Then I went to Nurnberg...
Anyone who's ever studied a language knows those beginner-level recordings where the speakers are speaking incredibly slowly and clearly and you think... "well that's great but this is NOT how people actually speak." Honest to God, in Nurnberg they do. I could understand probably 80% of any conversation I happened to overhear. It was fantastic. I spent a good hour speaking to a couple from Hannover at a cafe who could not stop complementing my German- incredulous that an American would speak their language (note- my spoken German is still truly not that great. I think they were just excited that I could sort of get my point across). We weren't debating artistical integrity or anything of that nature but we had a nice conversation nonetheless.
Obligatory Historical Aside: Nurnberg was the site of the Nazi-party rallies as well as the Nurnberg trials where many of the Nazi conspirators were tried and sentenced after the war. For the most part, you don't see much evidence of this until you leave the city center and venture to the rally grounds. Even then, if you didn't know what you were looking for you would miss it.
This is the podium where Hitler gave his famous speeches. As you can see, there isn't much to remind you of what it once was. Though when you actually go and stand on the podium you can imagine what it might have been like and it becomes a very sobering moment. For perspective:
The best way to elevate your mood after a day full of walking in the footsteps of evil is, of course, a great German meal. Czech food is OK. They have some very tasty dishes and again, the best beer in the world... hands down. But as far as sausage goes.. Germany wins every time. . Look, I've had much more sausage in Germany than in Prague and I'm not saying I've had the best sausage in the CZ yet. I'm sure that when I do this opinion will change. But as of right now, the wurst (hahahaha) sausage I've eaten in Germany is frankly (get it?) better than the best sausage I've had in the Czech Republic. This is very disappointing as I was led to believe the Czech sausage was among the world's best. I'm holding out hope that I have just been eating all the wrong foods here.
Nurnberger. Specialty of... you guessed it! Probably my least favorite in the country. Sorry Nurnberg.. but the kraut... THE KRAUT!!
Bratwurst. Jumenberg.
The most enjoyable part of the weekend was following the river outside the old-town into the forest. After walking maybe 2 or 3 miles I came across a magical forest brewery. You simply don't turn down a beer at a magical forest brewery or you'll be cursed with terrible beer for the rest of your life. I honestly can't tell you if the beer was any good. It tasted phenomenal but it may have been the fact that I was sitting outside in a deserted beer garden in the middle of the woods being gently rained upon by the spring trees losing their blossoms. Here are some pictures. Enjoy!
Truffle season in Nurnberg!
Magical Forest Brewery
Amen, bathroom stall.
Magical Forest Beer.
Through the magical forest.
Nice little spot I found to read my book.
Apparently they piled all of the rubble from WWII up on this spot and 60 years later it became a nice little hill. There are warning signs all around not to eat on the grass as it is apparently quite toxic. But then how is the grass growing there...?
White Asparagus season in Germany. I didn't realize how delicious they could be until I had them here.
