Und los geht's!

The train I caught, to Mainz, had enough of a delay that I missed the next direct ICE to Nürnberg by one minute. I hate that. Some other train had a delay on the neighboring platform, and I followed the loudspeaker announcement for passangers traveling to Nürnberg and took a series of other trains instead of the one I had planned. So, 3 PM in Nürnberg.



What an interesting city! A lovely shopping district tucked in under Tudor-style half-timber houses, a castle on the hill, 5 km of standing original walls, several towers, two magnificent churches, a cathedral, Albrecht Dürer's house, and any number of cool things to do. A daily market filled one square, and many of the remaining cobblestone streets were filled with fruit stands, olive dealers, Federweißer stands (Federweißer is an alcoholic drink, sort of what you get when you stop the winemaking process early. Tastes kinda like fizzy lemon mimosa or sprite with a kick. Traditionally eaten with Quiche), you name it. Gelato stands with lines around the corner, booksellers (new, remainders, and old). Tons of people, shopping, walking, sitting.



I hiked up to the Jugendherberge, the youth hostel, located in a part of the castle complex. From my sixth-floor window I had a view of the old city.

With my remaining time of the afternoon I hit the streets, wandering the alleyways, cruising the shopping district as long as shopping time allowed. I tried Mozart gelato (not bad: chocolate ice cream with marzipan and pistachios). I cruised the market, but I wasn't in need of dishes, linen, or kitchen utensils.

This weekend is the opening of Oktoberfest in München. In honor of this, Nürnberg celebrated the Altstadtfesttage, or the old city celebration, with row after row after row after row of Biergärten, Bratwurststände, and Gingerbread stands (traditional for Nürnberg). After awhile of winding my way through the masses I wandered back to the market, where a local band was turning out decent covers of James Brown, Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Tom Jones, and Santana. No seats, though, so I only listened as long as my feet held out, and decided to visit the castle before turning in.

I think I went to bed at about 11, sneaking in quietly, making my bed in the dark as quietly as possible so as to not wake the one roommate I had, who was already asleep. Some time after I fell asleep two or more girls came in, turned the lights on, and proceeded to discuss loudly and slam doors. I can't pretend I was particularly polite, and neither were they.

The next morning, standing at the front desk reading the newspaper, the strangest thing happened. I had only seen one other person, an employee, when I suddenly heard someone whispering to me. I looked up, and leaning in the open window was a guy, young. I didn't understand him. So he climbed in the window to come and talk to me.

The smell of alcohol preceeded him. He introduced himself. Twice. And wanted to know my room number, if I wanted to drink, what my name was again, and he probably would have propositioned me if I hadn't taken my newspaper elsewhere. He followed. He asked if he could sit, I said no, he sat and started to smoke. I left, told him he should get lost. Not sure if he did.

Breakfast was with a girl from Japan who had just finished working for a year in London and was now doing the big Europe Trip before heading back to find a job. An interesting woman.

In the train to Bamberg I was surrounded by a group of American students who had apparently lost two group members in the previous night's festivities. Speculation as to their whereabouts included jail and the hospital. Finally, per text message, they learned that their companions had gotten into a fight and woken up somewhere in the suburbs, and were themselves on their way to Berlin.

My next stop was Bamberg, a place every third German will claim is the prettiest city in Germany. And it is a pretty city, with I think two or three cathedral complexes on the hill overlooking the city--itself on an island, connected by little bridges--full of tudor houses, flowers, and crooked streets. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1993.





After a few hours in Bamberg I headed off to Würzburg, to visit the huge baroque palace, Residenz. The fun part about German stores being closed in Sundays is that there is *nothing to do*. Everything is closed, and only retirees and packs of Japanese tourists are on the road.

I lasted about an hour in Würzburg; the Residenz didn't impress me so much (this is, after all, not my first Baroque palace, and the architechtural style doesn't interest me all that much anyways. Baroque, Classical, Rococo--I can pass on 16th century architechture, and I've already seen Versailles, Schönbrunn und Hofburg in Vienna, the palace in Munich, Sanssouci in Potsdam, Charlottenburg in Berlin (the latter two more rococo than baroque)).





Napoleon lived there when he took over this part of Germany.

And back home again.