Viking River Cruise, Day 8: Nuremberg, Germany (Facebook collage)
(click any collage to enlarge)
We're now starting the second half of our river cruise, and lucky for us, with so much history riding on this German city, especially from WWII, we had all morning and afternoon in Nuremberg, 170 km north of Munich in Bavaria, on the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal.
Once on our coaches to the Imperial Palace, we first drove around and through the Nazi rally grounds where the well-oiled Hitler propanganda machine made Nuremberg strategically significant.
After the war, this entire complex has remained empty and useless...except as a sad reminder.
Remember the Nuremberg Trials after the war?
The city is heavily fortified but was captured in April 1945 by the US at the end of the war.
Our main excursion of the day, right after breakfast, was to the Imperial Castle, from 1105.
All good castles have moats, right? So we crossed it to enter the castle grounds.
Once inside...I could not get enough of these half-timbered structures!
Can you imagine playing with your friends after school here?
See what I mean!
Look at the views of the city from up there!
See what I mean!
(and, yes, that's her camera!)
(and, yes, that's her camera!)
All good things come to an end, as they say....
...but now were we on our own to explore the city center.
And on our way.... Impressions. Impressions. Impressions.
The very first sight coming into city center, or the market square, standing out like a sore thumb,
is the Schöner Brunnen fountain from the 14th century, 19 meters high.
See the love padlocks?
Then, while on our way to see St. Lorenz, we passed these Jewish musicians.
They were playing songs from "Fiddler on the Roof." HA!
When we toss in coins, we can take as many pics as we want, of course.
This is the St. Lorenz Church from medieval times...now an Evangelical Lutheran church.
(Thanks to Astrid for the middle and right images.)
You know I'm gonna say it: Impressions. Impressions. Impressions.
...especially when you see a Balloon Man at church!
And why not???
These churches all look the same. They also all look so different.
I especially liked the angels holding candles.
We then headed back to the main market square, near the Schöner Brunnen fountain,
to check out the 1352 Frauenkirche, Church of Our Lady, behind the market stalls.
The entryway alone was more than enough....
...but we did go inside for a peek (more angels holding candles!).
A good time to show some niches, as we headed back to the ship for lunch...
...welcomed by our executive chef, Klaus, with a tasty appetizer.
Speaking of executive...after lunch I made the executive decision to stay put on the ship to rest midway through the cruise and work on images...while Astrid went back out on her own for "me" time. The following collages are of HER images:
Since she knows I love niches, she "collected" these for me. What a Lady, right?!
And can you tell we both like architecture?
Birds of a feather flock together. Partners in crime.
What can I say. We were made for each other!
We do love these photo hunts! And to do them on a river cruise? WOWSER
