Nürnberg Old Town, Travel & Arrival in Prague

This is our last day in Germany before our trip takes us Eastwards to Prague. The apartment we have slept in the last two days was so nice, we all agreed we wouldn't mind being there longer. 

It was situated in a nice little apartment complex with many other families and tenants. You can totally tell these are German families from the door, because they take off their shoes and leave them outside the doorway of each apartment, like so:

And in the true German style, no screens, of course.

We packed up the belongings out of the apartment and set off to see more of Nürnberg before heading east.

The district we explored was the section of town that Hitler marched through in his rallies. It was picturesquely German, with cobblestone streets, red roofs, colorful buildings, and little churches on nearly every corner.

Our first order of business was to visit St. Sebald's church, the seventh (count 'em, seventh) amazing church I have been privileged to enter here in Europe. Originally constructed in 1230, it was rebuilt and refinished  after being badly damaged by bombing in WWII. 

(the post-war damage)

(the church today)

We also saw a lot of Medieval Nürnberg. After all, this was a huge part of the Holy Roman Empire back in the day. As such, there are little touches here and there that are a reminder of Rome's influence, such as "SPQR" written on the stones of the architecture. Some of the castle walls and fortifications from that era are still intact.

We ate lunch at an open air creperie across from another church in the Old Town square. Of course, Embla and I ran over and checked it out while our food was cookin'.

Yes, it's yet another church (number 8 to be exact) but of course, I never tire of walking in and breathing in the smell of old stone and the burning incense. Besides, what other Sunday do you get to spend time and pray in churches that are just centuries old? I'm aiming to see as many old churches as I can while I am in Europe. Let's go for 20. ;)

After lunch we ambled on up to the hill where the *very* old castle fortress of Nürnberg stands. In case any three year olds are reading this blog, Erla would like to tell you that what grown ups call a "Castle" is actually a "Princess House."

The view from the top of the castle was incredible! I wish I could post my panoramic pic I took here but the formatting won't work. if you are a local, ask me to see it when I get home. 

The German countryside as seen outside my window as we drive by is just gorgeous. We had to make a stop in Fredrichsburg for one of the kids to take a bathroom break. Here in Germany, you are more likely to find a castle sooner than you would a free bathroom (and yes, we did ride by a castle en route to find one!) but we finally found one at a gas station. Here, the bathrooms at a gas station that the average German would dub the "worst of the worst" are attractive and super clean. They sure know how to do bathrooms.

Definitely getting the Eastern European vibe going pretty good as we drive Eastwards for Prague. There is lots more variation in the trees and topography. It is more wilderness-like than what I've seen of Europe so far, not as many towns visible from the road. There are, however, plenty of birches and tall, skinny pine trees, and funky nótátįonš on the words of the exit signs, ya know.

It's funny how in such a short time, Germany has already become "home" in a way, since I feel as though I know the ropes and such. Here in Czech Republic, we have got a new language, new stores, new surroundings, etc. 

And now, we have a special report: Road Trip Food With Ellert. He shows us the German version of Pringles which are "Paprika flavored," and very tasty too. So tasty I ate the last ones when he wasn't looking. ;)

We drove through a rather run-down part of Prague before we popped out on a bridge and Old Town unfolded before us in all its glory and WOW! Talk about stunning.

After waiting in a hot car for about a half hour for the apartment to be ready, we checked in. But first, I walked out and saw this:

As for our apartment, it is AMAZING! Never dreamed it would be this huge (or this nice!) it's right in the middle of Old Town Prague and is very attractively furnished with free wifi to boot. I have zero cell coverage here so I was SO happy to have the wifi.

(looking out the window)

With it being so late, George and Arn decided to pick up a quick pizza for the kids and then go out for dinner  themselves after the kids got settled in. They needed a night out, and this was the perfect opportunity for them. 

This meant that I got to try my hand at getting Erla to sleep sans Mama, a feat that only a select few have attempted with any success. 

I got her in the bed and sat next to her. Having heard she likes to be sung to, I began singing any and every song I thought would sound good to her three -year-old ears. The apartment has huge echo-y ceilings so the acoustics are fantastic. I got in a little praise and worship time by singing some hymns and such, then I tried my hand at "Hush Little Baby, Don't Say A Word."

Bad idea. 

When you do not exactly remember all the lines and you are super sleepy yourself:

"Hush little baby, don't say a word,

Momma's gonna buy you a mockingbird,

And if that mocking bird doesn't sing 

Momma's gonna buy you.......a big rope swing,

And if that big rope swing gets broke

Momma's gonna buy you.......a big blue float

And if that big blue float goes flat

Momma's gonna buy you a baseball bat..."

And it just went downhill from there, I'll spare you the rest. Gotta work on my lullaby skills, that's for sure. ;) But she is fast asleep next to me right now, so I consider my mission successful.

But right now, I must sleep. Goodnight from Eastern Europe, y'all!

Museen der Stadt Nürnberg, Ehrenhalle

 I do not normally describe my meals here in a lot of detail, but had to share what I had this morning: authentic German muesli with a little Bayerischer Bauermilch (Bavarian "Farmer's milk") poured over. Goodness, it was yummy. I was surprised to find that it tasted very close to the milk we have back at home. 

It was a little rainy as we began our day, and ended up leaving the house around 11:30 or so to head for downtown Nuremberg. Ate at a cute little Italian place right down the street from the old castle fortifications of medieval Nürnberg, the same ones Hitler marched right past in his NSDAP rallies.

We drove out to Zeppelin field and we explored the area. It was used for many rallies in the early days of the NSDAP, and was crafted to accommodate up to 200,000 people.

It's mostly in ruins right now, and the troops from good old 'Merica blew up the giant eagle and swastika, but you can still stand on the very spot where the Fuhrer stood as he looked out on the sea of hundreds of thousands of his loyal followers. I thought about how I was standing under the same sky that saw Hitler and the Nazis throw many a rally and weeklong soirée. 

It was so surreal to stand in his place, after seeing that very same pulpit pop up so many times on those black-and-white newsreel clips you see of him.

One thing I didn't know was that the stone used for much of the extravagant Nazi architecture came from granite mined by men from concentration camps such as Flossenbourg. The inmates there worked in extreme heat and extreme cold, wearing wooden clogs for shoes that left them with bleeding feet as they went slipping and sliding on the rocky hillsides. In these inhumane conditions, many would die-many from *accidents.*

Their blood must cry out from these stones.

Afterwards, George, Aunt Rachel and I visited the Museen der Stadt Nürnberg which is a museum about the Third Reich.

What makes this museum unique is that you learn all about the Nazis and the entire history of national socialism while being in the actual building that Hitler designed himself.

It is one of the last surviving examples of Nazi-designed architecture in the world. It was unfinished, a building that he and his party hoped to use as a place for a new Congress to meet when they won the war.

It was very well done and I learned a lot more in-depth information about the regime from their earliest days. We got audio guides to listen to since the writing there is entirely in German.

We all agreed that the item above was one of the most twisted things we have ever seen. It's an anti-Semitic board game developed by Nazi propoganda officials. It was designed to teach children to develop hatred for the Jews. They also had some art drawn by second grade schoolchildren depicting Jews in a very negative light. Brain-washed much?

After the museum, we walked outside 

to explore the grounds further. George wanted to show us another still-standing piece of Nazi architecture, the Ehrenhalle (hall of honor) so we set off to find it. There was a wire fence around most of the park area for some reason, I believe it was because they were preparing for a Rock concert being held at the nearby Zeppelin field.

But, we were not to be deterred. George found a spot in the fence that was open, and so we slowly poked our way over to the building. And as we passed through a little glade on the way to the building, I couldn't help but notice that it was FULL of the many herbs and wild plants I know and love. Too bad no one was putting them to good use!

The building reminded me of a mini Parthenon in its own way. If you've seen any newsreels of Hitler speaking from early on in his career, you've probably seen this building before.

We had George take our picture. He kept saying "ready? Ok, ready?" I said "oh, just start taking 'em." Was going to try making up captions, but it's just as good without. Use your imagination. ;)

 

Ate dinner at a cute little Greek restaurant. I've gotten over my fear of trying out my language skill when ordering my food and it has gone quite well thus far, except when he asked me "apertief, ja?" and I didn't know what that was until George explained it was an Italian alcoholic drink. But why was he asking me? Do I look like the drinking type? I'll never know, I suppose. ;)

Later, the old manager guy came by to ask how everyone's food was. When he saw that the little kids were eating lamb, he was super impressed, and later came by and gave the kids free Eis, which was pretty sweet. 

Came home to our apartment and relaxed for the rest of the evening. We have another day of exploring tomorrow! I heard today that  gingerbread is Nürnberg's specialty. May need to investigate this claim ASAP. 

;)

Munich, Cousin Austin, Lost In Munich, Arrival in Nuremberg

Woke up this morning at around 5 or so but fell back asleep. It's crazy because for whatever reason, here in Germany it gets light enough to be morning around 5:15 am!

Did a few ttapp moves in the bathroom before breakfast. Should have taken a pic to prove I did my three moves in such a small space. ;p After all the walking we did the past few days, my back and neck needed to get back in alignment. Cobblestones are super uneven and my neck has been funky from craning up to look at all the church ceilings and spires. 

We packed up and had everything in the car in remarkably short order and set off via train for downtown Münich. 

Today, I got to hang out with one of my favorite-est people ever: my very own, super awesome cousin Austin! He is currently on a post-college trek through Europe and I knew he may be in the same area, so we kept in touch. Sure enough, much to our delight, we discovered that our plans would overlap and we would be in Germany at the same time. More amazing still, we'd be in the city of Munich the same day!

How surreal it was to get to see someone so dear and so familiar in a land quite far away, but there he was!

We walked off together and George said he'd keep in touch via phone when we went our separate ways.

Austin has the same method that I employ when I visit a new city: walk around the city and get a feel for what's in the area, then decide what to do or what to see. And so, we walked, caught up on each other's lives, heard about his recent travels and generally had a fantastic time exploring the city together.

We explored two churches early on

And then we walked all the way up to see the river and the old buildings of the historic district.

 But to get there, we had to walk through the real ritzy shopping district: Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Cartier, Valentino, yeah. You get the idea. I could probably afford the clips they use to pin the dresses on the size 000 models they use in there. 

(The €18,400 ring. Nbd)

Apparently, this is the district for spotting extravagantly expensive cars too. We saw multiple Bentleys and then a Lamborghini within minutes of each other. Oh, and plenty of Porsches. They seem to be the Toyota of the European upper class- super common. Dime a dozen.

We ate lunch together at a nice little Biergarten and sat at a table facing the square. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with him, talking of old times, and catching up on life (and while IN GERMANY TOGETHER, of all places.)

I ended up getting some local Sprudel (asparagus) soup with a giant meatball and he got a curry sausage dish with pommes. I may or may not have snuck a few pommes for good measure. ;)

Next we walked up to the top of St. Peter's Kirk and I enjoyed again the panoramic view overlooking the city. I had been up there yesterday, but I told him he had to have the experience and so we went together.

After meeting up with Austin's traveling companion Chris and his friend, we hugged and said our goodbyes before then they set off for the art museum, and I looked around for George and crew.

I was in the main square where I last saw the rest of the group and so I looked around for them. Didn't see them anywhere, so I tried to call. Unfortunately, I got the dreaded busy signal, again and again, the one that tells me that most likely the phone is out of battery.

Thankfully, I had Austin who was on standby for me at the art museum, but I didn't have any way at all to get in touch with George and co. and had no idea where they might be in the giant mass of humanity that was out shopping in the fine Friday weather.

After about 45 minutes of waiting, I started to get concerned. I debated with myself whether or not to call my family to let them know the situation, as I figured things would work out eventually and I didn't want to cause them a lot of unnecessary stress when odds are, things would be just fine, all in good time.

But I came to the conclusion that I should at least tell them what was going on, in case I ended up needing outside help or something, so I called my Mom. She also tried his phone to make sure it wasn't something going on on my end of the line, and she had the same results.

"Mom, I'm kinda stressed about this though..." 

"well, I wouldn't let it show that you are. Try and be busy and walk around or sit and get something to eat."

I couldn't bring myself to eat anything  and I had a slight headache (probably because I was a bit dehydrated) so naturally I went into the nearest store and bought myself some water. And a coke zero. Yeah. Don't ask me why.

"Share a coke with a "winger?" In German it basically means a person who is "wingin' it."

Be it said that I do not normally drink soda, much less any mainstream diet soda, but for some reason that's what I ended up with. The ingredients aren't too terrible in the European version, and as I sipped my libations, I sat on the stoop of a men's clothing store like a classic vagabond (well, a vagabond in a taupe colored, floppy sunhat.) 

When you are lost or are looking for someone, it's funny how faces and bodies meld into what you want to see, almost like a mirage in the desert.

I viewed every guy with a stroller that went anywhere near the plaza with close scrutiny, looking for one with a blue jacket with a black backpack, or lookin for a light-blond haired lady with a cane (Aunt Rachel) or a tall very blonde haired lady with a pink shirt (Arnheidur.) One lady looked EXACTLY like Arnheidur from the back (she even had the same shirt!) and I immediately walked over but before I embarrassed myself, she turned and I saw it was not her.

In reality, it was only for about 2 hours that I was separated from them, but it felt a lit longer. I prayed they would somehow find me, and my people back home were praying things would work out. 

^this is a little picture I like to call: "Margaret Is Lost."

There's this electronica song called Lost in Berlin by Paul van Dyk, 

and it's definitely applicable if you say "Leeeeeeets get looooost in *Munich."

http://youtu.be/OhESOXQp0q8

Finally, I saw George walk into the square pushing a sleeping Erla and I was so relived I wouldn't have to sleep on the sidewalk or be a street mime to support myself. 

I didn't want to be panicky and such about the whole thing, so I just walked on over and said:

"oh, hey guys! Haha. There you are!" 

*daintily swigs a drink of my bottle of Adelholzener water*

Yeah, I'm a pretty good actor.

I was worried that they may be upset that they couldn't find me but they were totally fine. They had enjoyed a lovely afternoon at the open air fruit market and were just mozying on back to Marienplatz to see if I was around.

Besides. What is a trip to another country without getting lost or separated from your group? Answer? Not any trip I've ever been on before. :)

On our way to our apartment in Nuremberg, we stopped by Lidl for some water and stuff ( and by "stuff" I mean Ritter dark chocolate with hazelnufs for €.65 and pretzels and water.)

We ate a late-ish dinner at a waterfront restaurant before heading to our apartment. It was very yummy and our waiter guy was quite enthusiastic and helpful, especially with Rachel's GF food needs. He really made sure she had what she needed. 

Our apartment is fantastic. Before, we had 7 people in a tiny room and here we have giant rooms, a kitchen, bathroom, washer, the whole works. We will be here in Nuremberg for the next 2 nights before moving northwest. 

Dachau, Downtown Munich, St. Peter's Church and Frauenkirche

Woke up rather bleary-eyed to the TV turned on to a German channel,
there was a show on about Aliens found by Cowboys or something. We have 7 people in a rather small space and one bathroom, but I am used to the sharing a bathroom, that's for sure.

We drove a little to the north to the town of Dachau. After stopping by a bakery so that breakfast could be gotten, we pulled up to the site of the concentration camp of the same name.

It was built in 1933 shortly after Hitler came to power and at first, it was used as a prison for "political prisoners," but later moved to include anyone not approved of by the Nazis,  namely Jews, Communists, Gypsies, Gays, etc.

It was deemed the "model camp" and was an example for all camps built  thereafter. 

Over 200,000 people incarcerated here.

41,500 people died here. 

("work will make you free")

I can't even begin to describe the feeling one gets when you stand in the very spot that every one of the hundreds of thousands of prisoners stood for processing upon their arrival to Dachau:

 

But I can say that it felt like an immense sadness and heaviness.

I saw the cells where the prisoners were held in solitary confinement, some with no light, no food or water for days on end. 

I stood where the thousands of prisoners stood at roll call, standing there in the open air for up to 12 hours at a time, rain or shine, cold or hot.

I walked through the same doorway that had "BRAUSEBAD" written above it, telling the prisoners they were going for a shower, but once they entered the "shower room," they would never emerge from it alive. 

My eyes filled with tears as I walked into the tiny room that over a hundred people would be packed into before the gas took them. 

I walked where the cremated remains of hundreds of thousands now rest in a tiny forest, and where the firing squad executions were carried out.

It was heavy to bear the thought of the pain they must have suffered, the torture they endured, day in and day out.

And I will never forget the experience.

After our time at Dachau, Arnheidur and the kids picked us up and we hopped the train into downtown München.

I had been eyeing this particular brand of watches called Swatch ever since I saw them avertised at the Amsterdam airport. I went and bought myself one today as a functional souvenir that's also a really stinking cool watch.

We went into St. Peter's church:

STUNNING

And then we climbed all five gazillion stairs allll the way to the top! 

Could even see all the way to the ALPS which were covered in snow!

Then we went to the Frauenkirche before dinner. there are literally a dozen churches within a few miles of each other and they are all so very awe inspiring.

We ate a late dinner of various forms of schnitzel and pommes before hopping the train back to our hotel for the evening. What a day.