A city with charm and history.

First stop: Nuremburg, Germany

As soon as I left for my trip, I have been itching to get all my thoughts on paper or typed up and just start writing!  I am excited to bring to you the events of my travels in a series of three posts.
Each place I have visited has enough for me to go on and on but hopefully I will not bore you by giving each city its own post, and also it will leave you in suspense to wait for the next ones ;) I haven't decided if I want to just recap everything I saw and did or give suggestions for eager travelers so I think I will do a little of both!

To start, I spent last weekend on a working trip with the family.  We went to a coastal town called San Benedetto del Tronto as I mentioned in my last post.  It was quite the drive- almost as far as Roma! It was a nice little seaside town, too bad it was too cold to really enjoy the beach... but I did get up for a really nice sunrise on the last morning.  I spent the weekend with the girls, while they played I read or wrote or gave direction to them. We went out for pizza and hot chocolate and other yummies. You know... the important things. I had a twinge of homesickness as it was one of my best friends birthdays and it was the first time in my life I had done nothing at all to celebrate Halloween.  Its not that important of a holiday its just traditions that I am used to I guess!

It was a really quick turnaround for me as I left very early Monday morning on my bus to Germany. The bus company I have used a few times (Meinfernbus) leaves from a station only like ten minutes away from the house so its a perfect location to leave Merano from.  Highly recommend this bus company for travel around Italy, Germany and Austria! 

I am lucky enough to now have friends from all over the world and my first stop in Germany was to see a friend I met actually in Minnesota.  Christoph was studying abroad at St. John's last year and I was lucky enough to meet him while he was there, never thinking I would visit his hometown in Germany! Alas the stars aligned and I decided to make a trip there to see what his part of the world is all about.  

This was the perfect way to start my trip, I literally planned nothing but getting there and leaving and him and his family took care of the rest.  Christoph was basically my own personal tour guide, translator and adventure buddy and I stayed at his families home in their village about 30 minutes away from Nuremberg.  I have never felt so welcomed into a strangers home!  They went above and beyond my expectations.  If you guys are reading this, thank you again from the bottom of my heart.  I will never forget your hospitality and it definitely made my trip to Germany very memorable.  I really loved Nuremberg itself too.  It has such a historic and almost regal air to it, and the colors of the old buildings, the river and the trees were the perfect combination at this time of year.

Nuremburg is full of history.  It has been home to one of the most famous traditional Christmas markets in Europe for 400 years and was a hub for trade and magnificent feats of architecture in the middle ages.  The ornate churches and buildings that remain are a testament to the talented artists and architects who built them without modern day technology.  The castle that dominates the skyline was paid many visits by emperors in the Middle ages and served as a marker for the importance of Nuremburg as an imperial city in Bavaria.  It dates back to 1105 which is 400 years before Columbus even discovered America!

Unfortunately, some of the dark events associated with World War II are also part of this lovely cities history.  The Nuremburg trials, were of course set in Nuremburg and were a series of trials set against the most prominent people in the Nazi regime who were responsible for planning, participating or carrying out war crimes related to the Holocaust during World War II.  We also visited the Documentation Center which is a museum mostly about the events that led up to the war and how Hitler came to so much power.  It is located in the area known as the Nazi Party Rally Grounds where thousands of German soldiers and citizens gathered annually for parades and to listen to Hitler speak from 1933-1938.  World War II started in 1939 - 6 years after the rallies began in Nuremburg, so that gives you an idea of how deep and wide Hitler had infiltrated into the system.  Another interesting thing I learned is that in each German city, there are bronze plaques in place of cobblestones on some street corners, marking the residence of a Jewish person or family that was affected by the war.  They included names, what happened to them and when they died.

Ok last but definitely not least I will talk about the food.  Germans know meat, bread and beer.  And while I was here, they made sure I did not go hungry!  I tried so many good things!  One of the very traditional meals I had, called Rouladen, was a piece of beef wrapped around vegetables and then cooked, served with a potato dumpling and roasted brussels sprouts.  Another traditional recipe that we made was called obatzda and it had cream cheese, brie cheese, two other cheeses I can't remember, spices, onion and a little beer.  It was served with a soft pretzel for breakfast and it was actually so good! Lastly, another traditional bavarian food item is weisswurst or literally "white sausage" and is typically served before noon with a sweet mustard and yes another soft pretzel.  Christophs mom also made an ahhmazing cake that we had at almost every meal.  My mouth is watering just thinking about all these things... [insert emoji with heart eyes].

What I learned from this trip is that staying with or hanging out with someone who lives where you are traveling to is always the best way to get a view of the authentic culture.  You meet some new people and hopefully make some new friends.  Of course this isn't always possible, but if and when it is, I urge you to take the opportunity!

I have also learned that Germany, and most European countries, have so much more to offer than just the big popular cities.  I loved seeing the smaller villages and spending time just wandering in the streets of a smaller town called Bamberg that we visited.  It made me want to return to see more of Germany, and also seek out smaller more obscure cities in other European countries to get a real feel of the culture.

Here are the long awaited PICS.

Main square in Nuremburg.

Me and Christoph!

The colors.  I also love the way these old buildings look. Kind of like out of a movie or something.

Breakfast feast! You can see the fresh bread from the bakery, the cake, the obatzda on the left, the sweet mustard near the coffee and not pictured is the weisswurst or white sausage.

Bamberg.  Europe wins for outdoor seating.

Bamberg

Well this is really long, but stay tuned for my next post: PARIS.  Thanks for reading :)