For those of you know that Nate has been in Alabama, you should know that he is home now! Well, he was home. Right now he is in Bavaria, but he should be home again soon. On Friday after my language class, we drove to Nürnberg (Nuremberg). The drive was long with the construction and all the lorries, but eventually we arrived in Nürnberg and checked into the Holiday Inn Nürnberg City. The hotel was very nice, especially for the price.
Nürnberg is a charming city in Bavaria, and can be known as a "quintessentially" German city. This is why, in 1927, Hitler chose Nürnberg as the city for its Nazi party rallies (again in 1929, and then annually 1933 through 1938). The Nuremberg Laws were passed during this era, which removed German citizenship from Jews and non-Aryans. Nuremberg was bombed to hell by the Allies from 1943-1945. On January 2, 1945, 90% of the city was destroyed within 1 hour by the Royal Air Force and the USAF during air raids. There are still remnants of this destruction today, as many monuments were not rebuilt after the war.
The Rally Grounds still exist today, though we did not have enough time to see them on this trip. Nürnberg is an interesting place, both with a horrifying past and a bright future. We caught the city just in time for the annual "Volksfest," which can be equated to a state fair in many cases (though not as magical, nor as large as the Texas State Fair).
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| Our sight upon entering the Volksfest. And yes, we did ride the rollercoaster. What a rush! |
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| The first Bier after a harrowing taxi ride |
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| YUM! Ich mag Helles! |
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| The crowd grew larger and larger as evening began. |
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| The food included chicken and ducks on spits, lox sandwiches, pomme frite, Bier, brats, corn-on-the-cob, etc. I wish at this very moment we were there indulging in the fine food and drink! |
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| This is what a "Festbier" looks like, and this was just the first of many... |
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| My "klein" Bier versus his Fest Bier |
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| Having the time of our lives! |
The Volksfest was one for the ages. We finally found our way to a table closer to the band, and we met a family that sat next to us. They were from the area. I was able to test out my German, and we made new friends! PROSIT!
The next day, we decided to check out the city of Nürnberg. The place is beautiful! We walked downtown and found a wonderful cafe to have breakfast/brunch. While we were ordering our eggs and cappuccinos, you can be sure there were Germans all around drinking beer at 10AM and eating gelato in the cold. After brunch, we found the British/American store, where we bought some overpriced Gatorade to ease the fest pains. Then we made our way to the German National Museum, which houses millions of German relics, though only able to put around 200,000 on display at any given time.
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Tower of Babel
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| North America |
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| The oldest surviving globe in the world. |
After leaving Nürnberg, we headed for Velburg in Bavaria to check-in where Nate would be staying for the next half-week. The hotel was quite kitschy, with many stuffed animals and dolls peeking out from hidden corners. The locals have a thick Bavarian drawl, which was very hard for me to understand. We had a delicious Greek meal there, and on Sunday, I took the train from Nürnberg back to Kaiserslautern.
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