It is here and it is wonderful,,, Nuremberg's Weinachtmarkt

What a couple of days it has been. The Magic of the Christmas market is just that - magic.
Friday we headed down to the Alt Stadt to listen to the announcement from the lovely Christ Angel atop the Frauen Kirche.  She opens the market every year.

smokers

Weird little Prune people with walnut heads. They are said to be the
souvenir from the Nuremberg Market....I think it would be funny to buy one and then eat it. ha ha

Too many people down there in the market! And this is empty compared to Friday night!

Angels and Minors - my favorite

decorative Lebekuchen

painted Neuschwanstein and Albrecht Durer Haus

okay I had to get a German Santa to bring home. Mine is green and red and wearing flannel!

Schoennen Brunnen and Castle, these painted ornaments are Gorgeous

Okay so let's be honest - all the people on Friday night was a bit scary for me.  I can't believe how rude people can be. It was frightening how they push and shove to get a view and try to move when NO ONE IS MOVING! But even that couldn't ruin the evening.   We were like sardines and with all the stalls around the church there were very few "good" spots to see the angel.  However; the music was lovely and to hear the Angel open the market was great.  After the official opening people did start to move. We headed to dinner and then walked through the market a bit on the way home.  Saturday was much better, not so many people and we could really take in the sights.  A couple of glasses of gluwein (warm mulled wine) and some roasted almonds and I was good to go.  We went back again on Sunday and had an amazing brunch up in one of the restaurants overlooking the market and then head back through to snap some photos a pick up a few things to take back with us.  What a superb way to end our stay in Germany.

This is probably my final post from Wurzelbauer Strasse as we leave Friday to return to our loving girls and home. I will post more about our time here when I settle in. It was a tough trip this time but we did make many wonderful memories.  It is true what they say "Home is where your heart is" and for some reason my heart seems to have stayed on the other side of the pond this time.  I do love Germany, that will never change and who knows....where will be next!  yikes!

A few detailed sights from Nürenberg, Germany (home)

The Schöner Brunnen Fountain - one of my favorites. No matter how many times I walk into town, for groceries, or coffee, or just for some fresh air, I can't help but stop at this amazing piece of art.


Some interesting facts... there is NO water in this fountain. It is located in the Main Market Square near the Frauen Kirche. It was built around 1385-96 by Heinrich Beheim. It is about 62 1/2 feet to the top. It has three tiers - Forty stone figures are arranged around it's octagonal base rising up to the top.  They are from the 14 century and represent the world view of the Holy Roman Empire.  The first row are the Philosopher and the Free Artists, the middle row the Evangelists and the Latin Church Fathers and the third row are the seven elector of and nine heroes.  The very top is Moses and the seven prophets.

If that is not enough to keep your interest the metal framing around the fountain can catch me forever.  The metal work is intricate in its own right. A beautiful example of Renaissance iron work. It was forged in 1587 by Paulus Kuhn.  Then in 1902 it was repaired by Albert Leipold. He then put in the well-known "golden-ring" that turns. 

Visitors are encouraged to turn the ring, three times 360 degrees each time,  and your wishes come true. (Okay I don't believe it but couldn't help to jump up and turn it myself)  A side note, what many visitors don't know is the "gold-ring" is not the original or real one.  There is a black ring high on the other side of the fountain that was the real one.  It is said that because it blends in with the ornate railing that the "gold" one was added to make it easier for tourist to find.  Bahhhh here we go again a little sparkle has left the fountain.  But perhaps that makes it more intriguing for those of us that know where the real one is.  I admit too that on many occasional while standing near the fountain I have, on occasion, pointed out the "real" one to a person or two!

Beautiful iron work

Can you see the little brass ring in the center above the horizontal black bar?

another view of the "brass" ring

right in the center you can see the original black ring!

 When the railing went up the sandstone figures were also replaced with shell lime ones. So when you are in Nürnberg, don't forget to turn the ring...the black one high on the back!

Lessons learned about German grocery shopping!

One should NEVER forget two main things....an Euro coin and shopping bags!  I am not new to this German way of shopping and I rather enjoy it, yes I actually do - most of the time.

So this morning I got up, the sun was shinning and it was COLD.  It is already 3 degrees in the morning brrr. (That is about 35 degrees Imperial for those of you in the States) Anyway I decided since we were going to go out for dinner tonight to go ahead and put on my new Tartan hose and sweater dress. So ready for fall, I grabbed my grocery bag, my purse, my keys and headed out...oh I came back...one should always carry an umbrella here as well or one will be most certainly be caught in a down pour, maybe only for a few minutes but it will happen!

After my 20 min walk with the wind blowing and fog everywhere, I got to the store.  Here is where the Euro coin comes into play.  I always keep one in the pocket of my grocery bag.  I put the coin in the slot on the grocery cart unplug it from the rest of the family and start down the rows.  If you don't have a coin you don't get a cart!  One thing about the Germans they don't like to wait so you had better have it in hand before you walk up to the family of carts!  I do love the wheels.  Oh the wheels on the carts...they are not like the States, they all four work, interdependently at that.  I have yet to get a bad cart here. (On a side note - one thing I don't understand - I can go into any store here and buy anything from a small pencil to a coat or boots and get a free bag. But buy anything at the grocery and they just hand it right back to you!  Weird right, and when you buy boots or shoes they take them OUT of the boxes and throw the box away while you stand there.)

I pass the meat counter, oh the meat counter is lovely here but, that will in-tale me talking - German.  My conversational German is good but looking at 6 different kinds of Ham and other various meat products can drive me crazy.  No one was really in the store so being brave...must have been the new hose!....I go back and explain "Ich hätte gerne zwei stuck von dem gekochten Schinken in der Rückseite bitte" I would like 2 pieces of the cooked ham in the back please. And yes. I did point, some of the German meats can be kind of scary, mixed with who know whats and gelatin, yuck. I didn't want to bring that home for supper. So the lady takes the ham and slices two slices and puts them on the scale.  I started to laugh pretty hard and she stared at me.  She had cut two of the thinnest sliced I had ever seen. It might have cost me 10 Euro cent and I think David would be rather hungry.  So I said "Es tut mir leid, meine Deutsch ist nicht so gut. Kann ich zwei dicke scheiben schneiden" I am so sorry my German is not so good (that seems to be my middle name here of late) could I have 2 thick slices. I show her with my fingers about an inch cut!  She giggled too and said No problem and then cut two THICK slices.  She was about to take the two little ones off and I said no problem I will take them too.  She thanked me, silly I guess but hey I can cut them up for Spaghetti Cabanara for one right? I say, again in German, thank you, I am trying, have a nice day, and goodbye. She was all grins.  They do seem to much more pleasant here than in Düsseldorf.

I proceed to the check out, now here are some lessons.  ALWAYS always use the little bar to separate your groceries from you neighbors, you wouldn't want her to buy yours by accident.If you don't use it someone will put it down for you and most likey rant something while doing so. ALWAYS lay you bottles down on their sides or you WILL get a talking too, and then you must be quick about it!  They literally throw your groceries down the little conveyor and you need to NOT pack them but quickly, very quickly dump them back into your cart, hand her the money and GET OUT OF THE WAY. They actually have a little gate they swing past and start on the next person while you are frantically pulling groceries off the stand. I don't know why it is that way but trust me you will thank me if you do this every time-move!  After you pay you move your cart out of the way, then and only then, you load up your bags (did you see the "s" on that word bags)  I FORGOT to bring more than one bag.  Oh bother...so I again walked home with 3 small heads of Romaine lettuce and 6 little rolls of bread in my arms while I had the one stuffed bag I did bring slung over my shoulder.  I hope I don't smash the eggs or butter! Did I mention the cold and 20 min walk ha ha.

So I was leaving the grocery and I noticed a nice looking German mother and teenager come in. They were fumbling with their purses (presumably looking for their Euro coin) while I was frantically loading my bag, so I slid my cart over quickly, like I said got to get out of the way, and told them you can have my cart "Sie können sich meine Einkaufswagens".  They both stared at me for a minute and asked about the Euro...I kept walking and said in German "no problem - have a nice day"  You would have thought they had won the lottery.  Now if I only remember to put an Euro coin back in my bag!

So Schönen Tag nach (have a good day) and don't forget your bags!!!

The Disney Castle, or Neuschwanstein....again

It is taking me too long to get my photos in order and upload them..... I think this second wedding has me going in yet another direction. (And I am happy to travel there!) They always say if you want something done to ask a busy person.  Grrrr. Now it is time for the rest of the trip!

After a great day in the Alps and at the Partnach Gorge, we got a good night's sleep.  Here is a tip for those of you traveling and wanting to save a bit of money... we actually got a lovely 3 bedroom apartment for the night for the same price as a 2 person hotel.  Full kitchen, 2 bathrooms, living room and 3 bedrooms that could sleep two in each room...and two more on the pull out if we had had more people ha ha!  So it was perfect.  It was the second floor of a lovely home with a wonderful couple who owned it, a place to park in the driveway and good advice on where to go for dinner!

Okay then, now we are off to Schwangau, that is where you will find King Ludwig II's castle.  He was an eccentric. He commissioned the castle as a retreat and to pay homage to Richard Wagner. However; he died in the lake near the castle before the castle was completed. Seven weeks after his death it was opened to the public, 1886.

I fell in love with this castle when we saw it for the first time over 4 years ago. 

the snow starting to build and seeing the fog

I had a rather rough go of it over Christmas that year, losing the cornea in my right eye in a mishap in Africa over break and needing emergency surgery back in Germany (but that is for another time) I was ready for this trip. Even after stopping on the way out of town and the way back in, at the Eye Hospital I am still glad we went!

Nothing was going to keep me from it...well maybe a bit of fog!  As we got closer the snow got deeper and fog got thicker.  Snow and Spring usually do that.

And that is just what we got - FOG. And to top it off the paths around the castle were closed. At the time I was still amazed, but after returning back to Dusseldorf, for that is where we were living back then, I became a bit sad.  I just couldn't imagine how I could not get "the shot". David had even told me he would jump the fence and go on but being a bit hindered in sight I was not adventurous.  Move ahead quickly to NOW and it is a whole different story...sort of...the fog was there, and I was beginning to worry about the trip to the top.  A small 30 min. walk straight up a HUGE incline...but hey we had been walking away now for 4 months so what is a little hill ha ha.

in the spring of 2007

fall 2011 - we could see the fog chasing us up the hill

stopped for a quick shot before the fog rolls back in

We stopped on the bridge and sadly it was a cloud of white surrounding the castle.  We decided to go further past the Marien Bridge and see if we could get a better shot.  I had read about a place you could sneak under a fence and continue up and get a great view.  So this time not only did we get to the bridge we got to the spot!

that is the bridge that was the goal

2011 the dreaded fog....it was moving quickly though

grabbing on to the roots we climbed up the side of the hill

WAIT FOR IT.....

My knees where shaking and I just couldn't stop grinning!

There is just something about this castle that has me...If you ever get the chance I recommend you see it.

On an added note. David and I were quite sad that in the short time we had been away it has become so accessible that it makes us sad.  There are railings and paths and roads leading to it in every which way. And while we think it is fantastic and all should try and see it - it is taking away a bit of the magic and shine of the beautiful castle. Maybe that is why the last shot meant so much...not everyone can get to it wink wink!

We did it and it was GRAND!

Wow were do I start...at the end I think.  We had a wonderful action packed 10 days of travel.  But the best part was of course the trip to Zugspitze that I blogged about doing.  We had a beer in heaven.  We drove to Garmish-Partenkirchen and found our way to the Cog wheel train.  Up we went to Germany's highest mountain. I couldn't believe we were in the Alps and honestly my legs were shaking with excitement.  Little did I know the shaking would continue for then next two days!  It was awesome.  I do mean AWESOME We took the train from Grainau up the mountain past the Eibsee (a wonder all it's own) and then into a dark tunnel.  We got to the Zugspitsplatt at 2600 m  and took a look around.

Zugspitsplatt

cable car going down 

The snow that had come down so heavy the week before was disappearing but there was enough to make it cold and wonderful.  I had added layers in the train to make sure nothing stopped me from enjoying this one. Then we took take a cable car up to the top, 2962 m.(almost 10,000 feet)  I would have loved to hike it, yes really, only 8 hours or so, but we did not have time if we wanted to continue on this glorious trip. You can see Austria, Switzerland, and Italy from here. I could have stayed up there all day. The sky was clear and we could see everything.  We stopped for lunch and a COLD beer.

My daughter and I sitting on the edge enjoying a cold beer in heaven!

And believe it or not the food was great too!
 Kent, Jordan's fiance

Then it was down the mountain in what can only be described as a sardine can.  See the photo and you will know what I mean. It wasn't a small cable car but they shoved so many of us in it you wouldn't believe it! 

The only advice I have if you go is to spend a little time on the platt before heading up to the top.  We were so anxious to see the world that we kind of hurried.  I would have enjoyed a coffee on the platt and a beer on the top.  But hey I have no complaints.  Beer in Heaven a friend of mine said. Genau!  (Exactly)

We headed over to the Olympic Ski Stadium...wow another cool site.  Parked the car and headed into the Partnach GORGE. it is about 2,305 ft in length and the walls rise to 263 ft.  It is fanominal.  Be prepared and wear good shoes with traction as the paths are very very narrow, wet, and in some place in complete darkness. Not a good idea for a women with eye problems. But hey I hung on and snapped pictures NOTHING keeps this women down! Guess i well end this for now and pick up with the Stadium and the gorge after lunch!  If you ever get the chance don't let it slip away....this WAS a gift of a trip.