Nürnberg Weekend

Nürnberg Weekend

Shelby and I had a long five day weekend and nothing planned. We intended to do some day trips, enjoy the fall leaves and relax. Then, after two days of hanging around the house we decided to hit the road and get out of town instead. We packed up Saturday morning and headed off to Nürnberg. We stopped through briefly once before on a different road trip, but there was far more to see than what we took in during that trip. We arrived Saturday afternoon, checked into the hotel, and then wandered around the old towne streets letting Colin run off some energy. Of course one of the first stops was Starbucks! Why else do we come to the big cities? OK so the coffee isn't the only reason, but we do get pretty excited over it!

Like most old cities, the inner altstadt is surrounded by a large fortification wall built back in the earliest days of the city. The area inside the wall here in Nürnberg seems much larger than many of the other cities we've visited. At the northern border of the wall is the huge Imperial Castle, which was fabulous in the fall. The architecture of the old buildings and churches is beautiful. There are many half timbered houses and buildings still around as well. It was much colder here than it is at our house, with lows in the low 30's and highs in the low 50's...we wore jackets the whole trip. We ate dinner at a traditional Franconian (style of food named after the nearby Bavarian Franconian Forest) restaurant which was very good. After dinner we wandered around some more and hit up Starbucks again for something hot to warm us up.

Sunday morning Colin woke us up nice and early. We got our coffee and set out to enjoy the gorgeous weather. It was cold but sunny and clear, making the colors of the fall leaves breathtaking. We checked out the Kaiserberg (Imperial Castle in English) which had spectacular views and scenery. We opted not to do the tour with Colin since it lasts about 45 minutes and it's guided. So we didn't get to see inside the rooms of the castle but we did get to walk all around the grounds.

Later on we went to the Rathaus (town hall) where you can take a tour of the dungeon prison below the hall. Built in the late 1330's it served as a prison and torture chamber for those awaiting "trial" and death. It had no windows to the outside or light and the ventilation was very poor. Back in medieval times confession was considered the only way to prove a criminal guilty. Therefore, torture became a useful tool in order to help people confess to their crimes. We toured the torture chambers which had all kinds of ancient tools used to make people sing. There were also a few cells where people were kept while awaiting their death. The executions always took place outside the city wall and the method used depended on the crime committed. Beheading for manslaughter, hanging for thieves, burning alive for forgery, heresy or arson, and burying alive for mothers who had killed their own children. It was very interesting stuff!

Monday morning we packed up and checked out of the hotel and went over to the Playmobil Park close by. It is super super cool and I was disappointed to see that the other parks, including the one in the US, are NOTHING like the one here in Germany, it really is one of a kind. It is a huge park with all kinds of interactive areas with life sized Playmobil looking characters. There is a farm area, a treehouse place, dinosaur area, pirate ship complete with water, western cowboys, Noah's Ark, and a bunch of others. It will be great to take Colin to in the summer because there are lots of opportunities to get wet and dirty! The cold weather limited him from some areas since there was no way to keep him out of the water if he saw it. After a good playtime we had to hit the road to head back home. Colin was barely able to stay awake long enough to finish his lunch and was passed out in his car seat with food still in his hand! He slept almost he whole 3.5 hours home, so I guess Playmobil Park was worth the money.