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Meetings all day, but I still made it out for a quick sunset ride in Westpark to catch the cherry blossoms in bloom (along with everything else)! 🌸

Meetings all day, but I still made it out for a quick sunset ride in Westpark to catch the cherry blossoms in bloom (along with everything else)! 🌸

Meetings all day, but I still made it out for a quick sunset ride in Westpark to catch the cherry blossoms in bloom (along with everything else)! 🌸

Meetings all day, but I still made it out for a quick sunset ride in Westpark to catch the cherry blossoms in bloom (along with everything else)! 🌸

Meetings all day, but I still made it out for a quick sunset ride in Westpark to catch the cherry blossoms in bloom (along with everything else)! 🌸

Meetings all day, but I still made it out for a quick sunset ride in Westpark to catch the cherry blossoms in bloom (along with everything else)! 🌸

Meetings all day, but I still made it out for a quick sunset ride in Westpark to catch the cherry blossoms in bloom (along with everything else)! 🌸

Meetings all day, but I still made it out for a quick sunset ride in Westpark to catch the cherry blossoms in bloom (along with everything else)! 🌸

A personal tour of Nürnberg…

Last year I attended the AWS Nürnberg Meetup Group (via Zoom) and learned a couple things: 1) Nürnberg = Nuremberg, which I had previously naively thought was an entirely separate city 😂; 2) despite being technically located in Bavaria, Nürnbergers do NOT think of themselves as Bavarian but rather Franconian; and 3) the folks there are incredibly friendly. The organiser of the AWS group is Frank, and when I mentioned that I’d like to visit his city someday, he said to let him know and he’d give us a personal tour. But nobody actually means things like that when they say it, right?

Train to NĂźrnberg

At any rate, two weeks after we got home from Vienna we boarded a Friday evening train to Nürnberg. It’s a very fast trip from Munich (less than 90min) so we were there well before the sun set.

Willkommen Familie Snook

Um, how cute is that? We had booked a room at Hotel Elch (Elk), which looked to be pretty centrally located to everything we wanted to see. Our room was on the very top floor, right underneath the roof, and without an elevator it was a decent hike up maybe 4 flights of stairs. That’s what you get when you stay in a heritage building.

NĂźrnberg

Frank had given us a tip to make sure to come on a weekend with nice weather. We’d timed it well and the forecast was nothing but blue skies. We dropped our stuff and went for a wander. The center of Nürnberg feels very medieval with its cobbled streets, city walls, and castle looming up on the ridge. Our first destination was the Hausbrauerei Altstadthof, which is the starting point of the Historische Felsengänge tour.

On the tour

There were only a few of us on the tour. The guide was a friendly older local guy who spoke only German, so the Snook and I were offered electronic devices where we could punch in numbers at each stop and hear an explanation in English.

Entry to the Felsengänge

Felsengänge means “rock passages” and refers to the extensive system of tunnels and cellars carved into the rock beneath Nürnberg. While there are many access points around the city, the main tourist entrance is in Albrecht-Dürer-Platz, right next to the statue of the famous local artist and facing St. Sebaldus Church. We went down the stairs and our guide unlocked the heavy door and ushered us inside.

Tunnels

The tunnels were built from the 14th century onwards and were mainly used in the brewing of beer. At one point, Nürnberg had more than 40 breweries based in the city, and each had a rock cellar for fermenting and storing their beer. The tunnels were eventually joined up and they were used during World War 2 as bomb shelters for the locals and to store precious art as well. Some of the connecting tunnels are pretty small (I had to hunch not to hit my head) so definitely this isn’t a tour for someone with claustrophobia.

Rock cellars

There were various stops along the way as we learned about the city, its history of beer making, and how the tunnels were used. We also learned about the Reinheitsgebot, the famous German beer purity law that was adopted across Bavaria in 1516.

Tunnels

There were also some informational exhibits along the way. Many showed medieval manuscripts with illustrations of monks brewing beer, often with a six-pointed star dangling above the pot. Our guide explained that it had nothing to do with Judaism, but instead was known as the Brewer’s Star meant to ward off fires and bad spirits.

Brewer’s star

The cellars were dug very deep, up to 4 stories in places. However over the years some of them were altered or destroyed, and so changes have been made to conserve them. Our guide told us how in this vault, there are columns, beams, and support rods holding the walls and ceiling to ensure they don’t collapse.

Deep cellars

We also learned how ice was cut from lakes and transported to the cellars in the winter, where it would slowly melt over the summer and keep the tunnels cool enough for the beer fermentation. The sandstone also filtered groundwater, and we saw examples of primitive “pipes” made from bored-out logs that were used to transport the water.

Towards the end of the tour I jokingly asked the guide if there were any “Geister” (ghosts) down there. “Oh yes!” he answered. 😳

Tunnel

The tour ends back up at ground level where you are offered a sample of the famous local Rotbier (red beer) from the Altstadthof brewery.

Rotbier

There’s also a distillery associated with the brewery, so we heard a bit about the process of making whisky and got to step inside one of the storerooms full of barrels. It smelled amazing. Needless to say, the Snook was in heaven.

After the tour, I had taken Frank’s advice and booked us in for dinner at the Brewery. We enjoyed some fine Franconian fare and sampled more of the beer…

Dinner at Altstadthof Brauerei

…and even a bit of their Bierbrand, which is distilled from beer itself. It’s similar to whisky but not exactly the same.

Bierbrand

We decided to burn off some of those calories with a nighttime stroll around the city. We headed first to the castle with its dramatically lit walls and battlements.

From the castle we walked south down Burgstraße towards the Altes Rathaus (old city hall).

Altes Rathaus

It stands directly behind St. Sebaldus Church.

St. Sebaldus Church

We continued on to the Hauptmarkt, the big public square where the world famous Christkindlesmarkt (Christmas market) is held each year. One of the attractions in the square is the SchĂśner Brunnen (beautiful fountain).

SchĂśner Brunnen

Nearby is the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), which we would discover the next day has a very famous clock.

Frauenkirche

The river that flows through Nürnberg is the Pegnitz, and we crossed over the Museumsbrücke on our walk. From one side we could see the Fleischbrücke, a late Renaissance bridge that has stood for more than 400 years. On the other side we had a view of the Heilig-Geist-Spital built over the river. It was originally a hospital and now it’s an old folks’ home.

We headed back towards our hotel. Along the way we passed by St. Sebaldus Church again, this time from the front. St. Sebaldus is the patron saint of NĂźrnberg.

St. Sebaldus Church

Continue reading “A personal tour of NĂźrnberg…”

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Still a bit nippy out of the sun, but Spring has sprung 🌱 and the flowers are blooming 🌸 and the beer is pouring. 🍻 2022 Biergarten count: 1!

Still a bit nippy out of the sun, but Spring has sprung 🌱 and the flowers are blooming 🌸 and the beer is pouring. 🍻 2022 Biergarten count: 1!

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It feels like Spring! We took the bikes out for a ride to Schloss Nymphenburg and a lovely brunch at Alleecafé7. 🚴‍♀️🏰🥪

It feels like Spring! We took the bikes out for a ride to Schloss Nymphenburg and a lovely brunch at Alleecafé7. 🚴‍♀️🏰🥪

It feels like Spring! We took the bikes out for a ride to Schloss Nymphenburg and a lovely brunch at Alleecafé7. 🚴‍♀️🏰🥪

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The Snook made me a beautiful homemade birthday dinner – pan pizza and a pomegranate cake. He’s the best. ❤️🍕🍰

The Snook made me a beautiful homemade birthday dinner - pan pizza and a pomegranate cake. He’s the best. ❤️🍕🍰

The Snook made me a beautiful homemade birthday dinner - pan pizza and a pomegranate cake. He’s the best. ❤️🍕🍰

The Snook made me a beautiful homemade birthday dinner - pan pizza and a pomegranate cake. He’s the best. ❤️🍕🍰

The Snook made me a beautiful homemade birthday dinner - pan pizza and a pomegranate cake. He’s the best. ❤️🍕🍰

The Snook made me a beautiful homemade birthday dinner - pan pizza and a pomegranate cake. He’s the best. ❤️🍕🍰

Vienna waits for you… 🎵

As soon as we got back from Madrid, we dumped the suitcases, did a couple quick loads of laundry, and repacked everything again. 24 hours later we were on the train to Vienna. Time to continue our Habsburg week!

Train to Vienna

We caught the RJX 261 from Munich to Vienna, which takes about 4 hours. Since it was dinnertime, we used the train app to order food from the dining car and it was delivered to our seats. I couldn’t resist tweeting it to @_DiningCar.

Once we arrived at Vienna, we caught a cab to our hotel and then crashed for the night. The next morning, we wandered around the corner to phil (a bookstore and cafe) for breakfast.

phil in Vienna

My friend Eileen calls Vienna “the Melbourne of Europe,” and yeah, I can see it. I went for the brekkie option that came with a glass of Prosecco.

Breakfast at phil

We were staying in the Museum Quarter of Vienna, and I spotted this graffiti nearby: “Man tĂśtet nicht aus Liebe.” (One does not kill for love.) This saying has been used a lot in conjunction with an Austrian campaign against domestic violence.

Man tĂśtet nicht aus Liebe

I also really liked this nearby intersection, with its rainbow pedestrian crossing and LGBTQI street signals. 🏳️‍🌈❤️

Street crossing

Our goal for the morning was to see some art, so we headed to the nearby Maria-Theresien-Platz. This public square sits between the Naturhistorisches Museum (Natural History Museum) and the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum). In the center there is a memorial statue of Empress Maria Theresa herself. It was shaping up to be a beautiful day in Wien!

Maria-Theresien-Platz

We bought our tickets and headed into the Art History Museum. It turns out that Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary commissioned these two museums to house the Habsburgs’ formidable art collection.

Kunsthistorisches Museum

The entry to the Museum leads you into the ground floor of the Rotunda with its fantastically decorated ceiling. From there you can branch off into several different galleries.

Rotunda

We headed to the right into the Egyptian Collection. It was pretty much exactly what you envision as a kid – hieroglyphics on the walls, huge carved sarcophagi, and mummies in their painted coffins.

Sarcophagus

“Do you want to get cursed?” the Snook asked as I posed for a selfie with some burial idols. “Because I’m pretty sure that’s how you get an ancient Egyptian curse.”

Cat idols and sculptures

I especially liked this statuette of a hippopotamus from Thebes. They’ve dated it to around 2000BC, so this little guy is like 4000 years old.

Hippo

Next we headed to the Greek and Roman antiquities. Hello, butts. 🍑 This is the rear view of the Torso des Speerträgers (torso of the spear-carrier).

Bum

The building itself is a work of art, extravagantly decorated and carved.

Amazonian Sarcophagus

I especially liked this Amazonian Sarcophagus showing the famous female warriors fighting against the Greeks.

Amazonian Sarcophagus

The collection also includes a Roman mosaic depicting the story of Theseus. His battle with the Minotaur is in the center of the labyrinth, and around the sides are scenes with Ariadne. (The museum has spotlights that periodically turn on to highlight parts of the mosaic, which is why the scenes are lit up.)

Labyrinth Mosaic

A statuesque Mr. Snook, posing in a room full of Roman sculpted heads.

Roman busts and heads

I love the stylised decoration on these Greek amphorae. This one depicts Silenus and the maenads, as well as more Amazons.

Amphora

Another part of the museum is the “Kunstkammer” which houses its most fabulous treasures. This is the famous gold Cellini Salt Cellar from 1543, which was stolen in a daring heist in 2003 and not recovered until three years later. It’s insured now for like $60M.

Cellini Salt Cellar

Time to look at paintings! We headed up the staircase, which is ridiculously over-the-top and features paintings from famous artists like Gustav Klimt.

Staircase

We’d been going for over three hours at this point, so I was feeling a little tired and had a rest on a bench.

Tired Kris

The collection includes quite a few works by Peter Paul Rubens. This one is “Haupt der Medusa” (Head of Medusa) showing the severed head of Medusa with drops of her blood turning into snakes. 😳

The Head of Medusa

The museum also houses a large number of works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the most significant artist of the Dutch and Flemish Renaissance. Here the Snook views “The Tower of Babel.”

The Tower of Babel

We spent nearly five hours in the art museum, so it was definitely time to get outside and see more of Vienna. We walked along the Heldenplatz past the Hofburg Palace (where Marie Antoinette was born!), and through the archway next to the Spanish Riding School.

Hofburg

Our destination was St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the most important religious building in Vienna. It’s nearly 900 years old! I was not expecting the beautiful geometric designs made from glazed tiles on the roof. I’ve never seen anything like that on a church before.

St. Stephen's Cathedral

The interior is also stunning, with paintings, sculptures, altars, and tombs wherever you look. We walked up and down the aisles. The cathedral was nearly destroyed in 1945 by retreating German forces, but the Captain saved it by disobeying orders to reduce it to rubble.

Inside St. Stephen's

We walked all around the exterior of the cathedral too. The towers have many bells, and it’s said that Beethoven discovered he was deaf when he saw birds flying out of the towers but couldn’t hear the tolling.

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Digression: The real reason for going to Vienna was to celebrate my 45th birthday. I had been thinking for a while about getting myself a nice wristwatch. (Not a smartwatch; a real mechanical watch.) I’d bought myself a beautiful Longines watch for my 40th, but a year later I accidentally left it in a hotel room in Singapore and I never got it back. I was heartbroken at the time and, though the Snook suggested repeatedly that we could replace it, I told him that I didn’t deserve nice things if I couldn’t care for them properly. Finally, several years later, I felt like it might be time.

As we walked through Vienna, we looked into several watch shops but I couldn’t find anything that met my requirements. I didn’t want anything too tiny or delicate, or with silly bits of diamonds stuck all over it. I wanted something simple and classic, and ideally I wanted it to be self-winding. What I really wanted was my old watch again, but even though we saw many Longines, I couldn’t find any just like it. The Snook convinced me to check out one more shop, Juweliere Ellert, a jeweler near the cathedral. The saleslady was very nice and showed me many different watches, but none of them were right. She asked me to describe my old watch, and when I did, she suddenly reached back into a cabinet and said, “Is it this one?” IT WAS. It turns out that the particular model had been retired in 2020 but they had one left, and she recognised it from my description. So I got my watch back! She even gave us a nice discount. It was the best, best birthday surprise, and I couldn’t be happier with it.

Anyway, after that excitement we were starving so we headed to 1516 Brewing Company for dinner and craft beer.

Dinner at 1515 Brewing Co.

After dinner we walked back to our hotel, past the illuminated Vienna State Opera. I’d love to see a performance there someday.

Vienna State Opera

Back at our hotel, it was finally time to relax. We were staying at Das Tyrol, which I picked mainly because it advertised having a private spa. (We’ve gotten a bit addicted to saunas!) We’d reserved a time slot so we put on our robes and slippies and headed down to the hotel basement. And, WOW.

Hotel spa

It had a Finnish dry sauna, a steam bath, a big rain shower, and some couches to relax on. There was even an aquarium built into the wall! We spent an hour down there, and it was heaven. I highly recommend.

Continue reading “Vienna waits for you… 🎵”