And so begins the adventure...: Nuremburg

On to Nuremburg on Wednesday morning. While we chose not to do the optional World War II tour, we got our share of Hit,ER and Nazi Germany locations and information. Our first stop was to be the Nazi Rally Hall, an indoor location for the rallies rather than Zeppelin Field. It is now called the Colliseum by the locals because it looks like the Roman Colliseum from the outside. Imagine our surprise when we entered the Colliseum (shaped like a horseshoe so not a completely round building) and saw that it was never fully completed. The walls and wings (with buildings for offices) were completed but the stage, seating and roof never finished. I have to honest, it was quite eerie and sobering to enter.

From there, we went on to the Imperial Palace and walked through the old city with its half-timbered houses.

The castle has many school groups visiting, as one would expect, and we came across this group of young kids having a great time being, and learning, about life in the castle in its day.

From the castle, we had a leisurely stroll to the town center while learning all about the Nuremburg sausage and how the sausage recipe and name is protected, like champagne or Gorgonzola cheese. They are extremely proud of their sausage. Of course, later we had to try them along with the requisite bier. But I jumped ahead.

We made it to the center in time to see the glockenspiel and it was fantastic! This glockenspiel had several doors that open with moving figures depicting various aspects of life in the region - a woodcutter, a bier drinker, etc. Then the members of the bishop's court paraded around him three times before the end of the 'show'. The other thing was that our guide kept talking about finishing the tour at the beautiful fountain in the center of town. Beautiful is an understatement! See for yourself.

It is said that if you turn the brass ring on the fountain fate three times clockwise, it will bring you luck so Ernie had a go at it. OK, I did to but since I'm the primary picture taker, not many photos of me.

Of course, what made Nuremburg even more special was that Ernie could get schweinehaxen at the restaurant. Our friend, Laurie, from Butte, Montana, had never heard of this and had been wanting to try it for the last two days but we weren't able to find it in the restaurants. So the four of us ordered a sample platter for three and this is what we got:

Oh, two of the dumplings had already been moved to a couple of plates along with some of the pork. Needless to say, we did not finish it all but we made a valiant effort! We made a visit to the cathedral in town and have to admits that the churches we have seen on the cruise have been amazing in their sheer size but so lacked the splendor and beauty inside. This church was no exception other than this tomb (and I must admit I don't remember who is inside).

One last look at some of the great half-timbered houses and then a return to the ship. Oh we finally are having rain - not that I particularly wanted it - but it is a break from the continuous sunny hot days we've had since first arriving in Spain.