Blogs from Nuremberg (aka Nürnberg), Bavaria, Germany, Europe - page 3

Early breakfast. Pack bags for ship swap today. Departed 8.45am for Nuremberg about 4.5 hr drive. Comfort stop after 2.5 hrs then lunch stop in Nuremberg, good pizzas at Italian restaurant. Bit of walk around but not enough time. Bus city tour, stopping where the Nazi party rallies were held. Bus to TM Diamond then sailed for Bamberg at 5pm ... read more

This morning is spent on the Main-Danube Canal. This constructed waterway will take us over the continental divide and back down to the Main River on the other side. Consequently, there are serious locks to traverse as the ship is lifted higher and higher. We arrive in Nuremberg around 1:30 pm. We have selected yet another walking tour of the city. The alternative is a tour focused on World War II, including a visit to the city's WWII documentation centre, but that will be for another time. Nuremberg has been an important cultural and political centre in Germany for centuries. It is the birthplace of Albrecht Dürer and the setting of Wagner's Die Meistersinger. German kings from the 14th century onward traditionally held their diets here, and for over 300 years it was the keeper of ... read more

Jack's car will go up to 130 mph and maybe more. I know this from the short time my eyes were open during our drive from Vienna to Nuremberg on the Autobahn. Nuremberg is a quaint German city that has been rebuilt after World War II. I noticed a building with the verse Amos 9:11 painted as mural...a remembrance of what we can only hope as "never again". We shared a table with a wonderful couple from Argentina by way of Canada at Bratwurst Roslein. They met as architecture students in Buenos Aires who travelled to Germany to study a particular church. They'd visited this church today as a romantic reminder of their courtship and were just as smitten with the architecture and each other as they were as studnets. She was 80, he was 87. ... read more

Today the new X1 would get a breather. So far we had put on almost 500 miles in three days. Nürnberg is the ideal walking city. As usual the day started off with a big breakfast. I've already waxed poetic too often over the German Frühstück, but it truly is a highlight of each day for me. I don't usually bother with breakfast at home. Here I go crazy. The Smile hotels offerings were not a disappointment. All the goodies I love: soft-boiled eggs, hard rolls, fresh butter, tomato, cheese and plenty of meats for a nice sandwich. There is always some sort of fresh juice. And unlike Italy, in Germany you get real orange juice. Not Tang. This day would be another where our Fitbits got a nice workout. There would be no set route ... read more

The end of the road. Nuremburg. If the boat had been using a sat-nav/ GPS, we would have heard those famous words: ‘You have reached your final destination!!’ It started raining, although quite a mild temperature of 7 degrees Celsius. Our organised tour in to Nuremburg was not until 13:30 so we had the morning free to decide if we wanted to go. Other than the more popular ‘optional’ excursion of the WWII tour, one of the more unusual excursions was to a pencil factory!! Nuremberg, I understand, is the pencil capital of the world (not many places can claim that distinction!) for they don’t just have one pencil factory but Nuremberg is home to the two largest manufacturers and distributors of pencils in the world in Stædtler and Faber-Castell.As Stan Laurel once said ... read more