First day in Nuremberg

Monday, May 24th 2009 My first day in Nurenberg
Monday morning we got up early, got ready for the day and had early breakfast in the breakfast room, then we were off to Vilseck. At the train station, Harry helped me get a ticket from the ticket vending machine. The station is closed that early, but he had checked the day before to see how to get a ticket. The machine had options for different languages, so we didn't even have to try to translate German to know what to do. I was a little nervous about getting on the wrong train, especially when one pulled up close to the time posted for my train, with people getting on. So I turned to someone and asked, "Nurenberg?" She said 'Nein' and something else that was telling me that it would be coming soon. Soon the train was there and we were speeding through beautiful green countryside past little red-roofed towns on the hour drive to Nurenberg.

When the train arrived I spent a little while getting oriented, checking a posted schedule for trains to the other towns I wanted to day-trip to, making sure I knew how to get back to my track (Turn right at the Burger King!) and checking in at the information booth for paper train schedules to where I wanted to go. I tried to find the Bahnhof geocache without success, then used my tour guide map to find a way to Old Town. I missed the easy tunnel way because it was also a subway terminal, but found a way in by walking along the old medevial wall until I came to a bridge across the moat. That let me take some fun pictures. The moat is really a grassy park that surrounds the old town. It wouldn't have had water in it, it was just intended to slow down invading soldiers.

Once inside, I spent the day wandering all over taking pictures and looking for geocaches and geocaching waypoints (virtual caches). I had a whole stack of geocaches and waypoints, but accidentally brought my Munich info pages instead, so I was going by the coordinates in my GPSr only. I finally found one on a bridge under a lamp post, along with a geo coin just placed the day before. Woo Hoo! I found that the museums were all closed because it was Monday, which was disappointing. In Europe museums are usually closed either on Monday or Tuesday. The same is true for most traditional restaurants, including the one where we were staying.

Everywhere I looked I saw great old buildings, fountains, sculptures, fun bridges crossing the river that bisects the old town, and churches. There were areas that were pedestrian only shopping streets with more modern stores, Starbucks, McDonalds, and so on. Definition of pedestrian only is: Watch out for trucks and cars zipping around everywhere with no lanes, signals, crosswalks or signs to direct or restrain them! Especially in the early morning the shopping area is busy with delivery vans, cars belonging to those with business there that allows them into the area. They drive anywhere they can fit, and zip around and over the open squares with no regard for any convention or pedestrians who might be there. I was always on the look and listen for approaching vehicles.

Pretty soon the temperature started to climb. The days had been pretty warm, and this one was a peak of the heat wave. It got up to 30 degrees centigrade, which is the same as aabout 87 degrees farenheit. I planned to be in the Haupt Market (Main Market) at noon to record the old mechanical clock there. By then I was ready to sit in the shade for awhile and rest. I'd been walking for hours by then and was tired and hot. I found a good vantage point and was able to get a video of the clock, then went into a nearby market and got some citrus sodas and a marzipan bar to go with my brochen, meat and cheese and apple brought along from the Gasthaus to picnic with. I sat on my bench and had a shady lunch while I watched the crowds an the stalls in this famous square. It was like a farmer's market, with produce, crafts, and famous Nurenberg Lebkuchen cookies (a kind of thick, chewy gingerbread cookie) This is where the world famous Christmas market sets up, and contains famous churches and a fantastic ancient fountain called 'The Beautiful Fountain" for good reason.

After my picnic lunch and rest, I headed out again, though my energy was starting to flag a little in the heat. I walked uphill to the end of town at the base of castle hill. I'd been there several times by this time and had a good idea how to get up the hill to the castle, which the tour book indicated would be open for tours even on Monday. It was a hot, hot hike in the sun up the side of the hill to the base of the castle. I took it slow. Once there, and after a little rest to catch my breath, I found the ticket office and was told there were no tours in English and that it would be best to join a tour that was ending at the deep well part of the tour. That ticked included the museum and a climb up the tall castle tower. I agreed to that and waited in the shade of a tree, seated on a stone wall near the deep well entrance. When the tour showed up, I joined them, showing my ticket, and followed them into a small room in a short tower that was dominated by a large well, whose depth was lost in darkness. An iron grate protected the top, and had a metal dish with burning candles suspended over the center. The tour guide spoke English and did a sketchy translation for me of the essentials of what he said. I was impressed with the time it took for water poured in the top to reach the bottom, and when the candles were lowered down enough to light up the water below, I was really amazed at how deep it was.

I walked through the museum rooms, virtually by myself, to see armor, swords and other weapons. It was hot in the tower that housed the museum, but the views over the city were great. When I was done, I found a free WC, which was an improvement over what I'd found up to that point. The train station had a nice one, but it cost, as did the one in the Haupt Market where an enterprising man offered to make change for tourists using the turnstiles. I'd used one in the medevial wall near the walk up to the castle that was free, but really awful. I was learning not to pass up a free WC by this time.

Looking at the height of the tower, and assesing the fatigue in my legs, I elected to pass up the climb for the higher view, and contented myself with pictures taken from the lower walls of the castle itself. The tour guide had spent some time with me after the tour, answering my questions and describing a better way to walk down to the city level again. I folllowed his directions and made my way around the castle wall to the garden on the far side (the outside) of the castle. At that time of day it was all in shade, and consisted of view-rich parapets, overlooking the moat-gardens below, and narrow gardens of trees, flowers, and grass with stone benches, walls and walkways studded with old stone sculptured figures from the castle. Each part was a little lower than the one before, and there was a place to go into the wall overlooking the old town street below, much like the walls at Rothenburg. I finally exited through a tower at the bottom street level and was back in a part of the city I was familiar with.

As I headed to another area of the old town to see the marriage carousel fountain, I could feel myself fading. My legs were hurting, and I was dismayed to see some red, itchy blotches appearing on the inside of my lower legs. It was getting harder to enjoy the sights as I became more uncomfortable and tired. I moved more slowly as I went now, but soldiered on to see as much as I could, since I wasn't sure I would ever be back there again in my life. After the marriage fountain, which was over the top of any I saw on the trip, I moved slowly towards the exit to go back to the trains station. I'd decided to quit an hour before I had to and sit the last hour at the train, partly to make sure I didn't miss it, and partly because I was physically done in and I knew it. The blotches were spreading and deepening in color as I walked. They seemed to be triggered by the heat and all the walking.

I'd finished my water and my two citrus drinks, and I was parched by now. I found the tunnel to the bahnhof that I missed in the morning, and discovered it was full of shops, including a fresh juice bar. I studied the menu and worked out how to order a carrot orange drink in German. 'Eine gross fit mix, bitte?" I asked. That worked fine until she asked if I wanted 'oil' Then I had to revert to English to be sure what she was asking, and no, I didn't want any olive oil in it...When I walked away with my fresh drink, we were both pleased at our bilingual communication skills. The drink was just what I needed to restore my energy and hydration.

I sat at my track after buying a ticket from a machine (an old hand at it by now!) and my legs were hurting so badly I was very uncomfortable. The muscles ached, my feet were swollen, and the rash had spread into large areas that were swollen and dark red, like lobster shell color. I tried to keep them propped up, and got aquainted with a young soldier who seemed familiar with the trains back. He actually wasn't, and I almost missed the train from following his advice. But some other Americans found out it was our train, and I just made it on with a few minutes to spare, and was able to get a seat, which not everyone was able to do.

Harry was there waiting at the station, and we got some dinner on post, Philly steak sandwiches, and then went to the on post lake to see if we could hear the cuckoo bird. He was far away, and barely audible, and the lake was choked with algae and plants, and smelled like outhouse, not the idyllic scene I'd visualized when Harry first described hearing the cuckoo call while he sat by a lake.

By the time we got back 'home', all I could think of was getting into that big bathtub and soaking my aching legs and sticky, overheated skin. It felt lovely, and it was great to have the cooling air coming in through the balcony doors and lie back on our comfy bed and drift off early to sleep, in spite of the Americans in the courtyard still noisily celebrating with their Memorial day cookout.