The Zeppelin Tribune
 |
| Zeppelin Tribune |
was where the rallies were held, with up to 400,000 people. We also passed the Palace of Justice where the Nürnberg Trials were held in 1945.
Next we headed into the old town. The Kaiserburg (Imperial Castle) is made up of parts belonging to the Babenbergs, to the Holy Roman Emperors, and city council. Below, the 1495 Imperial Stables (now a youth hostel) sits between a 14th century city council tower, and a Babenberg (1050) tower.
 |
| Imperial Stables |
The castle was impregnable with a deep moat
 |
| Deep moat |
and a curved entry bridge.
 |
| Curved entry |
We had a hazy view over the city of Nürnberg.
 |
| View from the Imperial Castle |
Deeper in the castle were the women's quarters, which was the only section to be heated.
 |
| Women's quarters |
We had to be careful when we left the castle and took a steep path downhill in slush and snow.
 |
| Leaving the Imperial Castle |
We kept going downhill towards the main square, past reconstructed 15th and 16th century houses. Unlike Passau and Regensburg, Nürnberg was a target of bombing, and was 90% destroyed. However, every effort was made to restore the inner city to its former glory. The
Fembohaus was the best-preserved patrician home, now a museum.
 |
| Fembohaus |
The Nürnberg Rathaus (City Hall) was very large and had three ornate portals.
 |
| View of City Hall towers |
 |
| City Hall portal |
We arrived in the main square, site of the world-famous
Christkindlmarkt (Christ Child Market, or Christmas market). Here our guide left us on our own to shop! There was a giant Christmas carousel (or Christmas pyramid).
 |
| Supersize Christmas carousel |
The
Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain)
 |
| Beautiful Fountain |
had a golden ring that you could spin three times for good luck.
 |
| Brynne spins the golden ring |
Creating a backdrop for the market was the
Frauenkirche (Our Lady's Church, late-Gothic, 1361).
 |
| Frauenkirche |
One of the signature items from the Nürnberger Christmas market were the prune people, made with dried fruits!
 |
| Prune people |
They are given for good luck on New Year's.
The market offered beautifully decorated cookies, and Lebkuchen.
 |
| Christmas cookies |
 |
| Lebkuchen |
There was
Glühwein (mulled wine) by the barrel (copper vat!) to keep you warm.
 |
| Glühwein stand |
 |
| Brynne and Kent keep warm |
Ornaments of all types;
 |
| Glass blown ornaments |
 |
| Straw ornaments |
We tried the other best sausage in Germany, the Nürnberger Bratwurst,
 |
| Grilling Nürnberger Bratwurst |
which comes three to a bun.After exploring the whole market, we had picked out where to purchase our Christmas decorations. But the process was very slow and we were late getting to the meeting point for the bus back to the boat. But they waited for us and we returned in time for dinner.
 |
| Brynne waves the German flag |
Tonight the dinner was German-themed.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
The disembarkation procedure was very organized. Brynne and Yuriko left at 4:30 AM, and Kent and Tamiko at 7:30 AM. Snow in Paris, and snow on the East Coast of the U.S. from DC to NYC snarled air traffic. Fortunately, Brynne and Yuriko were flying to Frankfurt, Germany, then to Chicago before arriving in Buffalo 2 hours late. Kent and Tamiko were delayed enough to miss their flight in Paris, but were able to catch a later flight. That made them miss their flight in Atlanta, but going standby on the next flight to Jacksonville got them home only 2 hours late. However, their luggage arrived 24 hours later!
The duty-free shop in Paris had large-print warnings:
 |
| Cigarette carton warnings |
This was the snow that tied up air traffic in Europe...
 |
| Snow at Paris airport |
The end of the Danube River Cruise.
No comments:
Post a Comment