Day 33 - Oh Nuremberg!

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Move over Gent, here comes Nuremburg. Wow, just Wow!
Rest day today and I spent it doing a self guided walk I found on "The Flashpacker" which took in the major sites of Old Town.
Nuremberg was part of the Roman Empire and was where the emperor would come on his holidays. The city is completely surrounded by an intact huge stone wall and the Imperial Castle stands on top of the hill at one end presiding over Old Town. Not only is the wall that surrounds the city intact, so is the outer wall which surrounds that. While some of it was destroyed by bombing in WWII it has been rebuilt seamlessly since then.
I could go on about the semi-wooden houses done in an eclectic mix of colours, the towers, the churches, the fountains, the monuments, bridges, cafes and restaurants, but instead, I'll simply add a heap of photos and you'll get the idea.
The other place I visited today was the Nuremberg Trials Museum. The Nuremberg Trials were the only thing I knew about Nuremberg before I came here, so this was something I wanted to do. The same court room that was used for the trials in 1946 is still in use today. To say the visit was sobering, and in some cases, quite confronting is an understatement. It certainly gives cause to stop and think of how different things could be today. There are numerous more museums (train, toy, arts, etc) that are here, a coleseum in better condition than the one in Rome and much more besides.
Bottom line, if you ever come to Germany try and make time to visit this amazingly wonderful city.
Tomorrow we are back on the bikes and heading to Belingres which is 78kms away on the canal. That's a big day for us so there's still the possibility that might change between now and tomorrow.

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Photos

Konigstor
Sandstone tower next to one of the 4 gates to the old city.

St Lawrence Church
The Annuciation, a sculpture by Viet Strobe, a Nuremberg native.

St Lawrence Church
Viet Strobe was vein enough to include this self portrait carving in the church complete with chisel in hand.

Holy Ghost Hospital
Donated by a wealthy resident in return for reward in the after life. I wonder how that went for him?

Schroner Brunnen
A fountain originally built to provide locals with clean drinking water.

The Executioners House
Shunned by the rest of the village, the ton executioner was provided with these rather grand lodgings.

St Sebald
Started in 1290 and completed in 1490. Sounds like the BLF were running the site!

The Dome of St Elizabeth Church
The dome rises 50 meters above the ground and is quite spectacular

Maxbrucke
The oldest stone bridge straddling the Pegnitz river built in 1824.

Sculpture of a giant rabbit
A modern take on "The Hare", an artwork by Albrecht Durer a contemporary of Michelangelo and the most celebrated local in Nuremberg.

Comments

[Gavin Erickson]

Nuremberg Looks Fab...
I've got some friends visiting Germany next month so I'll let them know how fab Nuremberg is. You're nearing the 2,000km mark, so you should celebrate with an extra coffee and an apple strudel when you do.

[Mark63]

Hit 2000kms today Gav, 3.4kms after leaving Regensburg. With over 90kms today the total moves on quickly. I think we're probably about half way distance wise across Europe now.