Nuremberg

This past weekend Brad had a 3-day weekend (I love his 3-day or 4-day weekends ... LOVE them.) So we decided to get out of town for a couple days and see a few sights close to us. Friday we headed to Nuremberg, Germany. It's only about an hour from us but, it's the second biggest city in Bavaria. It also has one of the biggest shopping districts in Europe ... (that's happiness right there!) 

I am always so glad that Brad drives during our excursions because driving in Europe can get insane! After maneuvering through traffic and construction and one-way streets we finally found a parking garage. As soon as we walked up stairs we saw this beauty. This is is St. Lorenzkriche. It was by far the coolest church we saw that day. Brad loves looking in the churches and seeing all the details. They are incredibly impressive and it's always fun to see the different styles of each church. Anyway ... St. Lorenz: 

The detail inside this church is what made it stand out from the rest ... I think we went in 5 or 6 churches and this was by far the family favorite. They had 6 or 7 windows of this stained glass that were equally detailed ... it was gorgeous! 

I'm not sure what these benches were for but they outline the entire church. 

Some of the benches had detailed little faces on them ... they were pretty cool! 

(his face creeps me out here!!) 

We decided to just wander downtown and see what we could find. We hadn't really mapped out any specific plan. (we're great travelers, I tell ya!) But, we came across this and I found out after we got home that this is called Hellig-Geist-Spital or The Hospital of the Holy Spirit. It was built back in the 1300's for the elderly. I guess at one point, the Crown Jewels of the Empire were stored here. This river  is the Pegnitz river. It was such a peaceful spot, despite the street vendors trying to convince us we needed their souvenirs.  

Further up the hill, right across from Frauenkirche, there was a farmer's market. Doing things like, shopping in a farmer's market, instantly make me feel like I am living the European life. I don't feel like a tourist when I do the things the "locals" would do ... and I love that feeling. It's a feeling of belonging and being comfortable with the life we're living. 

Just next to the farmer's market is Shoner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain) ... I don't know that I would necessarily call it beautiful but, it was definitely interesting! It was built back in the 1300's by Heinrich Beheim. It was originally constructed with sandstone but, those began to corrode away so they were replaced by shell lime figures. This fountain represents the world view of the Holy Roman Empire: the bottom row has allegorical figures symbolizing Philosophy and the Free Arts, the middle row has the Evangelists and Latin Church Fathers and in the third row, the seven electors and nine heroes. At the very top there is Moses and the seven prophets. It definitely stood out in the little marketplace! 

Next up: St. Sebald (see ... I told you we saw a ton of churches! they are everywhere!!!) This is one of the older churches built back in the 1200's. The outside was pretty neat but, the inside was just ... "eh". 

The next several pictures were up at Kaiserburg ... the castle in Nuremberg. I wish I had gotten a good picture of the walls and the castle because the walls had to be at least 15 feet thick. The castle was pretty cool to see and it was fun to imagine life back in the olden days when people lived and worked around the castle. Apparently it was one of the most important imperial palaces during the Middle Ages. During a span of 500 years all Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire of Germany lived here for at least some amount of time. 

This tunnel was INTENSE ... I wonder how many feet long it was? And how on earth they built it back in the day? It was pretty impressive! 

That's the Sinwell Tower ... 

And us ... try to excuse the sweaty faces and the hair that's been destroyed by the humidity (okay, really it's just me ... those boys look fine!) ... it was hot and humid and we had to climb up 95 stinking stairs to get to the top of that tower! It was worth it though ... the views were awesome! 

See? Can you see all the church steeples?!

Uh ... deep in thought?  

There's all 95 stairs in their glory ... it wouldn't have been so bad if there had been a breeze in the stairwell but, it was hot, and humid, and the air was still. Yuck. Kason took 'em like a champ though! 

The castle was the main reason we stopped in Nuremberg so, after we did that, we headed down the hill back into the city. We did a little shopping (I had to experience some of the greatest shopping in Europe!) But, I will admit ... after a couple hours, even I was exhausted of shopping. It was TOO big! The center of the shopping district had at least 5 levels, plus a good 4 or 5 streets lined with various stores. It was crazy. While we were walking around we passed a bakery. They had these in the window ... they were pastry's? or cupcakes? something. I was tempted to buy one, but, I'm sure they weren't cheap. 

This is the "Marriage Carousel" with the picture taken from an awful angle but, it was built in 1984 with reference to the poem "Bitter-Sweet Married Life" by Hans Sachs. I guess it talks very dramatically about love and the struggles faced during marriage all the way up until the death bed. Hmm ... I guess it caused a lot of controversy when it was first built, I can kind of understand why! 

This guy was standing outside one of the churches ... take a picture, pay him a euro (or two or three ... whatever you want. Think Vegas style sidewalk entertainment). I wonder how much he makes in a day?  

We saw a lot more in Nuremberg but, it was a lot more ... and probably kind of insignificant. We did stop in at a bakery/deli and bought some of their delicious bread along with salami and some stinky cheese. (It really was SO stinky! But ... YUM! The saying is true: the stinkier the cheese, the better it tastes. The salami here is delicious, too.) We loved Nuremberg and I sure this won't be our last visit there!