Wow! It’s been a blur…
Day 9 – We had a final breakfast of bacon and eggs with Peter, Celia, and the boys, got our bags packed and made our way to Bad Worishofen to meet up with Tante Brigette and Tante Gertrude. The drive along the Autobahn (portions without speed limits!) was fun, and with the “Foen” (literally means hairdryer in German, refers to warm air coming up from Italy), the Alps were not only visible, but looking very close. We had a nice lunch at a local restaurant (Maultaschen for Audrey and a steak with cheese Spaetzle for JD), then took a look around town and the convent turned wellness resort that Brigette and Gertrude are spending their holiday at. We exchanged presents, said goodbye and returned to Munich just in time to catch the 4pm train Nuremberg. Verena met us at the train station and we were welcomed by Anne and Marita back at Anne’s apartment. We had the traditional German “Abendbrot” and stayed up till the wee hours catching up on many years’ worth of chit-chat.
The next day (Day 10), we did a proper tour of Nuremberg. We checked out the Lorenzkirche, Marktplatz (with Christkindlmarkt!), Schoennbrunn, Sebaldskirche, Kaiserburg (castle from ~1050AD overlooking the city), Johannesfriedhof, Albrecht Duerer House, Handwerkerhof…We also snacked on the famous “drei im Weckle” (three Nuremberger Bratwuerstchen in a roll). As the sun went down, we then got to enjoy the christmas market by light – and what a beautiful sight it is! We then went to a local restaurant and enjoyed some “real” Schnitzel and beer courtesy of Marita. So delicious!
Day 11 – We went into the city in the morning to do a little more shopping and enjoy the Christmas market again. Come 2pm on Christmas Eve, all the stores finally shut down and it was time to head home, have some Lebkuchen, then open Christmas presents! (That’s right, Santa visits Germany a little early). It doesn’ matter how old one is, present time is always the best! =) We had fresh leberkaese and Bratwurstchen for the evening meal, then decided it was finally time to sleep in the next morning.
Day 12 – Christmas Day 1 – (there’s TWO in Germany!) Feeling a little bit weird about not having presents on Christmas morning, we were quickly feeling better about the idea of having a nice relaxing day. We drove into Wendelstein to visit the town where I did my exchange program and walk around the canal a bit. Later, we went on a run to get some exercise, then had the most delicious carrot ginger soup and filet for dinner. We had much wine, beer, champagne, and enjoyed listening to music and at times having a dance/karoeke party (Te Amo, anyone?). It was really a wonderful day feeling happy and full and celebrating with such a wonderful family!
Day 13 – Xmas part Deux – Again, a nice sleep in followed by a relaxing German breakfast. We then went to the DokuZentrum, which is a great museum that explains the establishment of the Nazi party and their eventual stronghold on the city of Nuremberg. The museum did a really great job taking visitors through the evolution of the party and subsequent war, and of course, it was a sobering experience. We all knew bits and pieces of the info, but the museum put it all together for us. We returned home to a homecooked meal of Rouladen(!!!) with dumplings and sauce with red beet field salad….so good! Again, a quiet, relaxing evening was had by all, but we had to say goodbye to Tante Marita, as she had to go back to work in Berlin; JD was especially sad to lose his beer enthusiast friend. We really enjoyed getting to spend time with her.
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