Nuremberg Pt. 2
23 December 2016
It was a short nap, only an hour or so, but it was very much needed. We woke, showered off our long travels, and made our way out to see the city properly. For late December it actually wasn't so cold here. I was a bit surprised, but still... it was cold enough to bust out the Doctor Who laplander hat... or the Tardis Kappe! as a guy in Frankfurt called it a couple years ago. Cutting through the Hauptmarkt again we looked out over the stalls, enjoying as much of them as we could for now as they would be gone after tomorrow. The yellow Deutsche Post carriage parted the crowd as it made its slow way down the street, pulled along by a pair of majestic horses with long white manes. They were so beautiful.
We crossed the bridge and headed back up the Konigstrasse towards the Handwerkerhof, and passed all the stalls that extended beyond the Market up along the street. I love the Christmas Market, but in some ways I love these stalls even more. Instead of the typical holiday offerings, here is where you find the fresh produce that always looks so enticing. As a cook, these bins of the cone-shaped cabbage, fresh colorful berries, and barrels full of sauerkraut are so tempting. I just want to take home the lot and make stuff! The heady aroma of roasting chestnuts filled the air as we stopped for glasses of Gluhwein, a mulled red wine served hot that is one of the distinct flavors of the German Christmas Markets. They are served in little ceramic mugs, usually decorated for the year’s market and sometimes made into fun shapes. It’s a small deposit for the mugs that you get back upon return, but if they are nice mugs we just hang on to them. These were little red boots with the Nuremberg Market painted on them. Not a bad souvenir for 3 Euro, and these would make a great simple yet meaningful gift to bring home!
We went through the tower gates into the Handwerkerhof and strolled again through those small alleys. Last we were here we purchased a pewter stein from the amazing pewtersmith Georg Stanisavljevic. We were thrilled to see the little shop still there and open, even this close to the holiday. We stepped through the door and it was just as we remembered! Hundreds upon hundreds of pewter items strewn across the shop – along shelves, in cabinets, sprawled across the floor, there were amazing handmade items everywhere! Beth found a little pewter pitcher vase that we bought this time. I wanted another stein but we did have to watch our costs, and large handmade pewter steins are deservedly not cheap. But seriously, if you want a quality souvenir to bring home from your travels, seek out places like this. I know I just joked about the ceramic boot mugs for 3 Euro, and sure those are lots of fun. But quality artisans making the traditional crafts from their regions are becoming more and more scarce. Purchasing an item like this not only supports the local artist community and helps to keep these traditions alive, but it also means so much more to your collections than just another Chinese factory magnet with the town name painted on it that you bought in some tourist trap. This is something special. Please, seek these places out and support them.
So, finding a place for dinner might be a challenge over the next few days. We were well aware of this coming into the trip. I planned ahead and marked some on the map that look good, but with the biggest holiday of the year approaching we weren’t sure exactly what would be open. We eased our appetites by sharing another Drei im Weckla and walked down along the river. We stopped and looked at the menus for a few before we strolled into the Kinderweihnact. This is the children’s section of the markets, which featured more toys and rides. We got these flavored marshmallow treats covered in chocolate to save for later. Along the tops of the stalls were the signs with automated characters that move like the wooden toys from olden days. Sure it's all made for kids, but it is still a fun section to stroll through.
We passed by another of my favorite city sculptures, the Narrenschiffbrunnen, or the “Ship of Fools”. It’s an intricate fountain with so much detail, depicting a family fleeing from an attacking skeleton. Not sure if this is based on something like the Ehekarussel, but style does make it look like it could be from the same artist. I love statues and sculptures found around cities, and just so happens two of my favorites are here in Nuremberg.
We decided to get dinner at the very first place we checked out, a pretty little pinkish-orange building on Trödelmarkt called Trödelstuben, sitting next to the bridge on a little island in the river. It was pretty inside, all old dark wood with those 3-D Bavarian wood-carved scenes hanging on the walls. The server greeted us with a basket of pretzels. Ah, I love Germany, they know the way to my heart! We both ordered the same thing: roast pork shoulder with bread dumpling. It was superb… and gigantic. Our server Mattaeus chided us for struggling to finish, saying in Franconia they give the foreigners children’s portions. I had a dunkel with dinner while Beth had a radler, but after the meal we stayed a bit late talking with Mattaeus while we tried a variety of schnapps. Himbeer, blackberry, sloe, mirabelle, and plum were all sampled and all enjoyed. We are big fans of German Schnapps, and are lucky enough to have a few quality places back home that serve them, so we were a bit familiar already. Still, we were excited to try them all here. The unique things like this are what I love seeking out on our travels. I still remember all those liqueurs from Greece we loved, and the schnapps here are getting us in that same way. Mattaeus said he had something different for us and brought out a little bottle of Underberg. To his surprise we were very familiar with the small bottle of bitter digestive! We chatted about differences between Franconia from the rest of Bavaria and got the history how the region bounced back and forth with ownership before being integrated into the Bavarian state. We had a lady who was a regular throw out suggestions on the different schnapps we should try that were local favorites. We attempted our weak German as best we could to talk with another patron there. We talked, drank schnapps, and had a great time well into the night. It was perfect. And for the record - I think the Himbeer was my favorite.
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped in the Market by the Frauenkirche where the Christmas Choir was going through its final performance of the day. Serenaded by beautiful voices as we strolled through the platz, we slowly made our way back to the room for our marshmallow treats and a well-deserved night's sleep.
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