Nürnberg, Germany, an Unexpected Surprise

On January 9, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Germany9 Comments

We decided to take a quick trip to Nürnberg this weekend and we were pleasantly surprised by the charm of the city. At this point, we find that we don’t have time to investigate some places before we travel there, so we simply make our plans, read a few reviews of places to see and then let the place reveal itself to us. We didn’t have many preconceptions about what we would see when we went to Nürnberg, but we did expect it to be similar to Köln or Frankfurt, but it was smaller and prettier than we expected. The old town is surrounded by a stone wall with a castle sitting on the hill overlooking the city and still has some of its medieval architecture.

Before traveling to Germany, our only thoughts of Nürnberg (Nuremberg) were associated with the famous trials of the NAZI leaders which took place in the city. We made sure to take time to visit the courthouse, which is still in use today, and learn more about the momentous events that occurred within those walls. Trying to understand how the role of justice has changed when it comes to war and atrocities that are committed by a country and how other countries can come together to impose punishment on those in charge is actually a relatively new concept. For all of us who grew up knowing that cruelty, genocide, and torture can be held accountable at a global level can thank those who put the policies in place at the end of World War II. Whether some countries can still escape this justice is obviously something to be debated at a different time.

One of the Ornate Doors inside of the Courtroom

It was a cold weekend, which is par for the course at this time of year, and we even woke up to snow on Sunday before heading back to Frankfurt. Nürnberg was also the place where punishment was dealt throughout the history of Germany, so perhaps there was some slight coincidence to the decision to hold the war trials in the city, but the main reason was due to the fact that the city had not been destroyed like so many others. Visiting the executioner’s house and the castle were definitely highlights of our visit as well as seeing the various churches and cathedrals that are always a centerpiece of old world cities.

It was a quick weekend trip and we enjoyed every minute of it. At some point we need to take a break and get some sleep, but that isn’t going to happen for a few weeks at least. We will relish some of these unexpected journeys in the years to come as much as we enjoy those trips that we have spent weeks planning and making sure that we know in advance everything that there is to see and do. So, here is to unexpected journeys in 2017 🙂.

Stained Glass Window inside of the Cathedral

We Have Arrived in Strasbourg, France

On December 9, 2016December 9, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn France9 Comments

We took the ICE train from Frankfurt to Strasbourg, France, yesterday and arrived around midday. We spent the afternoon walking around the old city and Petit France. Today we will see the city in greater detail and plan to take the river tour that goes around the entire city. Tomorrow we will take a tour of the wine road, seeing some smaller, historic towns and hopefully a wine tasting. We are going to be fairly busy, so we will share all of adventures when we arrive back in Frankfurt. We didn’t take too many photos yesterday, but here are couple, just to give you a sense of what we are seeing.

Christmas Market outside of the Cathedral

Another View One of the Christmas Market

The Good and Bad of Our Weekend

On November 28, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Germany18 Comments

It has been an interesting few days here in Germany to say the least. First of all, we had been greatly anticipating our youngest daughter’s arrival here in Frankfurt as she and a friend were going to Rome and Naples before coming to spend the “holiday” weekend with us in Germany. First of all, obviously Thanksgiving doesn’t exist here in Germany, but we had taken time off of work, partially because it is a holiday in the US, but mostly because of the arrival of our daughter and friend. The day before they were supposed to fly from Naples to Frankfurt, we received a phone call letting us know that her friend had fallen and they were on the way to the hospital. Obviously not the phone call any parent wants to receive when you have children traveling abroad, but she is an adult, so all we could do was support her the best way that we could.

The Dom as You Walk Back from the Bridge

After a few hours, we received another phone call letting us know that her friend had broken her ankle and that they needed to get home to Chicago to receive further treatment. Immediately we began the search for flights that would get them home, forgoing them coming to Frankfurt, but instead just trying to get them from Naples back to Chicago. To make matters worse, Lufthansa pilots had chosen to strike, so finding flights was just about impossible and those that could be found had several stops and prices that were outrageous. After several conversations, they decided to take their previously scheduled flight from Naples to Frankfurt where they would have more options available, but obviously it would delay their return by a day. Perhaps because it was a holiday in the US, they were able to find a non-stop United flight that got them back to Chicago on Thanksgiving day.

That gave us about a half a day to spend with them, albeit not going anyplace other than our apartment, but we did at least get to see our daughter. Sometimes you just have to make the most of what life offers you and take it with a smile. We had a nice time visiting, but certainly not the experience that we had hoped for. One of the things that we had planned was a visit to Würzburg, a smaller city that has a wonderful palace called the Residenz as well as a fortress that looms over the town across the old bridge. We specifically chose this town because it was smaller and we wanted them to see something other than a larger city like Frankfurt or Cologne. With somewhat sad hearts, we went ahead and visited Würzburg over the weekend even though they weren’t with us. It was everything that we had hoped that it would be. The town was festive and busy, but not the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds that we have seen in other cities with Christmas markets.

We toured the Residenz, which was truly magnificent and spent most of our time just walking the tiny side streets. We found a restaurant called Stachel that was over 600 years old and served incredible food. There was a wonderful Dom (Cathedral), which was, of course, surrounded by Christmas markets. We truly did enjoy our time in Würzburg, but we were definitely a little sad that we didn’t get to share it with our daughter as we had hoped. After a few stressful and eventful days, followed by a couple of days of relaxation, we are back to our normal routines and should be posting again on a regular basis. We have shared a few photos from Würzburg, but will talk more about this wonderful town in a future post (although it seems like we are way behind on fully sharing our experiences 😀).