The One with Nuremberg, Germany

Today we went to Nuremberg, or, as the locals call it, Nürnberg! Chris has been wanting to go to Nuremberg since the day we got here and finally the stars aligned and we got to go. Here he is driving on the autobahn for the first time. He was a happy guy, as you can tell from his face.

With our handy dandy Bible Rick Steves' GERMANY guide book in hand, we parked the car somewhat close to the Frauentor (the medieval city's southern gate) and began our walking tour of Old Town. 

Two foxes!

Of the three miles of wall that once surrounded the city, 90% of it is still standing. Here is part of it:

Nuremberg State Theater. I wish all theaters looked like this!

Walking to the train statin and inside the train station - it was hustling and bustling!

We walked underground through the train station and up into the Old Town. Here's Fox posing for a picture. Kind of.

Between the walls, just next to the gate, is the entrance to the Craftsmen's Courtyard - a collection of half-timbered houses built in 1971 to celebrate craftsmanship and to honor the 500th birthday of Albrecht Dürer. 

While a bit kitschy, this courtyard is good for picking up a medieval vibe entering Old Town.

By the end of World War II, 90% of Old Town Nuremberg was destroyed. It was the only German city hit worse than Dresden. Therefore, much of the city is new and ultra modern, like this fountain, while some of it is old. 

I love the juxtaposition of old and new side by side.

Teeny tiny car!

Street fruit vendors. Smelled so good. 

This is the Old Granary. Medieval Nuremberg had 11 of these huge granaries to ensure residents would have enough food in case of famine or siege - so smart! The grain was stored up above in the attic. Today it's a beer hall.

This is the only remaining tower home in Nuremberg. It was built in the 13th century at a time when the city wasn't walled so every family had to defend their own home. It is basically a one-family fortress.

Two blocks down from the granary is St. Lawrence Church.

This once Catholic now Protestant church is a massive house of worship. It was never a cathedral because Nuremberg never had a bishop. Adam and Eve flank the doors. Over the right door is a baby skewered with a Roman Sword - if you follow Chris on instagram you'll see a pic of it there.

I spy a castle up ahead!

Past St. Lawrence Church is the Holy Ghost Hospital. This river-spanning hospital was donated to Nuremberg in the 14th century by the city's richest resident. 

A view of the river to the Meat Bridge. They wanted to be like Venice.

Fountain with water coming out of the women's boobies (pardon my French), haha. It's the Fountain of the Seven Virtues. We continued on to the Market Square and I got a little bag of lavender to send to my mom because she loves lavender. 

The Market Square.

When Nuremberg was booming in the 13th century, it consisted of two distinct walled towns separated by the river. As the towns grew they merged and the middle wall came down. This square because the center of the newly united city. For a few weeks before Christmas, it hosts Germany's largest Christmas market - more than 2 million visitors annually! We'll definitely come back then.

This is the Frauenkirche church where there used to be a Jewish synagogue. 

We went inside and saw the lovely stained glass windows.

Admiring the ornate details of the ceilings. 

Then we walked to the pointy and gold Beautiful Fountain. Medieval tanneries, slaugheterhouses, and hospitals dumped all their waste into the rivers so this fountain was a source of fresh drinking water. We spun the gold ring looped into the gate three times for good luck! The black ring on the opposite side can be spun for fertility. 

Another beautiful church.

For lunch we got authentic bratwursts - yummy yummy!  Unlike American brats, German brats are very small. The famous Nuremberg brats are only about the size of your pinkie and they serve three of them in a roll. 

Walking through the town, seeing all there is to see.

Then we walked up to the Kaiserburg castle! Our first real castle!

In the Middle Ages, Holy Roman Emperors stayed here when they were in town.

At the top we got the most amazing views of Nuremberg!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE sights from up high!

The castle grounds have 45 buildings - here are just a few of my favorite. 

Then we walked back down to the streets and headed to our next destination.

Albrecht Dürer's house! Nuremberg's most famous resident lived here for the last 20 years of his life (1471-1528, that's a loooong time ago!). A contemporary of Michelangelo, he studied in Venice and brought the Renaissance to medieval Germany. He did things that were unthinkable to other northern European artists of his time, such as signing his works, and painting things like rabbits solely for study, not on commission. Nothing in the museum is original, they're all replicas, but the museum does a good job capturing the way he actually lived.

Chris has been wanting to go here soooooo badly! But when we walked in Fox went running up some forbidden stairs and we got yelled at big time so we left. We'll have to come back so Chris can go through and see everything. At this point it was Fox and Jane's nap time and they were falling apart at the seams. We were done with our official walk but we wanted to make one last stop. 

The Toy Museum!

The entire top floor is a place where kids can play to their heart's content. 

So we let Fox and Jane play for a good 45 minutes. We took turns walking around the museum and looking at all the toys. 

I liked seeing the old school Nintendo Game Boy, tamagotchis, Beanie Babies, super old Barbie and Ken dolls, so on and so forth.

We made our way back to the car, stopping to take pictures as we pleased along the way.

What a super duper fun day!