June 9, 2013. Thunderstorms, Palaces, and Braueries

June 9, 2013. Thunderstorms, Palaces, and Braueries

We were surprised at how quickly the weather had changed; overnight, it became very cloudy and the skies were somewhat threatening this morning. After a great breakfast buffet at our hotel (included in the room rate), we took a quick ride on the U-Bahn to the Nuremberg airport, just north of town, to pick up our rental car. We had planned to visit Bayreuth today. Chris' father had lived there as a child in the 1940s, so we were interested to see the city and take some pictures to bring back to him.

After an easy drive through some beautiful countryside, we arrived at what we thought was the Altes Schloss. But our location sure didn't match the guidebook's description. We were looking for something outside of town, with nice gardens, but my GPS had put us in the center of town near a building called Schlosskirche. We did find a church tower nearby to climb, and when we made it to the top, we ran into a tour group whose leader told us that the tower was normally locked, and we'd have to exit with his group - otherwise, we'd be locked in! That left us no time to take pictures of the view from the tower. Oh well, at least we'd been able to climb it!

We wandered the streets looking for the Neues Schloss, and finally found it a short distance from where the GPS had placed it. As we entered, the skies finally opened up, and we were treated to an very intense rainstorm. Luckily, we were inside. Here, we made our best purchase of the whole trip: a 14-day Bavarian Castles Pass for 40 Euros. This pass works on a large number of castles throughout Bavaria, and is an incredible bargain.

The Neues Schloss was a pleasant museum with artwork (both paintings and sculpture), a separate wing with a history exhibit in German that we couldn't read, and pleasant gardens with water features. After exploring the interior, the rain had stopped, so we visited the garden and decided to move on.

We stopped by Maisel's Brauerei, which is an old brewery which has been converted into a museum. The functional brewery is now in a larger facility elsewhere in town, but the museum houses much of the original equipment. The hops smelled great.

And you get a half-liter sample at the end of the tour! Not quite a 20-liter sample, like the size of this monster stein, but it made for a very enjoyable lunch stop.











Then we were back on the road looking for the small town of Sanspareil with its famous rock garden (also included in our Castles Pass).

We drove through other charming small towns and found Sanspareil without a problem. The rock garden was a little different than I expected - more trees and fewer rock formations, most of which had been enhanced. But overall a very enjoyable stop. 

It was not crowded, and the coolness of the forest and the grottos was refreshing. There was also a "hunting lodge" nearby that we visited - the view of the countryside was beautiful from the tower.

From there, a fast ride down the Autobahn back to Nuremberg, to meet Sven for dinner - he was an exchange student who lived with my Mother and younger brothers for a while, 15+ years ago. I haven't seen him since the mid-90s but we recognized each other right away! After we returned the rental car, Sven drove us back to the city to meet his wife and we had an enjoyable dinner in their apartment. 

We had great home-made schnitzel with pilsner, reminisced over some old stories about my younger brothers which shall of course remain unpublished, and shared some travel stories before Sven drove us home. Turns out, we'd both been to Rome recently and it was nice to share our experiences there.

Tomorrow is our anniversary. We were supposed to be taking the train to Vienna to catch the Avalon Affinity, but not to be. So we'll stay here another day and see what else we can do, before going to Munich on Tuesday.

June 8, 2013. Nuremberg - Old World Charm and Great Food

June 8, 2013. Nuremberg - Old World Charm and Great Food

Frankfurt airport was a good place to arrive, and all went like clockwork. We had tickets on the 12:37 train to Nuremberg, and since we arrived a little late at about 11:00, we still had plenty of time. After taking our time wandering through the airport to the Bahn station, we had some time to relax in their lounge before catching the train. The countryside was pretty, but the train ride was soporific after the overnight flight.

We got to Nuremberg a little after 3, and wandered through the train station following signs for the tourist information booth, which was supposed to be right next to our hotel. As we were leaving the station, we did see our hotel on the left, so the location was exactly as advertised - and very much within walking distance. Check in was quick and we were shown to our "first floor" room - which is one floor above the ground floor. Luckily we were traveling light; only two 22" rollaboard suitcases, so traveling by train and climbing stairs was no big deal.

Our room was lovely, with nice windows overlooking the public square in front of the hotel, and the room was very spacious. But, we were here to see the sights, and since the sun was shining, we decided to hit the town right away. We had dinner plans with an exchange student that my family had hosted 15 years ago, who happens to live right in Nuremberg with his wife, so we only had a few hours to sightsee before that. And since we have plans to take a driving tour of the surrounding area tomorrow, we figured we should see what we can today.

Nuremberg was beautiful in the bright sunshine, with gorgeous old buildings, nice public squares and fountains, and charming bridges crossing the river everywhere. The Old Town is quite walkable - the U-Bahn doesn't cover this area well - but not a problem; after the long flight and the train ride, we wanted to get moving! There were street vendors everywhere; we grabbed the first of many giant soft pretzels, and were off to explore!






We wandered over the Museum Bridge (which had a Latin inscription dated AD 700 - probably not original), to look at the views.

We walked past the Frauenkirche and Hauptmarkt (with its Schöner Brunnen, beautiful fountain).










Then we walked all the way up the hill to the Kaiserburg Castle. The views were spectacular, but unfortunately, the castle is closed for renovation - so, no tour for us.

Back down through a different part of town - more old churches, squares, and fountains.













Finally, we ended up on the Hangman's Bridge which was quite picturesque in the late afternoon sun. By then we were definitely running out of steam, so we wandered back to our hotel to get ready for a dinner meeting with Sven and his wife.

Unfortunately, Sven had not received our last e-mail confirming our plans tonight - his email server doesn't like my address, and keeps sending my e-mail to spam!  So we were not able to meet him tonight, as planned. Probably just as well, since we're pretty tired by now. We confirmed plans to meet tomorrow at their apartment for dinner.






We grabbed a bite at the guesthouse next door to our hotel, where I got to have my first liter mug of local beer and some Nuremberg bratwurst, then sleep was finally calling - a long day!

June 7, 2013. Escaping the Flood!

June 7, 2013. Escaping the Flood!

Driving from Albany to JFK is often an adventure, and today didn't disappoint! After a reasonable drive down the Thruway, we hit traffic on the Cross County Parkway (starting at the on-ramp) but things went from bad to worse on the Van Wyck. Due to all the rain that had fallen today, there were flooded lanes which reduced traffic to one lane at points - it took almost an hour from the Whitestone Bridge to the Airport. Luckily, we'd allowed enough time for such contingencies, and arrived with just enough time to park and check in at the new Business-class kiosks at the week-old, almost brand-new Delta Terminal 4.

Check-in was quick and efficient, and we were put through the TSA pre-check lane for security. Love that program, and was surprised that they have it for international flights too. A few minutes later we were checking out the new Delta Sky Club. Very nice, but the food was just some tired old snacks, and the complimentary wine was nothing great either. We had been looking forward to seeing the new outdoor deck that is part of the new lounge, but the rain wasn't really welcoming... We prefer the Air France lounge at JFK Terminal 2, which has better food and French wine - but no complaints; soon we were aboard our plane, enjoying a nice glass of bubbly, and settling in for our arrival in Frankfurt tomorrow morning!

On Board DL 106, JFK-FRA

The new configuration of business class seating on the 767 is quite nice; they have kept the 1-2-1 configuration, but instead of the herringbone arrangement where the 2 middle seats faced away from each other, they are now both facing straight ahead. Much nicer for traveling as a couple, as you can actually talk to each other without craning your neck to look over the divider between the two seats. Food was pretty good, included wines very nice, and overall a very pleasant journey to Frankfurt.

We were originally booked on a river cruise which was to depart on Monday June 10th from Vienna to Passau, but due to massive flooding on the Danube, our cruise was cancelled a few days ago. We had planned to spend 2 days in Nuremburg prior to the cruise; we added a third night and we'll plan to go to Munich afterwards for a few nights while waiting to see what the floodwaters do. We would still like to get to Vienna if we can, but if not, the rest of Bavaria is there for exploration!