected slightly by our timing and the fact that so many places were closed. And then in the middle we have Salzburg and Vienna with Salzburg taking a slight edge, but again perhaps only because it's where we spent Christmas and that lends a certain amount of extra specialness to it. But it does have its own merited charm and quaintness. I think I find I'm drawn to the quaint and more charming, picturesque places. But anyway. That’s our list so far.  To be continued/added to/revised as needed. ..

We walked and eventually found a nice, busy restaurant. And one with a breakfast menu and some variety besides the heavy fare we'd been having. Cafe and Bar Celona. A touch of Spanish flare to it. We both ordered a coffee and then the solo breakfast which is basically a mini buffet for one.  It was so good and what we needed and had been looking for. I think the best breakfast I've had since coming to Greece.

We kept walking after our breakfast/lunch break and headed toward where the Christmas Market should have been but where it was now being taken down because it's no longer running. Too bad though. It's supposed to be the best around. Oh well. Just another reason to come back J.

Today we did a lot of walking with a lot of little overlapping loops that let us spiral through the city. So t was like every corner we turned looked familiar and new all at once. We saw the castle with a gorgeous overlook of the city. We saw Druers house. And the lane with all the half-timbered houses, which is so cute and quaint and charming. And we saw the Beautiful Fountain under construction so we couldn't actually really see it. And we saw some really neat churches. And we saw some candy pigs. Like everywhere. Apparently it’s for good luck for the New Year.  And we saw the hangman’s house and bridge. And the oldest house in the city which used to house lepers and now houses university students. And we saw the little island and walked to it and then away from it. And the chain bridge. And the elite shopping street. And the not-so-elite shopping street.

Late afternoon we paused to gather our bearings and start to make a game plan for the rest of the night. We saw a movie theater nearby on the Tripomatic app (which is awesome by the way—go download it now so you have it for your next big trip!); so we headed that way just to see what was playing. When we got there we found out that all the movies were only being played in German which was actually rather disappointing. We had kinda gotten rather taken with the idea of going to a movie that night. But we didn't give up. We looked up the other movie theaters in Nuremberg and then tracked down the closest ones to investigate further. Only to find that the only English movie they are playing this week is Star Wars. But never fear lest you think we went through all this work only to not see a movie. Because we both decided we were okay with seeing Star Wars and decided to come back for the later showing.

In the meantime, we went in search of dinner. Our plan was to try and seek out one of the Michelin star rated restaurants but after hunting these out on the map we found them to be closed for the holiday break. Alas. Probably better for our wallets anyway. Our trek to the last one brought us through the Human Rights Path which leads you beside a lane of pillars all inscribed with different articles of the Declaration of Human Rights inscribed in different languages. We got really excited when we recognized the Greek inscription and could sound it out and recognize a solid three words. Our Greek teacher would be so proud (or maybe she'd be horrified and wonder what we've even learned at all in our first semester of classes...).  Anyway.

Our search for food continues almost quite literally all over town. Up and down this street and that. Italian and German. Full up and not necessarily appetizing. We ultimately decided to just stop into an Irish pub to rest for a bit. Neither of us were all that hungry. And then we ended up just looking for snacks on the way to the movie theater.

Now, going to the movies in Germany is quite the experience. It's quite a large and unfolding movie theater complex with multiple levels and snack shops and restaurants and bars even. And the seats in the theater go all the way to one side, which isn't exactly up to code of there was an emergency. But it was a nice theater and after 30-45 minutes of commercials and ads and previews and more ads (that made us feel like we were almost home), the movie finally started. And it was really good. We both enjoyed it.

By the time the movie was done it was 11 so we just decided to head back to our hotel.  And after a shower and getting ready for bed (made with not one, not two, but three pillows!) I'm ready for some much needed and hard-earned rest. And now we are all caught up here so we can. Goodnight. Trip to Berlin tomorrow and officially halfway through! 

~