JULY 10 – Day 10
Waking up today in Munich, we knew that it was going to a big adventure day. Our end goal for the day was to get to Nuremburg, Germany, however we were up early to get to the train station. This was we could use our last metro pass for our time in Munich to get to the area of infamous Dachau. This is a very historical concentration camp during World War 2 and what a humbling and chilling experience to see this area where such mass genocide took place. This area is actually the towns’ name, but the camp/ quarantine area bares the fame.
The train takes about 20 minutes to arrive at the main terminal and based on my gps coordinates it did not seem to far to walk to the camp destination. I unfortunately was wrong and it was VERY long to walk, thus we decided to get a bus pass and route our way around the city. Another unfortunate thing is that we were dropped off about half a mile from the actual entrance of the camp and forced us to walk around the entire Eastern perimeter of the place!
Nonetheless we were able to gain access ints the memorial which is free. The site of walking through the gates knowing who has been drug through and tortured made for an eery feeling. Such history was made ready for you to explore in the buildings where the torturing took place. Registers of past names, videos explaining the horrible events, and showcases of torture make you feel extremely solitude and thankful for the world we live in now, being much better.
This large open area outside has memorials to the fallen Jews of Europe, and an expansive area to walk where drills were done. As much as we appreciated the history and wanted to stay longer, we were aware of our schedule, and forced ourselves to cut our walking short and head back to the station to get to the main terminal for Munich. It was time to head to Nurmburg.
This train was a free train included in our Eurail pass and was overall very smooth. Upon arrival we were a little late and made a beeline for our hotel to check in and get our things situated so we could explore this city. We only had half a day to explore as we were going to do some day trips outside of Nurmburg the following day while we were based there.
So we headed into the town square and immediately the architecture started to impress us. The main entrance seems to resemble a walled in Medieval city, but this was actually a refurbished entrance to a former massive fortress. Though it still exists it is much more modernized and blended with business to give it the perfect tourist feel.
The first part of the city to make and impression is the bridge leading into the town center. This bridge has views of restaurants, and flowered terraces of businesses and peoples houses which give it the perfect German charm. As you continue you will quickly pass Cathedrals, and be led into the town square.
This is arguably one of the most popular photos in German tourism but definitely the primary attraction of Nuremburg. This area features the farmers market in the midday. We explored this plaza and the local products being sold. We came across some dried fruits to keep us going through the day and had a great time looking at the charcuterie, and local farmer products available to the people. The main cathedral of the town is located in the plaza, which imposes its clock tower above the square. This is always open.
We ventured into the cathedral and enjoyed some great organ music being played. Cathedrals in Europe as mentioned before are one of our highlights, one because they are generally free to enter, but also often times you can enjoy free music in a spectacular setting, which can easily become an out of body experience.
Nonetheless, after this was complete we took, our walk back to the main square and observed a few more sites, such as a fountain tower with an ornate painting and carving ont he outside as shown here.
WE headed north to the next part of the city, and arguable the most impossing, and that is the fortified tower of Nurnburg. We did not enter into the tour area, as we were one on budget, and had seen planty of castles thus far, as well as our time was once again limited. However just walking up to the castle gives you a fabulous view overlooking the city for free, and gives you an idea of the battles, and people that fought the battles during medieval times. The castle itself is remarkably well preserved, but fortified like the best in Europe. I would have loved to done this tour, but it was getting dark, and we were hungry.
This castle was at the north end of the city, and besides the primary cathedral (yes different that the other) we were at the end of our site seeing list today. We decided to go explore the cathedral on the way back from the castle and to our hotel. The cathedral for the town is much bigger than the one in the town square and its features are much more gothic. You can immediately tell it was built for size, and massive crowds, as opposed to opulence compared to the other cathedral. Here are some pictures from the cathedral.
Now that we had seen all the primary sites today it was time for some real food and we came across a true gem. Using our phone we discovered a highly rated locally owned restaurant that had immense german flair, but the right amount of non tourism, to keep it authentic. It was CALLED. and the food was incredible. We had ……. and enjoyed the people surrounding us. The interior has more trinkets and german cultural items than i could explain, but to the likes of clocks, marionettes, trains, and stocking hanging from the walls. The servers were generally nice but definitely acclimated to working there. This is a true gem of our food experience on this Trip. I recommend this restaurant if you ever find yourself in Nuremburg.
Upon completion of dinner it was time to head back to the hotel, and we stopped at an Aldi along the way to get snacks and items for the next day. I was also laundry day for us, and we decided to was our clothes int he sink, and hang dry our clothes on the balcony….because hey, every penny counts! It was overall a very tiring but successful day, and we were in perfect position to continue our adventure the next day for our day trips. We also decided to clean clothes and dry them through the next day while at the hotel.
WALKING ROUTE:
St. Lorenz Cathedral
Chruch of our lady
Nuremburg Christkindlesmarkt
Sankt Sebaldus Kirche
St. Edidien
Imperial Castle Of Nuremburg
Vestnertorbrucke
Neutorium
Invite Hotel Nurnberg City
Kongressalle hitler house
-Gingerbread- lebkuchen schmidt
-Spiced Wine-
made ashley walk from bus station bought bus pass
cold and windy
had long walk left
dachau for an hour walked through buildings
saw registry
horrible feeling
went to nuremburg
bought fruits at market
toured castle
INVITE hotel Nurnburg city (113.80) two nights
EXPENSES-
12.80 breakfast
4.80 bakery
2.60 sandwhich
29.10 dinner
5.77 Christmas market
3 ice cream
7 beer
Total- 65.07 (17 under – 34.89=17.89 over budget)