Nuremberg and Rothenburg
The trip from Cologne to Nuremberg was a pleasant one. We went on one of Germany's fast trains which shortened the journey to 4 hours with a few stops. The scenery is picturesque with a rolling hill then a small village, another rolling hill and yet another village. I wonder if the ratio of towns to fields gets smaller away from the train line or if buildings are on their way to outnumbering green, grassy fields? The forests/woods are a mix of fir or pine trees and sticks - not much green there. The houses are pretty - similar to the cute ceramic or plastic ones Teliah wants to buy from the markets. It seems that every village has a church spire towering above the rooflines and they are always so cute and fancy (nothing like modern churches). It is a grey and overcast day today, like yesterday but I am grateful for the reprieve in the weather (maximum has been around 10 degrees). I have even walked about without gloves and my big jacket unzipped! We have all said that we would rather the freezing cold and have the chance of snow than the milder weather. I guess mum and I might have to be happy with the lumps of snow at Phantasialand while the Godfreys will have to accept less than perfect snow in the Austrian alps.
Once settled in our accommodation we set out for Nurnberg's Christmas markets. It is very prettily situated in the old town, surrounded by old style buildings and a church. Several new displays and things to buy (like little people made from figs, raisins and nuts) and similar things to what we've already seen. We tried some new food (giant fresh marshmallows) and enjoyed the carol singers.
The next day we trained it to Rothenburg (which will be henceforth called awesomeburg). We walked around a portion of the walled city then went inside its walls to explore the beautiful village. It was so cute we all wanted to stay the night and explore the next day too. Every corner produced another old building or medieval scene to photograph. They do Christmas so well here in Europe. Every shopfront had a lovely display and had a real tree by the door or over the door. We met some friends of mum and dads and had afternoon tea with them. Afterwards we visited the famous Kathe Wolfehart shop which was mind blowing. The inside of the all year round Christmas shop has snow covered houses and giant Christmas trees and giant pyramid windmill and more Christmas decorations than you could ever imagine. You could have easily spent 48 hours in there and still not take it all in. We travelled back home at 7pm which is pitch black and feels like 10pm at night. Today we slept in and moseyed our way through town. We went on a walking tour which was fascinating (and freezing cold - we are back to 4 degree days) telling us about the history and the architecture of Nuremberg. It is also very pretty and looks hundreds of years old even though much of the old town was rebuilt after WW2 in the same style.
Tomorrow we are visiting the documentation centre, nazi rally grounds and the Zeppelin fields which were made famous by Hitler's parades. The markets are overcrowded with tourists (umm, like us) so we are spending the weekend days being elsewhere. We will wander through them more on Monday (our last day in Nuremberg before we go to Prague).
I am very impressed with Europeans with their knowledge of English as well as German (and probably more languages) and with the fact that there are tables outside everywhere and they stand in the freezing cold; eating and drinking and chatting quite happily. If it was Australia we would be asking where are the chairs and the heaters?!
The weather is 'warm' by German standards so we have given up on the idea of snow for Christmas but we still have our fingers crossed for walking in it at least once while in Europe (I will be so disappointed if I see none although mum and I might visit the Godfreys in the alps to ensure it). Although it is handy as every room we've had so far came with a fridge - the windowsill.
I am having trouble uploading photos so please go to mum's blog 'brookstraveladventures.blogspot.com.au' or Haylee's blog 'daysofgodfreylives.blogspot.com.au' as they are having more luck.
Thanks for reading and enjoy wearing shorts and a t-shirt for me.
Once settled in our accommodation we set out for Nurnberg's Christmas markets. It is very prettily situated in the old town, surrounded by old style buildings and a church. Several new displays and things to buy (like little people made from figs, raisins and nuts) and similar things to what we've already seen. We tried some new food (giant fresh marshmallows) and enjoyed the carol singers.
The next day we trained it to Rothenburg (which will be henceforth called awesomeburg). We walked around a portion of the walled city then went inside its walls to explore the beautiful village. It was so cute we all wanted to stay the night and explore the next day too. Every corner produced another old building or medieval scene to photograph. They do Christmas so well here in Europe. Every shopfront had a lovely display and had a real tree by the door or over the door. We met some friends of mum and dads and had afternoon tea with them. Afterwards we visited the famous Kathe Wolfehart shop which was mind blowing. The inside of the all year round Christmas shop has snow covered houses and giant Christmas trees and giant pyramid windmill and more Christmas decorations than you could ever imagine. You could have easily spent 48 hours in there and still not take it all in. We travelled back home at 7pm which is pitch black and feels like 10pm at night. Today we slept in and moseyed our way through town. We went on a walking tour which was fascinating (and freezing cold - we are back to 4 degree days) telling us about the history and the architecture of Nuremberg. It is also very pretty and looks hundreds of years old even though much of the old town was rebuilt after WW2 in the same style.
Tomorrow we are visiting the documentation centre, nazi rally grounds and the Zeppelin fields which were made famous by Hitler's parades. The markets are overcrowded with tourists (umm, like us) so we are spending the weekend days being elsewhere. We will wander through them more on Monday (our last day in Nuremberg before we go to Prague).
I am very impressed with Europeans with their knowledge of English as well as German (and probably more languages) and with the fact that there are tables outside everywhere and they stand in the freezing cold; eating and drinking and chatting quite happily. If it was Australia we would be asking where are the chairs and the heaters?!
The weather is 'warm' by German standards so we have given up on the idea of snow for Christmas but we still have our fingers crossed for walking in it at least once while in Europe (I will be so disappointed if I see none although mum and I might visit the Godfreys in the alps to ensure it). Although it is handy as every room we've had so far came with a fridge - the windowsill.
I am having trouble uploading photos so please go to mum's blog 'brookstraveladventures.blogspot.com.au' or Haylee's blog 'daysofgodfreylives.blogspot.com.au' as they are having more luck.
Thanks for reading and enjoy wearing shorts and a t-shirt for me.
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