Germany, May'16: Four seasons in three weeks.
Jul 23rd, 2016, 06:02 PM
#21
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travlsolo2,
There are more in Meissen than the porcelain manufacture, there is a church and the Albrechburg castle, but 4-5 hours should be enough. Just to clarify, it is not a factory tour per se, you do not go to the factory. It is a craft demonstrations in the workshops in a museum, which does not make it any any less interesting.
There are more in Meissen than the porcelain manufacture, there is a church and the Albrechburg castle, but 4-5 hours should be enough. Just to clarify, it is not a factory tour per se, you do not go to the factory. It is a craft demonstrations in the workshops in a museum, which does not make it any any less interesting.
Jul 23rd, 2016, 11:48 PM
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Thank you for info. Recommend to visit the National park Bohemian Switzerland. (save min. 1day in your trip schedule). Tip: Pravcicka gate, Edmund´s Gorge, village and viewpoints Jetrichovice. More http://www.cottage.cz/en or http://bohemian-switzerland.cz
Jul 24th, 2016, 03:01 AM
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>>the Frauenkirche, one of the most beautiful churches in Dresden, completely destroyed during the WW2. It was restored for the 800th city's anniversary in 2005
A reconstruction, which, by the way, succedeed against the opposition of the Lutheran church of Saxony (»we don't need still another church building«), thanks to an private initiative led by the Baroque trumpet virtuoso Ludwig Güttler and thanks to the generous support of the british Dresden Trust.
A reconstruction, which, by the way, succedeed against the opposition of the Lutheran church of Saxony (»we don't need still another church building«), thanks to an private initiative led by the Baroque trumpet virtuoso Ludwig Güttler and thanks to the generous support of the british Dresden Trust.
Jul 24th, 2016, 05:43 AM
#24
sla019 - I cannot tell you how moved I was when we visited Dresden a few years ago. Growing up in Coventry one couldn't but be aware of the links between the two cities and just as my german friends wept in the ruins of our old cathedral, I wept to see the rebuilt Frauenkirche. Having read Erich Kaestner when I was at school, who could not be moved by seeing Dresden rebuilt?
Jul 24th, 2016, 08:03 AM
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> I cannot tell you how moved I was when we visited Dresden a few years ago. Growing up in Coventry one couldn't but be aware of the links between the two cities and just as my german friends wept in the ruins of our old cathedral, I wept to see the rebuilt Frauenkirche.
annhig - I think I can understand that well. When I was a confirmand back in the sixties, I was told that the bombing of the church I was baptized in, St. Lawrence in Nuremberg, was the logical outcome of what the nazi airforce had done in England previously, and that it was an outcome according to the German proverb »Wer Wind säht, wird Sturm ernten«. At that time, I was able to understand that merely rationally; the emotional understandig followed many years later - in the cathedral of Coventry.
annhig - I think I can understand that well. When I was a confirmand back in the sixties, I was told that the bombing of the church I was baptized in, St. Lawrence in Nuremberg, was the logical outcome of what the nazi airforce had done in England previously, and that it was an outcome according to the German proverb »Wer Wind säht, wird Sturm ernten«. At that time, I was able to understand that merely rationally; the emotional understandig followed many years later - in the cathedral of Coventry.
Jul 24th, 2016, 12:25 PM
#26
sla019 - it sounds as if we were having the same experiences from each side of the same coin, though because of the outcome of the war, the British underwent somewhat less soul-searching. To my shame I can remember children at my school marching round the playground chanting "we won the war" in the 1960s and "war films" are still pretty popular viewing on dark winter afternoons, not to mention the annual Christmas showing of "The Great Escape".
OTOH the german film "Das Boot" was very popular here and we very much enjoyed watching "Heimat" and "Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter " though I'm not sure how many others were as gripped as we were.
OTOH the german film "Das Boot" was very popular here and we very much enjoyed watching "Heimat" and "Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter " though I'm not sure how many others were as gripped as we were.
Jul 24th, 2016, 04:29 PM
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PART III. Three days in the romantic Franconia.
Day Eight - May 7th, Saturday. Bright Sunny Day and Dark Blue Night of Nuremberg.
Before this trip my only knowledge about this city have primarily been associated with The Nuremberg trials, the international military tribunal of Nazis leadership for their crimes during the WW2. But by doing my research during planning, I discovered that this city has a rich history beyond Nazis dark past, it has a beautiful architecture, and it was a hometown of the famous German painter Albrecht Dürer. Also, Nuremberg is situated on the so called "Romantic Road”, the route passing through picturesque amazingly beautiful Bavarian towns.
Nuremberg is also the largest city in Franconia region. Most of this region was annexed to the Kingdom of Bavaria in the time of Napoleon, who, by allowing this, wanted to enlist the support of the King of Bavaria against Austria. We got the impression that Franconians do not consider themselves Bavarians and do not like when they are called as such. They have preserved their own culture different from the Bavarian, a different dialect of German, and a distinct local cuisine (wine here in more popular brewing).
For the trip we chose Nuremberg as our base for exploring the region, making day trips to other Franconian towns: Würzburg, Bamberg and Rothenburg. But today our day was entirely devoted to Nuremberg.
Documentation Centre Nazi Party Rally Grounds (Dokumentationszentrum Reichsparteitagsgelände)
Website: http://www.museen.nuernberg.de/dokuzentrum/
Admission: 5.00 + 3.00 for parking
Throughout our visit to Germany, seeing hard-working people, well-maintained towns and villages, magnificent roads, the same question was coming to my mind again and again: how this nation who gave the world Bach and Beethoven, the Brothers Grimm and Thomas Mann, Albrecht Dürer and Albert Einstein, jeans Levi Strauss and Mercedes-Benz started the most terrible war in human history, that killed millions of innocent people?
How this great nation allowed that ugly little monster to usurp power and to fool the millions of Germans brainwashing them into delusions about the world superiority of the Aryan Nation? That by exterminating the Jews, Slavs, Roma, homosexuals and other "subhumans", their life would be better?
If you want at least partially find an answer to this question, I advise you to visit the Documentation Centre Nazi Party Rally Grounds (or in short DocuCenter). It’s located away from the old town but you can reach it either by public transport or, as we did, by the car. The center is located on the former property of Nazis party rallies grounds, which was built to sort of replicate the Roman Colosseum.
This is not a museum in the true sense, there are no exhibits. There are photos, documents and film footage telling about Hitler, his early years, the birth and rise of the Nazi Party, on how he and his party democratically won the elections and conducting economic reforms, gave the Germans work and bread, but then started taking their democratic freedoms one by one, and eliminating undesirable groups of people one by one.
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
(Martin Niemöller)
……………………………………….
Old town walking tour.
Website: http://tourismus.nuernberg.de/en/sig...r-sprache.html
Price: € 10.00
Back to the hotel we parked our car and went for a walk through the old town. There is a daily 1PM English guided walking tour that starts at Hauptmarkt square , and we decided to take advantage of it. Today was Saturday, there ere crowds everywhere, local markets offered huge variety of produce in season and asparagus was presented particularly well
On our way we admired St. Lorenz Kirche situated on the square with the same name, and crossed the bridge over the river Pegnitz, on both banks of which you could see a lot of outdoor cafes crowded with people enjoying the bright sunny day.
The tour starts from the Information Center. Our guide was originally from Slovenia, who lived in Nuremberg for several years and became its biggest fan. In general, most of our tour guides during the trip were non-Germans: Russian, Slovene, English-Italian, and a majority of the waiters we met were Czechs. I guess, it’s the European Union+ in action.
This was our first time visiting Franconia region, we knew nothing much before the trip, so we were eager to hear about the region and its towns from the professionals. Looking ahead, all the tours we took were very informative, but not all that captivating. Honestly, by the end of the trip, after visiting all the towns, castles and palaces all Ludwigs, Heinrichs, Maximilians and other Electors and Crown Princes all mixed up in my head: who conquered whom and when it was. During the tour all of this information, of course, helps, but I usually remember interesting fun facts. Well, for example, why the famous Nuremberg sausages are so small?. Accordingly our tour guide version it was a sympathetic prison guard who helped inmates poking sausages through the small keyhole.
Our tour went through:
City Hall (Altes Rathaus)
Frauenkirche
St.Sebaldus Kirche
The most popular bakery that makes the famous Nuremberg gingerbread (Lebkuchen).
We also walked to the house of Albrecht Durer situated on the corner of very nice small square. Then we went to the Nuremberg’s Castle (Kaiserburg Nurnberg). On the way we stopped at the house of the Nuremberg publisher show first printer the work of Nicolaus Copernicus.
Once we reached the Kaiserburg Nurnberg, our guide left us and we explored the castle on our own. We were walking with another couple from our group, fellow Americans from Texas who were traveling in direction, reverse to ours, heading to Berlin from Munich.
The German National Museum (Germanisches Nationalmuseum)
Website: http://www.gnm.de
Entrance: € 8
After exploring the Castle and its premises, we started walking back to the hotel. We had a reservation in the restaurant at 7PM, and wanted to freshen up and change before our dinner. On the way we stopped at the German National Museum, the largest museum of the German culture, arts and crafts in the country. We did not plan coming here, but our guide highly recommended it, saying that this museum is the only one in Nuremberg that has Durer’s paining. In addition to Durer, there were paintings of Rembrandt and Feit Stoss, but what I liked the most was the collection of musical instruments. Just great! There were are least 30 mini-pianos!
Dinner with Dürer and walking under the blue moon
As I said before, in each town and region we visited, we tried to sample the local delicacies. Here, IN Nuremberg, I found a highly recommended restaurant Albrecht Duerer Stube (http://www.albrecht-duerer-stube.de/welcome). Booking in this restaurant must be done very well in advance, so I phoned and booked a table about a month before the trip. When we arrived, the restaurant was packed! Out table was tiny, just for two people, but next to Dürer’s self-portrait, so it seemed there was a dinner for three of us. The waitresses were dressed in national costumes, always smiling, attentive, in general service was "with care”. I , of course, ordered the Nuremberg sausages and Dima had super delicious pork with crispy skin, yam-yam. And, you guess, asparagus WE also had a dessert with the name I would never remember, but very tasty.
The restaurant was near the Dürer house (hence the name), next to the square we liked so much during the tour. When we finished our dinner and walk there, we saw a huge number of people sitting, standing and lying on the ground, smoking and drinking. We immediately joined, Dmitry joined those sitting and drinking, I those lying and smoking.
The reason for the festivities was the Blue Night in Nuremberg, when the streets and facades of buildings are lighted in bright blue. It happens each year in May, when the Old Town changes its color to blue with different installations reflected in castle walls and other artistic presentations. For example in the main square this year there was an installation with cubes filled with water and changing colors. The most interesting that the sculpture was interactive: everyone could connect through the app in a mobile phone and displays glowed the same colors as the installation (http://www.balestraberlin.com).
For my husband though was the fact that local MacDonald was selling…. beer. Not sure it was only today , but who cares? The main thing is that, as it was great to be a part of this and be surrounded by happy people having super fun!
Day Eight - May 7th, Saturday. Bright Sunny Day and Dark Blue Night of Nuremberg.
Before this trip my only knowledge about this city have primarily been associated with The Nuremberg trials, the international military tribunal of Nazis leadership for their crimes during the WW2. But by doing my research during planning, I discovered that this city has a rich history beyond Nazis dark past, it has a beautiful architecture, and it was a hometown of the famous German painter Albrecht Dürer. Also, Nuremberg is situated on the so called "Romantic Road”, the route passing through picturesque amazingly beautiful Bavarian towns.
Nuremberg is also the largest city in Franconia region. Most of this region was annexed to the Kingdom of Bavaria in the time of Napoleon, who, by allowing this, wanted to enlist the support of the King of Bavaria against Austria. We got the impression that Franconians do not consider themselves Bavarians and do not like when they are called as such. They have preserved their own culture different from the Bavarian, a different dialect of German, and a distinct local cuisine (wine here in more popular brewing).
For the trip we chose Nuremberg as our base for exploring the region, making day trips to other Franconian towns: Würzburg, Bamberg and Rothenburg. But today our day was entirely devoted to Nuremberg.
Documentation Centre Nazi Party Rally Grounds (Dokumentationszentrum Reichsparteitagsgelände)
Website: http://www.museen.nuernberg.de/dokuzentrum/
Admission: 5.00 + 3.00 for parking
Throughout our visit to Germany, seeing hard-working people, well-maintained towns and villages, magnificent roads, the same question was coming to my mind again and again: how this nation who gave the world Bach and Beethoven, the Brothers Grimm and Thomas Mann, Albrecht Dürer and Albert Einstein, jeans Levi Strauss and Mercedes-Benz started the most terrible war in human history, that killed millions of innocent people?
How this great nation allowed that ugly little monster to usurp power and to fool the millions of Germans brainwashing them into delusions about the world superiority of the Aryan Nation? That by exterminating the Jews, Slavs, Roma, homosexuals and other "subhumans", their life would be better?
If you want at least partially find an answer to this question, I advise you to visit the Documentation Centre Nazi Party Rally Grounds (or in short DocuCenter). It’s located away from the old town but you can reach it either by public transport or, as we did, by the car. The center is located on the former property of Nazis party rallies grounds, which was built to sort of replicate the Roman Colosseum.
This is not a museum in the true sense, there are no exhibits. There are photos, documents and film footage telling about Hitler, his early years, the birth and rise of the Nazi Party, on how he and his party democratically won the elections and conducting economic reforms, gave the Germans work and bread, but then started taking their democratic freedoms one by one, and eliminating undesirable groups of people one by one.
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
(Martin Niemöller)
……………………………………….
Old town walking tour.
Website: http://tourismus.nuernberg.de/en/sig...r-sprache.html
Price: € 10.00
Back to the hotel we parked our car and went for a walk through the old town. There is a daily 1PM English guided walking tour that starts at Hauptmarkt square , and we decided to take advantage of it. Today was Saturday, there ere crowds everywhere, local markets offered huge variety of produce in season and asparagus was presented particularly well
On our way we admired St. Lorenz Kirche situated on the square with the same name, and crossed the bridge over the river Pegnitz, on both banks of which you could see a lot of outdoor cafes crowded with people enjoying the bright sunny day.
The tour starts from the Information Center. Our guide was originally from Slovenia, who lived in Nuremberg for several years and became its biggest fan. In general, most of our tour guides during the trip were non-Germans: Russian, Slovene, English-Italian, and a majority of the waiters we met were Czechs. I guess, it’s the European Union+ in action.
This was our first time visiting Franconia region, we knew nothing much before the trip, so we were eager to hear about the region and its towns from the professionals. Looking ahead, all the tours we took were very informative, but not all that captivating. Honestly, by the end of the trip, after visiting all the towns, castles and palaces all Ludwigs, Heinrichs, Maximilians and other Electors and Crown Princes all mixed up in my head: who conquered whom and when it was. During the tour all of this information, of course, helps, but I usually remember interesting fun facts. Well, for example, why the famous Nuremberg sausages are so small?. Accordingly our tour guide version it was a sympathetic prison guard who helped inmates poking sausages through the small keyhole.
Our tour went through:
City Hall (Altes Rathaus)
Frauenkirche
St.Sebaldus Kirche
The most popular bakery that makes the famous Nuremberg gingerbread (Lebkuchen).
We also walked to the house of Albrecht Durer situated on the corner of very nice small square. Then we went to the Nuremberg’s Castle (Kaiserburg Nurnberg). On the way we stopped at the house of the Nuremberg publisher show first printer the work of Nicolaus Copernicus.
Once we reached the Kaiserburg Nurnberg, our guide left us and we explored the castle on our own. We were walking with another couple from our group, fellow Americans from Texas who were traveling in direction, reverse to ours, heading to Berlin from Munich.
The German National Museum (Germanisches Nationalmuseum)
Website: http://www.gnm.de
Entrance: € 8
After exploring the Castle and its premises, we started walking back to the hotel. We had a reservation in the restaurant at 7PM, and wanted to freshen up and change before our dinner. On the way we stopped at the German National Museum, the largest museum of the German culture, arts and crafts in the country. We did not plan coming here, but our guide highly recommended it, saying that this museum is the only one in Nuremberg that has Durer’s paining. In addition to Durer, there were paintings of Rembrandt and Feit Stoss, but what I liked the most was the collection of musical instruments. Just great! There were are least 30 mini-pianos!
Dinner with Dürer and walking under the blue moon
As I said before, in each town and region we visited, we tried to sample the local delicacies. Here, IN Nuremberg, I found a highly recommended restaurant Albrecht Duerer Stube (http://www.albrecht-duerer-stube.de/welcome). Booking in this restaurant must be done very well in advance, so I phoned and booked a table about a month before the trip. When we arrived, the restaurant was packed! Out table was tiny, just for two people, but next to Dürer’s self-portrait, so it seemed there was a dinner for three of us. The waitresses were dressed in national costumes, always smiling, attentive, in general service was "with care”. I , of course, ordered the Nuremberg sausages and Dima had super delicious pork with crispy skin, yam-yam. And, you guess, asparagus
WE also had a dessert with the name I would never remember, but very tasty.The restaurant was near the Dürer house (hence the name), next to the square we liked so much during the tour. When we finished our dinner and walk there, we saw a huge number of people sitting, standing and lying on the ground, smoking and drinking. We immediately joined, Dmitry joined those sitting and drinking, I those lying and smoking.
The reason for the festivities was the Blue Night in Nuremberg, when the streets and facades of buildings are lighted in bright blue. It happens each year in May, when the Old Town changes its color to blue with different installations reflected in castle walls and other artistic presentations. For example in the main square this year there was an installation with cubes filled with water and changing colors. The most interesting that the sculpture was interactive: everyone could connect through the app in a mobile phone and displays glowed the same colors as the installation (http://www.balestraberlin.com).
For my husband though was the fact that local MacDonald was selling…. beer. Not sure it was only today , but who cares? The main thing is that, as it was great to be a part of this and be surrounded by happy people having super fun!
Jul 25th, 2016, 12:38 AM
#29
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>We got the impression that Franconians do not consider themselves Bavarians and do not like when they are called as such.
How true! Thank you for your support of the Freedom for Franconia movement!
As for the Czech waiters: Franconia has a common border with the Czech Republic and Germans and Czechs have a long standing common share of working ethics and cultural traditions, so Czechs are much valued employees.
How true! Thank you for your support of the Freedom for Franconia movement!
As for the Czech waiters: Franconia has a common border with the Czech Republic and Germans and Czechs have a long standing common share of working ethics and cultural traditions, so Czechs are much valued employees.
Jul 25th, 2016, 07:02 AM
#30
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>> As for the Czech waiters: Franconia has a common border with the Czech Republic and Germans and Czechs have a long standing common share of working ethics and cultural traditions, so Czechs are much valued employees.<<
Yes! They were all very nice ! The guy we met in our hotel restaurant in Nuremberg the first night was particularly friendly. He was younger then us but still old enough to remember our "eastern block" past so we have a very long interesting conversation with him sharing our memories. He was giving us his personal attention during the breakfast every morning.
Yes! They were all very nice ! The guy we met in our hotel restaurant in Nuremberg the first night was particularly friendly. He was younger then us but still old enough to remember our "eastern block" past so we have a very long interesting conversation with him sharing our memories. He was giving us his personal attention during the breakfast every morning.
Jul 25th, 2016, 06:35 PM
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The ninth day - May 8th, Sunday. Romancing the Romantic road.
We came to the hotel after midnight last night, so today we woke up late by our standards. Our plans included visiting Würzburg and, if time permits, Bamberg. We decided to make up lost time by not having breakfast in the hotel, instead to make our first stop at the local winery Weinstuben Juliusspital (http://www.juliusspital.de/weingut/e...ide/index.html), where, in addition to breakfast you can taste local wines.
If Nuremberg is a well known city, the rest of the Franconian towns were new to us and we had never heard about them until we started planning this trip. After we created the itinerary and identified all sights we wanted to see, we felt well prepared, but missed one important detail, where to park a car. We live in New York City where parking, like probably in any big city, is the biggest headache. But this problem does not exist in small american towns, you can practically park anywhere you want. In Germany it’s quite different. Free parking on the street in small towns, especially in the Altstadt (Old Town) is practically impossible. We faced this problem as soon as we arrived in Würzburg, trying to find any space to squeeze in our car. People looked at us with horror watching how we were doing U-turns on narrow streets desperate for a spot. There were no parking, period. The only spots available were for residents, or for people with disabilities, or only for a limited, usually very short, duration. To make it worse the parking signs in the US and in Europe are very different, so we frantically tried to recall the parking signs we learned for our first driver license a quarter century ago in Russia.
We quickly learned that our only option, especially with car of the size of ours, was to park in a paid garage and going forward we always were looking for a sign “Altstadt parking” in all towns we visited.
Resolving our parking problem, we did not have time for breakfast, only for quick wine tasting, otherwise we would’ve been late for the 11AM English tour in Würzburg Residence. But when we came we learned that the tour was cancelled, and the next was at 1:30 PM only. We bought tickets for that tour and went for a walk around a town, where were so many sights to see.
St. Kilian Cathedral (Dom St.Killian)
Website: http://www.dom-wuerzburg.de
Free admission
Our first stop was the Dom St.Killian, the Würzburg’s main cathedral. Before going inside, we stopped at a nice cafe right in front of it and finally had a bite. It was Sunday, there was a service in the cathedral and it was a completely different experience seeing it “in action”, so to speak. We stayed quiet, listen for organ music and singing, and waited until the service ended before taking a walk around. The cathedral is very beautiful, bright with stunning moldings, murals and stucco. This brought us back a good mood and we forgot about morning parking troubles and cancelled tour.
Marktplatz, the main square of Würzburg.
After the cathedral we strolled towards Marktplatz attracted by sounds of music, where we again found a street fair. It seems like Germans have festivities every Sunday regardless if there is any national or local holiday (Well, today was May 8th, but hardly doubt that Germans celebrated a Victory day Unlike Dresden, I did not found anything interesting to buy (to my husband’s relief), so we just gathered with locals, and took pictures of buildings surrounding the square, the Rathaus and a cute Marienkapelle. Watching the people reinforced my impression of Germans as fun-loving people able to relax and enjoy the day. I always thought of them robotic and boring. Completely changed my mind, completely.
Then we came to the Alte Mainbruke, the beautiful bridge over the river Main, but did not cross it, it was time to go back for the tour.
Würzburger Residenz
Website: http: //www.residenz-wuerzburg.de
Entrance: € 7.50
The main Würzburg attraction, the Residence, was heavily damaged in 1945, but the main staircase and the entrance hall with 2 gorgeous ceilings, painted by the Italian painter Tiepolo, survived. Destroyed rooms of the palace were restored from old paintings and photographs, but furniture was not original, but of the same period.
I strongly advise everyone to take a tour, because only half of the palace can be seen on their own, but the most interesting rooms open only for guided tours.
The main staircase leads to the first floor room with painted ceilings.
Remember I said that each new palace we visited seemed more and more beautiful? This palace just made my jaw dropped from the beauty we saw. It was truly amazing. Be ready for the pain in your neck from viewing details on the ceiling frescoes featuring four continents, known at that time, with Europe as a source of enlightenment, and backward undeveloped Africa and America (well, well).
The next hall sparkles with gold, paintings, tapestries, followed by the room with only two colors: white and gray, but due to the complexity of detail and magnificent stucco impossible not to admire. The last room commuter by the tour, the Mirror room, is just the apotheosis of luxury decoration of gilded plaster and painted mirrors wall to wall and floor to ceiling.
Photos are not allowed in the Residence, even for a fee, but it was a blessing in disguise. I finally just enjoyed the sight without worrying of taking pictures. I suggest you to do the same, be sure to come and see with their own eyes and enjoy!
After enjoying the Residence, we went to its park, sopping at the small but very nice Chapel (Hofkirche) on our way. The park around the Residence is absolutely worth a visit, especially in spring when a lot blooming flowers. We strolled on beautiful park alleys and paths and once again enjoy the amazing architecture of the palace! Surrounded by a large ornamental gates, statues, trees and alleys, it was a magnificent sight!
Marienberg Fortress (Festung Marineberg)
Website: http: //www.schloesser.bayern.de/deutsch/schloss/objekte/wu_fest.htm
Entrance: € 6.00 (Museum)
The fortress was our last stop in Würzburg. It is situated on a hill on the other side of the Main, and hesitated to walk or to drive. It was a terribly hot to walk, but again if we use a car we have to look for parking ... Laziness won and we decided to get there by car, so you do not have to come back to get it.
We found parking (free!) not far from the fortress, but the spot was so tiny, but we are New Yorkers! Parking a car in the smallest tiniest places is our skill practiced to perfection by severity and ruthlessness of the New York parking police. We attracted the crowd watching the virtuosity by Dmitry squeezing our car into that spot! After leaving at half a millimeter on both sides of the car and earning applause from the crowd, we rushed to the fortress only to find a half-empty parking lot for visitors. Damn, at least we saved a few euros ...
WE walked around the fortress can be free. It had interesting medieval architecture, but the of this sight is a magnificent view of the city from its walls. There is a museum here with a collection of tapestries, furniture and jewelry, nice stop if you have time. I especially liked the sculpture where the artist used marble and dark wood, very unusual and beautiful. Do not miss a visit to this fortress, it was a crowning moment of our acquaintance with Würzburg.
Bamberg, the Franconian Venice.
It was about 6 pm, and we were hungry. We decided to drive to Bamberg, take a walk in around an Old Town and then have a dinner there. Dima wanted to go back to Nuremberg, as he wanted to have dinner with a glass of beer, without worrying about driving. But I won (who would doubt
On our way to Bamberg I opened my guidebook and started reading what are the local food in this region. I was surprised to find Franconia is known for fish, a perch and catfish. Before this trip I did not associated the German cuisine with fish! So here we go, we will eat fish! In addition, Bamberg is famous for its smoked beer.
I've never been to Venice and do not know my comparison holds any water, but this is the first that came to mind when we arrived in Bamberg.
Our first stop there was the square with the Cathedral. It was Sunday evening, and the area was completely empty and mysterious with the sun starting setting down. Then, having learned from experience, we quickly found a parking lot and went for a walk through the old town, situated on the banks of numerous branches of the river Regnitz, with overhanging houses over the water(hence the comparison with Venice).
Walking around the half-empty town, we came to the cafe, where we finished the day with perch and Schlenkerla (Bamberg smoked beer). Just a little, allowed to drive
We came to the hotel after midnight last night, so today we woke up late by our standards. Our plans included visiting Würzburg and, if time permits, Bamberg. We decided to make up lost time by not having breakfast in the hotel, instead to make our first stop at the local winery Weinstuben Juliusspital (http://www.juliusspital.de/weingut/e...ide/index.html), where, in addition to breakfast you can taste local wines.
If Nuremberg is a well known city, the rest of the Franconian towns were new to us and we had never heard about them until we started planning this trip. After we created the itinerary and identified all sights we wanted to see, we felt well prepared, but missed one important detail, where to park a car. We live in New York City where parking, like probably in any big city, is the biggest headache. But this problem does not exist in small american towns, you can practically park anywhere you want. In Germany it’s quite different. Free parking on the street in small towns, especially in the Altstadt (Old Town) is practically impossible. We faced this problem as soon as we arrived in Würzburg, trying to find any space to squeeze in our car. People looked at us with horror watching how we were doing U-turns on narrow streets desperate for a spot. There were no parking, period. The only spots available were for residents, or for people with disabilities, or only for a limited, usually very short, duration. To make it worse the parking signs in the US and in Europe are very different, so we frantically tried to recall the parking signs we learned for our first driver license a quarter century ago in Russia.
We quickly learned that our only option, especially with car of the size of ours, was to park in a paid garage and going forward we always were looking for a sign “Altstadt parking” in all towns we visited.
Resolving our parking problem, we did not have time for breakfast, only for quick wine tasting, otherwise we would’ve been late for the 11AM English tour in Würzburg Residence. But when we came we learned that the tour was cancelled, and the next was at 1:30 PM only. We bought tickets for that tour and went for a walk around a town, where were so many sights to see.
St. Kilian Cathedral (Dom St.Killian)
Website: http://www.dom-wuerzburg.de
Free admission
Our first stop was the Dom St.Killian, the Würzburg’s main cathedral. Before going inside, we stopped at a nice cafe right in front of it and finally had a bite. It was Sunday, there was a service in the cathedral and it was a completely different experience seeing it “in action”, so to speak. We stayed quiet, listen for organ music and singing, and waited until the service ended before taking a walk around. The cathedral is very beautiful, bright with stunning moldings, murals and stucco. This brought us back a good mood and we forgot about morning parking troubles and cancelled tour.
Marktplatz, the main square of Würzburg.
After the cathedral we strolled towards Marktplatz attracted by sounds of music, where we again found a street fair. It seems like Germans have festivities every Sunday regardless if there is any national or local holiday (Well, today was May 8th, but hardly doubt that Germans celebrated a Victory day
Unlike Dresden, I did not found anything interesting to buy (to my husband’s relief), so we just gathered with locals, and took pictures of buildings surrounding the square, the Rathaus and a cute Marienkapelle. Watching the people reinforced my impression of Germans as fun-loving people able to relax and enjoy the day. I always thought of them robotic and boring. Completely changed my mind, completely.Then we came to the Alte Mainbruke, the beautiful bridge over the river Main, but did not cross it, it was time to go back for the tour.
Würzburger Residenz
Website: http: //www.residenz-wuerzburg.de
Entrance: € 7.50
The main Würzburg attraction, the Residence, was heavily damaged in 1945, but the main staircase and the entrance hall with 2 gorgeous ceilings, painted by the Italian painter Tiepolo, survived. Destroyed rooms of the palace were restored from old paintings and photographs, but furniture was not original, but of the same period.
I strongly advise everyone to take a tour, because only half of the palace can be seen on their own, but the most interesting rooms open only for guided tours.
The main staircase leads to the first floor room with painted ceilings.
Remember I said that each new palace we visited seemed more and more beautiful? This palace just made my jaw dropped from the beauty we saw. It was truly amazing. Be ready for the pain in your neck from viewing details on the ceiling frescoes featuring four continents, known at that time, with Europe as a source of enlightenment, and backward undeveloped Africa and America (well, well).
The next hall sparkles with gold, paintings, tapestries, followed by the room with only two colors: white and gray, but due to the complexity of detail and magnificent stucco impossible not to admire. The last room commuter by the tour, the Mirror room, is just the apotheosis of luxury decoration of gilded plaster and painted mirrors wall to wall and floor to ceiling.
Photos are not allowed in the Residence, even for a fee, but it was a blessing in disguise. I finally just enjoyed the sight without worrying of taking pictures. I suggest you to do the same, be sure to come and see with their own eyes and enjoy!
After enjoying the Residence, we went to its park, sopping at the small but very nice Chapel (Hofkirche) on our way. The park around the Residence is absolutely worth a visit, especially in spring when a lot blooming flowers. We strolled on beautiful park alleys and paths and once again enjoy the amazing architecture of the palace! Surrounded by a large ornamental gates, statues, trees and alleys, it was a magnificent sight!
Marienberg Fortress (Festung Marineberg)
Website: http: //www.schloesser.bayern.de/deutsch/schloss/objekte/wu_fest.htm
Entrance: € 6.00 (Museum)
The fortress was our last stop in Würzburg. It is situated on a hill on the other side of the Main, and hesitated to walk or to drive. It was a terribly hot to walk, but again if we use a car we have to look for parking ... Laziness won and we decided to get there by car, so you do not have to come back to get it.
We found parking (free!) not far from the fortress, but the spot was so tiny, but we are New Yorkers! Parking a car in the smallest tiniest places is our skill practiced to perfection by severity and ruthlessness of the New York parking police. We attracted the crowd watching the virtuosity by Dmitry squeezing our car into that spot! After leaving at half a millimeter on both sides of the car and earning applause from the crowd, we rushed to the fortress only to find a half-empty parking lot for visitors. Damn, at least we saved a few euros ...
WE walked around the fortress can be free. It had interesting medieval architecture, but the of this sight is a magnificent view of the city from its walls. There is a museum here with a collection of tapestries, furniture and jewelry, nice stop if you have time. I especially liked the sculpture where the artist used marble and dark wood, very unusual and beautiful. Do not miss a visit to this fortress, it was a crowning moment of our acquaintance with Würzburg.
Bamberg, the Franconian Venice.
It was about 6 pm, and we were hungry. We decided to drive to Bamberg, take a walk in around an Old Town and then have a dinner there. Dima wanted to go back to Nuremberg, as he wanted to have dinner with a glass of beer, without worrying about driving. But I won (who would doubt
On our way to Bamberg I opened my guidebook and started reading what are the local food in this region. I was surprised to find Franconia is known for fish, a perch and catfish. Before this trip I did not associated the German cuisine with fish! So here we go, we will eat fish! In addition, Bamberg is famous for its smoked beer.I've never been to Venice and do not know my comparison holds any water, but this is the first that came to mind when we arrived in Bamberg.
Our first stop there was the square with the Cathedral. It was Sunday evening, and the area was completely empty and mysterious with the sun starting setting down. Then, having learned from experience, we quickly found a parking lot and went for a walk through the old town, situated on the banks of numerous branches of the river Regnitz, with overhanging houses over the water(hence the comparison with Venice).
Walking around the half-empty town, we came to the cafe, where we finished the day with perch and Schlenkerla (Bamberg smoked beer). Just a little, allowed to drive
Jul 26th, 2016, 12:12 PM
#34
Sadly, Fetinia, the only sight we managed to take in was the Dom, but we were lucky to be there on a Friday lunchtime when it transpired that they have an organ recital, so we spent a delightful 30 mins or so listening to the wonderful playing of their organist. the website tells you all about the organ which I think is particularly fine one.
I had clearly failed to do my research about Wuerzburg as we managed to miss both the Resident and the Festung but I'm not sure that it would have made a great deal of difference if I had as we only had a very limited time there, en route from Bamberg [where we spent 2 nights] to our friends in Landau on the other side of the Rhein. If I say that our itinerary had us crossing the Rhein from east to west on a Friday evening, and going back across it again from west to east on a Monday morning, you will see that some of my trip planning was less than stellar.
FWIW though we liked Bamberg, any resemblance to Venice would be easily dispelled by a visit to Venice itself which I strongly recommend.
I had clearly failed to do my research about Wuerzburg as we managed to miss both the Resident and the Festung but I'm not sure that it would have made a great deal of difference if I had as we only had a very limited time there, en route from Bamberg [where we spent 2 nights] to our friends in Landau on the other side of the Rhein. If I say that our itinerary had us crossing the Rhein from east to west on a Friday evening, and going back across it again from west to east on a Monday morning, you will see that some of my trip planning was less than stellar.
FWIW though we liked Bamberg, any resemblance to Venice would be easily dispelled by a visit to Venice itself which I strongly recommend.
Jul 26th, 2016, 12:56 PM
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>FWIW though we liked Bamberg, any resemblance to Venice would be easily dispelled by a visit to Venice itself which I strongly recommend.<
I know, I know, lol. I am actually going to Venice in December, so we'll update if my comparison is valid.
I know, I know, lol. I am actually going to Venice in December, so we'll update if my comparison is valid.
Jul 26th, 2016, 01:31 PM
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We'll go to Rome (12/24 - 12/27), Florence (12/28-12/29) and Venice (12/30 - 01/01) for my mom's 80-s birthday (she is a Christmas baby). This is my gift to her, as she always wanted to go to Italy.
I'll probably do a trip report as well for that trip.
I'll probably do a trip report as well for that trip.
Jul 26th, 2016, 06:56 PM
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Tenth Day - May 9th, Monday. Arrive As Strangers, Leave As Friends!
Internet suddenly stopped working that morning. I have a relatively new iMac, so I could not blame it on my hardware, and yesterday everything was just fine. Each website was taking 15 min to open, like it was 20 years ago. I called a front desk and they sent a technician. His excuse was that too many people were online this morning hence the traffic. How can it be that in the 21st century, the internet was crawling like a snail? The man asked if we tried our handy. A handy, what’s that? It turned out that is how Germans call a mobile phone. They borrowed an English word but used it in a totally different meaning.
Internet worked OK on my "Handy", but I needed it on my Mac! Under pressure, the technician gave me the access to the faster server.
When leaving the guy said something that sounded like “cheers”. At first we thought that was another example of the unconventional use of the English word. But then we googled (the internet was fast by then!) and found that was a word “Tschüss”, meaning “buy” in German.
Anyway, today was our last day in Franconia and our plans included visiting another town, located nearby, Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Although all Franconia towns are located very close to each other and have a lot in common, each of them has a unique charm: Nuremberg where dark medieval and Nazi past balanced by the unique atmosphere of a vibrant city, Wurzburg with its stunning and elegant Residenz, Bamberg where every other building was a candidate for a postcard. And what was unique in Rothenburg? That was what we had to find out today.
Our quest began with a walk on a well-preserved wall surrounding the Old City. We parked near the southern tower Spital (Spitalbastei) for 3 euro for the whole day, so no parking troubles that morning. There we climbed the stairs to the tower and walked all way to the Klingenbastei. It was fun and exciting way to explore the town and its inhabitants. We were at the level of tiled roofs peering to the private patios and observing the daily life of Rothenburgers. On the other side of the wall we could see through the embrasures overlooking the fields and the modern part of the town.
Then we came down and walked on the street toward the main square stopping at numerous small stores. I bought myself cool shoes. My husband immediate reaction was “I am not going to carry it!” Not a big deal, I threw the box, tucked shoes into my backpack and moved on. It was much worse when I bought a painting, good it was not framed. Dmitry is very resourceful, so he rolled it and tied to his backpack, so it did not bother us for the rest of a day.
Imperial City Museum (Reichsstadtmuseum)
Website: http://www.reichsstadtmuseum.rothenburg.de/index.php Id = 51
Entrance fee: 4.5 € + 3.0 € for photo permit
This museum is located in the former convent of the Dominican order, in the 700-year-old building that was very well preserved: the cells, a dining room and a kitchen. There were interesting medieval paintings and a collection of utensils, but we especially liked the huge armory hall.
St.-Jakobs-Kirche
Website: http://www.rothenburgtauber-evangeli.../jakobskirche/
Entrance to the 2nd floor: 2 €
This Gothic basilica would’ve been no different than many others we had seen before and after, if not for its main attraction: Altar of the Holy Blood, located on the 2nd floor. This is quite a unique example of wood carving, both in size and attention to detail. I strongly recommend spend 2 € to see this work of art.
Here we bumped into our fellow countrymen from Texas who we met on a tour in Nuremberg. We were happy to see each other, we sat down and shared our experience in Germany so far, showed each other photos of children and dogs. We told them about Bamberg, showed them pictures and they were impressed and decided to go there tomorrow. Very nice friendly people, like indeed the majority of Americans.
Guided walking tour
Website: http://www.tourismus.rothenburg.de/index.php?id=517
Price: 8 €
The Texans went to the Museum of Torture, where we were going later today, and we rushed to the Market Square. There were a 45-minute sightseeing tour in English starting at 2PM there. Our guide was a very talkative guy, originally from the northern city of Hanover. But as often happens, such transplants are even more patriotic than the natives, and he was a very extreme case. He got offended when I ask if that was a Bavarian flag on the top of the Rathaus? Of course not, it is a Franconia flag! He ridiculed Bavarians beer lovers as low class, not being able to appreciate the delicate taste of good wine. But at the same thing he had tons of knowledge, and most importantly a lot of entertaining stories about the city and its winemaking traditions. He showed us the traditional bottle of the Rothenburg wine shaped the same as city boundaries on a map.
He took us to the St.-Jakobs church , then to the park Byurgarten where we admired the magnificent views over the town. On our way back I overheard our guide talking to an American from Las Vegas and they discussed Baden-Baden, “where Russians, probably Mafia, bought everything." Sigh….. This is a story of my life: when I am in Russia, I defend America from those who have never been in the United States, but listen too much of the government-run TV and blame America for all their problems. In America, on the contrary, I defend Russia arguing with those who form their opinion about Russia and Russians based on Hollywood movies and outdated cold war anecdotes. Anyway, I intervened and educated both gentlemen that Baden-Baden has historically been loved and often visited by the Russian aristocracy starting more than 200 years ago, and these days, not all Russians who come there are gangsters. Surprisingly, our guide became much nicer to me, started joking and in the end gave us an advice which Franconian wine we should buy. I am not a big fan of white wine, so he suggested the good red wines and recommended a good restaurant frequented by locals. At the end we parted good friends.
City Hall (Rathaus)
Website: http://www.tourismus.rothenburg.de/s...e/rathausturm/
Price: 4 €
We returned to the Marktplatz, where we realized that it had been awhile since we climbed any kind of tower. Our guide suggested to go up to the Rathaus tower located here. The tower was 60 meters (196 feet) tall and the last steps are basically a ladder, comparing to our previous adventures it was a piece of cake. The top platform was so small it could fit no more than 3-4 people the most, but the weather was great and it was fun watching people below.
After getting down, we continued our way down the Schmiedgasse, on the way again stopping in the souvenir shops, where we finally bought a beer mug exactly the way my husband was looking for. I bought another painting, this time framed, and, well, a lot of other souvenirs. The store had a shipping service to the US and we took advantage of it. The package came a week after our return.
Medieval Crime Museum (Mittelalterliches Kriminalmuseum)
Website: http://www.kriminalmuseum.eu
Entrance fee: 7 €
I have to say, we found nothing particularly scary or disgusting in the Medieval Crime Museum (or also called Museum of Torture). This is a museum of criminology, where there are a lot of documents explaining how the law practiced , justice system worked and executions carried out in the Middle Ages. Of course there was a big variety of instruments of torture and the death penalty exhibited. In general, my feeling after the visiting this museum was thanks God I was not born at that time.
After the museum, we continued walking down the street to the most visited points of this town, the Plonlein, the beautiful picturesque spot at the intersection of Untere Schmiedgass and Kobolzellerseig. There we took mandatory photos, and then went to the nearest liquor store to buy recommended Franconia wine before all stores are closed. We bought 2 bottles of Franconian wines: recommended Domina and my favorite dessert wine, though terribly expensive, Icewine.
Eat Like Locals, With Locals!
Following our guide advice, we found the restaurant, very popular with local Altfrankische Weinstube (http://www.altfraenkische-weinstube-rothenburg.de). We were offered a choice to seat inside at a separate table or outside in a common table where there were already six locals, both men and women. Of course , we chose the latter.
What can I say, we were not disappointed! The service was very effecient, although our watress was very serious, not a glimpse of smile, stonefaced. It does not matter, as already mentioned, the service was very efficient. Germans at the table politely said hello, smiled, but then continued conversing in German. I’s a very big difference between the Americans and the Germans: the Americans are very sociable, and the Germans are very reserved: they are very polite and helpful when asked, but would never initiate to continue a conversation. One of the ladies advised me with my menu choice though: a very unusual German pasta, more like elongated gnocchi with mushroom sauce, Yum!
Soon another couple joined our table, this time Americans from Wisconsin. They introduced themselves and paused waiting for a response. My thought was “nice try”. As expected the Germans said hello, smiled, …. and continued talking to each other in German. I felt sorry for the fellow countrymen, and came to the rescue by introducing myself and starting a conversation. For the first five minutes, because we have an accent , they thought we were Germans, lol. But then the conversation was around children, jobs, Donald Trump, impressions about German attractions etc. We finished like 3 bottles of wine, and after some time, the ice was broken and Germans joined our conversation and we toasted. We even managed to squeeze some sort of smile from our waitress!
BY the way , it was Victory day in Russia, and here we are, sitting at the same table with the former allies and former foes, drinking and laughing, on the last day in a wonderful Franconia.
Cheers, Franconia, za zdorovie!
Tschüss, Franconia, see you next time!
Internet suddenly stopped working that morning. I have a relatively new iMac, so I could not blame it on my hardware, and yesterday everything was just fine. Each website was taking 15 min to open, like it was 20 years ago. I called a front desk and they sent a technician. His excuse was that too many people were online this morning hence the traffic. How can it be that in the 21st century, the internet was crawling like a snail? The man asked if we tried our handy. A handy, what’s that? It turned out that is how Germans call a mobile phone. They borrowed an English word but used it in a totally different meaning.
Internet worked OK on my "Handy", but I needed it on my Mac! Under pressure, the technician gave me the access to the faster server.
When leaving the guy said something that sounded like “cheers”. At first we thought that was another example of the unconventional use of the English word. But then we googled (the internet was fast by then!) and found that was a word “Tschüss”, meaning “buy” in German.
Anyway, today was our last day in Franconia and our plans included visiting another town, located nearby, Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Although all Franconia towns are located very close to each other and have a lot in common, each of them has a unique charm: Nuremberg where dark medieval and Nazi past balanced by the unique atmosphere of a vibrant city, Wurzburg with its stunning and elegant Residenz, Bamberg where every other building was a candidate for a postcard. And what was unique in Rothenburg? That was what we had to find out today.
Our quest began with a walk on a well-preserved wall surrounding the Old City. We parked near the southern tower Spital (Spitalbastei) for 3 euro for the whole day, so no parking troubles that morning. There we climbed the stairs to the tower and walked all way to the Klingenbastei. It was fun and exciting way to explore the town and its inhabitants. We were at the level of tiled roofs peering to the private patios and observing the daily life of Rothenburgers. On the other side of the wall we could see through the embrasures overlooking the fields and the modern part of the town.
Then we came down and walked on the street toward the main square stopping at numerous small stores. I bought myself cool shoes. My husband immediate reaction was “I am not going to carry it!” Not a big deal, I threw the box, tucked shoes into my backpack and moved on. It was much worse when I bought a painting, good it was not framed. Dmitry is very resourceful, so he rolled it and tied to his backpack, so it did not bother us for the rest of a day.
Imperial City Museum (Reichsstadtmuseum)
Website: http://www.reichsstadtmuseum.rothenburg.de/index.php Id = 51
Entrance fee: 4.5 € + 3.0 € for photo permit
This museum is located in the former convent of the Dominican order, in the 700-year-old building that was very well preserved: the cells, a dining room and a kitchen. There were interesting medieval paintings and a collection of utensils, but we especially liked the huge armory hall.
St.-Jakobs-Kirche
Website: http://www.rothenburgtauber-evangeli.../jakobskirche/
Entrance to the 2nd floor: 2 €
This Gothic basilica would’ve been no different than many others we had seen before and after, if not for its main attraction: Altar of the Holy Blood, located on the 2nd floor. This is quite a unique example of wood carving, both in size and attention to detail. I strongly recommend spend 2 € to see this work of art.
Here we bumped into our fellow countrymen from Texas who we met on a tour in Nuremberg. We were happy to see each other, we sat down and shared our experience in Germany so far, showed each other photos of children and dogs. We told them about Bamberg, showed them pictures and they were impressed and decided to go there tomorrow. Very nice friendly people, like indeed the majority of Americans.
Guided walking tour
Website: http://www.tourismus.rothenburg.de/index.php?id=517
Price: 8 €
The Texans went to the Museum of Torture, where we were going later today, and we rushed to the Market Square. There were a 45-minute sightseeing tour in English starting at 2PM there. Our guide was a very talkative guy, originally from the northern city of Hanover. But as often happens, such transplants are even more patriotic than the natives, and he was a very extreme case. He got offended when I ask if that was a Bavarian flag on the top of the Rathaus? Of course not, it is a Franconia flag! He ridiculed Bavarians beer lovers as low class, not being able to appreciate the delicate taste of good wine. But at the same thing he had tons of knowledge, and most importantly a lot of entertaining stories about the city and its winemaking traditions. He showed us the traditional bottle of the Rothenburg wine shaped the same as city boundaries on a map.
He took us to the St.-Jakobs church , then to the park Byurgarten where we admired the magnificent views over the town. On our way back I overheard our guide talking to an American from Las Vegas and they discussed Baden-Baden, “where Russians, probably Mafia, bought everything." Sigh….. This is a story of my life: when I am in Russia, I defend America from those who have never been in the United States, but listen too much of the government-run TV and blame America for all their problems. In America, on the contrary, I defend Russia arguing with those who form their opinion about Russia and Russians based on Hollywood movies and outdated cold war anecdotes. Anyway, I intervened and educated both gentlemen that Baden-Baden has historically been loved and often visited by the Russian aristocracy starting more than 200 years ago, and these days, not all Russians who come there are gangsters. Surprisingly, our guide became much nicer to me, started joking and in the end gave us an advice which Franconian wine we should buy. I am not a big fan of white wine, so he suggested the good red wines and recommended a good restaurant frequented by locals. At the end we parted good friends.
City Hall (Rathaus)
Website: http://www.tourismus.rothenburg.de/s...e/rathausturm/
Price: 4 €
We returned to the Marktplatz, where we realized that it had been awhile since we climbed any kind of tower. Our guide suggested to go up to the Rathaus tower located here. The tower was 60 meters (196 feet) tall and the last steps are basically a ladder, comparing to our previous adventures it was a piece of cake. The top platform was so small it could fit no more than 3-4 people the most, but the weather was great and it was fun watching people below.
After getting down, we continued our way down the Schmiedgasse, on the way again stopping in the souvenir shops, where we finally bought a beer mug exactly the way my husband was looking for. I bought another painting, this time framed, and, well, a lot of other souvenirs. The store had a shipping service to the US and we took advantage of it. The package came a week after our return.
Medieval Crime Museum (Mittelalterliches Kriminalmuseum)
Website: http://www.kriminalmuseum.eu
Entrance fee: 7 €
I have to say, we found nothing particularly scary or disgusting in the Medieval Crime Museum (or also called Museum of Torture). This is a museum of criminology, where there are a lot of documents explaining how the law practiced , justice system worked and executions carried out in the Middle Ages. Of course there was a big variety of instruments of torture and the death penalty exhibited. In general, my feeling after the visiting this museum was thanks God I was not born at that time.
After the museum, we continued walking down the street to the most visited points of this town, the Plonlein, the beautiful picturesque spot at the intersection of Untere Schmiedgass and Kobolzellerseig. There we took mandatory photos, and then went to the nearest liquor store to buy recommended Franconia wine before all stores are closed. We bought 2 bottles of Franconian wines: recommended Domina and my favorite dessert wine, though terribly expensive, Icewine.
Eat Like Locals, With Locals!
Following our guide advice, we found the restaurant, very popular with local Altfrankische Weinstube (http://www.altfraenkische-weinstube-rothenburg.de). We were offered a choice to seat inside at a separate table or outside in a common table where there were already six locals, both men and women. Of course , we chose the latter.
What can I say, we were not disappointed! The service was very effecient, although our watress was very serious, not a glimpse of smile, stonefaced. It does not matter, as already mentioned, the service was very efficient. Germans at the table politely said hello, smiled, but then continued conversing in German. I’s a very big difference between the Americans and the Germans: the Americans are very sociable, and the Germans are very reserved: they are very polite and helpful when asked, but would never initiate to continue a conversation. One of the ladies advised me with my menu choice though: a very unusual German pasta, more like elongated gnocchi with mushroom sauce, Yum!
Soon another couple joined our table, this time Americans from Wisconsin. They introduced themselves and paused waiting for a response. My thought was “nice try”. As expected the Germans said hello, smiled, …. and continued talking to each other in German. I felt sorry for the fellow countrymen, and came to the rescue by introducing myself and starting a conversation. For the first five minutes, because we have an accent , they thought we were Germans, lol. But then the conversation was around children, jobs, Donald Trump, impressions about German attractions etc. We finished like 3 bottles of wine, and after some time, the ice was broken and Germans joined our conversation and we toasted. We even managed to squeeze some sort of smile from our waitress!
BY the way , it was Victory day in Russia, and here we are, sitting at the same table with the former allies and former foes, drinking and laughing, on the last day in a wonderful Franconia.
Cheers, Franconia, za zdorovie!
Tschüss, Franconia, see you next time!
Jul 26th, 2016, 10:51 PM
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>>a very unusual German pasta, more like elongated gnocchi<< Schupfnudeln
>>the Germans are very reserved: they are very polite and helpful when asked, but would never initiate to continue a conversation<<
more shy than reserved, especially when struggling with a foreign language
>>the Germans are very reserved: they are very polite and helpful when asked, but would never initiate to continue a conversation<<
more shy than reserved, especially when struggling with a foreign language
