We have been in Germany now for almost one week , and it’s been bloody hot! It is another unusual “heat wave” that has swept across Europe and all throughout Germany. Temperatures have been 40 degrees plus and records have been broken!

 

However, our “home” in Nordlingen is  great. We are on the ground floor and it has kept quite cool throughout the heat. It is a fantastic apartment , probably the best we have stayed in.

 

Our first day we spent exploring the town and doing “The Historical Walking Tour” throughout the medieval Old Town.

 

Nordlingen is one of only 3 towns in Germany that still has a complete City Wall and there is no charge to walk the  2.7 kms circuit! It has been our “early morning walk”.

 

 

 

 

 

The main square , Marketplatz, is the home to St Georgs Kirche ( 1427-1501) with it’s 90 metre tower called “Daniel”. A piece of useless info for you…..It was an important Watch tower back in the old days and 2 guards stood watch, day and night. To make sure all guards stood at their posts during darkness , the watchmen in “Daniel” had to call out “So G’sell So” (All’s well fellows , all’s well ).

 

So even today, every evening from 10pm till midnight (on every half hour) the tower watchman shouts the same traditional call. Lucky it has not kept us awake!

 

 

There are 5 gates around the wall. The Lopsinger Tower (1593) is one of them and now houses a museum.

 

 

 

The walk took us all thorough  the back streets and we came across some gorgeous houses. The Moser Haus (below)  was in the old tanners district and built in 1570.

We then came to the Weinmarkt (or the wine market district) and the old guest houses (1484) (below) were beautiful. The Krone (right) was one of the most prestigious in it’s day. It had 25 large heated guestrooms and stalls for 60 horses.

The Brot-und-Tanzhaus ( Bread and Dance House!)  (below) built in 1442-1444) was rather stunning. Greg loved the fact that it had a stork nest on the roof with mum and dad and 2 babies in it! It was a reception hall for visiting VIP’s and a dancing and celebration venue for leading families! At one time the ground floor shops were made available to bakers to sell their wares , hence Bread and Dance House.

Another pretty square was the Hafenmarkt or the Pottery market. They say these buildings date back to 1362! (below)

We did a short drive to a few places close by, too hot to go too far! Dinkelsbuhl was very pretty with some lovely houses , but a lot busier and more touristy than our lovely Nordlingen.

 

St Georg’s Minster stood impressively in the main square but at 2 euros to enter , we decided to have a drink instead!

We continued on to check out the Schloss Kaphenburg. It is now a convention centre and 5 star Hotel, and no….we didn’t stay there!

 

The last stop was the Benedictine Abby (below) at Neresheim 1687-1752. This is a National Monument of Germany. Most Cathedrals in Germany charge 2 to 3 euros per person to enter however this one was FREE and the frescoes on the ceiling were magnificent!

 

 

Yesterday , even though the temperature was going to be 38 degrees , we decided to brace ourselves and caught the train into Nuremberg for the day. The main purpose was to visit the Memorium to the Nuremberg Trials.

Greg was disappointed as we could not enter “Court Room 600” where the trial actually took place as it is still a working Courtroom and was “in session” at the time. However a couple of small windows enabled us to see it and take a photo. Even though it was “information overload” we spent a couple of hours in the Museum.

 

The Allied bombs destroyed 87 percent of Nuremberg in the final days of WW11 and the 13th Century St Lawrence Church (left) was not spared! In the years after it was re built and restored.

 

The “Church of Our Lady” (right) made a good backdrop while we had a coffee. Well it was a little early for a beer!

 

The Henkersteg or “Hangman’s Bridge” (above) was quite cute. It was over this bridge that the executioner would walk from his isolated house on the island in the river into the city because he was not allowed to live “amongst honourable citizens”!

The Maxbrucke is the oldest stone bridge in Nuremberg , and of course Greg was loving the reflections for his photos!

Our day in Nuremberg was great and another box ticked for Greg.

We have enjoyed our stay in Nordlingen, even though it has been so hot! Tomorrow we head across to France for our last month! We are taking a slight detour via the Champagne region to buy just a few bottles to see us through our last 4 weeks!

So , yep it’s that time again!

A bientot!

Greg and Rhonda.