December 2019

Greetings! Our next adventure took us to Nuremberg, Germany. Germany was high on our list of places to visit and we decided on Nuremberg not only for the history of the city, but we were told Nuremberg had one of the best Christmas Markets in all of Europe. We also decided to take the train up to Bamberg for a day to visit and to check out Schlenkerla, the world famous and historic smoke beer brewery. I'll talk about Bamberg in a separate post as well as more of the history of Nuremberg.

We had a relatively short flight with Ryanair right into the Nuremberg Airport. We then took the wonderful German trains to our AirBnb. The trains in Germany were fantastic and very easy to use. We got a Mobi card which allowed us unlimited use for the few days we were there for about €26. Germany uses the euro(€) for its currency and it can be tricky in Germany because a lot of places are cash only. After arriving, we set out to go into Old Town Nuremberg for a tour of the Imperial Castle and to take in the city.

AirBnb Nuremberg: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/16068041?source_impression_id=p3_1576997220_A9y0H3N38Tx2TxIN

Views of Nuremberg:

Church of Our Lady - Frauenkirche:

White Tower:

Schöner Brunnen is a 14th-century fountain located on Nuremberg's main market area:

This a a picture of Albrecht Dürer's house. He was a German painter, printmaker, and theorist of the German Renaissance in the 1400-1500s.

Imperial Castle of Nuremberg: https://www.kaiserburg-nuernberg.de/englisch/castle/
The castle was really interesting as it sat on a hilltop at the top of Old Town. Its history dates back to the 1050s.

We opted for a demonstration of the deep well at the castle. The well reportedly dates back to the fourteenth century and was dug 50 meters down into the rock. During the demo, the guide poured a pitcher of water into the well, it was so interesting to hear the water splash down eventually as it took several seconds due to the depth.

The Christmas Market in Nuremberg was AMAZING! I caveat this statement with the fact that I'd never been to a Christmas Market before and have no comparison, but I had heard many things about this market and it did not disappoint. There was food and drink and local artisans and it was such a neat experience. You can definitely pick up some one-of-a-kind momentos there. We also definitely felt safe as there was a strong security presence.

Christkindlesmarkt: https://www.christkindlesmarkt.de/en/

We came across this duo playing music. Their instruments were interesting....yes, those are PVC pipes and yes, she is "playing" them with flip-flops.

Did a little car shopping while we were there...could not resist!

We also had some amazing food in Nuremberg.

Nuremberg was a fantastic city and I would love to go back. We had such a great experience there!

Onto Bamberg...

Greetings! During our stay in Bucharest, we decided to take a one day tour to Sinaia to see Peles Castle, Castle Bran in Bran, and the city of Brasov.

Peles Castle is located in the Carpathian Mountains near the city of Sinaia. The castle was commissioned by King Carol I in 1873 and completed in 1883. It was the first European castle to have electricity, hot and cold running water, central heat and central vacuum system. The stain glass roof of the foyer opens mechanically and there was a small elevator installed for the royal family. The rooms in the castle are said to have inspiration from various parts of the world. For instance, there is a Turkish inspired room, a Moorish inspired room, and French inspired room, among the various rooms in the castle. King Carol enjoyed collecting weapons and he displayed them throughout the castle. There are also a few secret doors around the castle.

The city of Brasov is about 40 miles from Peles Castle. It is a city in the Transylvania region of Romania, ringed by the Carpathian Mountains. It's known for its medieval Saxon walls and bastions, and the towering Gothic-style Black Church. We were able to go inside of the Black Church but photos were not allowed and externally, the church was surrounded by buildings. We had lunch in Brasov in the square and had Papanasi, which is a traditional Romanian desert of donuts with cream and jam. They were delicious and disappeared before I could snap a picture, ha!

Castle Bran was the inspiration for Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. Although Stoker never visited Bran Castle, it apparently matches the description of the castle Stoker writes about. In my opinion, it has less of a castle feel and more of a fortress feel. It was definitely cool to see though, especially the views!

Fall colors at Bran:

We really enjoyed our tour in northern Romania. Peles Castle was very interesting and in a beautiful area. It was one my most favorite castles we have had the opportunity to visit. We are glad we made the trip to Romania and we certainly learned a lot.

Onto the next adventure!