A short bus ride took us into Nuremberg this morning. We stopped at a few key spots around the city before we reached our main destination, the Imperial Castle in Nuremberg, where we were able to walk around a small section of it while our guide shared interesting details. Nuremberg is the second largest city in the German state of Bavaria. Although Nuremberg was nearly destroyed during WWII, the remaining medieval city walls stretch some 3 miles and feature original gateways and 80 original watchtowers. Nuremberg is infamous for its role in WWII, first as the site of Zeppelin Field’s Nazi rallies (which we saw from the bus) and later as the site of the war crimes trials at the Palace of Justice (also visible from the bus).
Our fabulous tour guide, Andy, was from the UK (Scotland) and we commented on how the tour guides never seem to be locals (one of ours last week was originally from New York!). Andy has lived in Nuremberg for 40 years, just last year getting his German citizenship because of Brexit. In addition to working as a tour guide, he teaches English in a University here since every student must be fluent in English before graduating. And by the way, education in Germany is totally free.
Let’s begin by looking at a couple of trees which are getting prettier and prettier. It’s a cloudy day and these brightly colored trees really popped.
Now onto the old Nuremberg Imperial Castle grounds.
Part of the huge wall.
A part of the wall with one of the many watchtowers.
A courtyard behind the wall.
Another view of the wall and some buildings inside.
Here you can see the cuts in the wall where the cannons were positioned.
After we finished viewing a small section of the wall, we walked down a steep cobblestoned walkway into this cute square with restaurants and bars. What is that man in the orange suit doing? Make him stop! We love those leaves! Don’t mess with our leaves!
Further down the cobblestoned hill we came across a much bigger square with lots of things going on. The square held a brightly tented farmers’ market but our guide also pointed out other interesting things around the perimeter for us to see.
First our guide pointed out this church that was built in 1509. It was just before noon and he alerted us that we were about to see a special show.
This is how the clock looked in the beginning. First, the 4 musicians just under the clock took turns playing their instruments.
Then this procession of kings came out of the door and marched around the large figure sitting in the middle. It was really cute.
Then we noticed a sun dial on the side of one of the buildings which our guide said was correct 100% of the time except when it is cloudy (like today) or daylight savings is in effect (about half of the year). But other than that, correct 100% of the time!
I loved the carvings on the 2 sides of this lovely building.
Unfortunately I didn’t get the story behind his monument but it was gorgeous – and so clean and shiny and covered with gold. And with a very elaborate fence protecting it.
This was a huge, beautiful Lutheran church. The buildings are so large and so close together that it’s often difficult to get back far enough to get a full photo.
Albrecht Durer was a German Engraver. See an example of his work below.
Albrecht Durer, Landscape with Cannon engraving, 1518.
An historic water well in the square.
The Farmers’ market was great. Wonderful variety of products and very friendly vendors. Lots of samples. This vendor has pumpkins, gourds, and fall wreaths in the foreground and lots of fresh flowers in the back.
This vendor had amazing-looking fruits – especially check out the size of those Mission Figs in the middle of the second row (between the kiwis and blueberries). The front row had a variety of mushrooms. Everything looked so fresh and perfect.
This vendor had a wonderful variety of cheeses and gave free samples.
And then just a few odds and ends of things we saw on the bus on our return trip to the boat.
We passed by this Shell gas station and I was able to get a blurry photo of their sign. If my math is correct, I think the prices range from $7.18-$7.88 per gallon, depending upon which grade you buy.
A very attractive nursery.
Our Viking River Cruise 
Loved Nuremberg. Imperial Castle is interesting, loved the huge wall and towers. The water well in the square is great too. The farmer’s markets look inviting, like the food is real fresh.
Now I like the tour guide’s defense of the sun dial – nothing is perfect! 😀
When I think of Nuremberg my mind automatically goes to the war crimes tribunal and my heart hurts again. May we never repeat the past and may we never forget it.
Thank you both for taking me along on this trip – it is great for so many different reasons.
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