When:  May 2014                              Weather:  6-16C               Coldish

Attending a meeting in a new place is always interesting and so it was I ended up on SQ to Frankfurt arriving at 630 in the morning.  The railway station is connected to the airport, it’s about a 15 min walk to get there from the gate but there are escalators everywhere so it’s not too bad.

The ticket prices are pretty variable depending on whether you commit to a time or just show up and want to go…my outbound cost 94 euros(!!) as it was bought on arrival and return was 54 euros as I chose a time.  Incidentally, it’s not worth paying the extra for first class as the second class compartment looks much the same and even first class does not reserve you a seat and it was pretty packed on the way out.  The journey to Nurnberg (German spelling) aka Nuremberg took 2.5 hours, smooth journey, nice views.  It’s supposed to have wifi but it doesn’t work.  fortunately I’d bought the data sim card at the airport and I was connected with my mobile router.     My hotel the Carlton Sheraton was just a few minutes walk away from the west exit of the railway station….much more convenient than flying to Nurnberg. The hotel was just like any other sheraton, no more, no less, breakfast ok and charged for internet access..a big nono these days….what’s worse is that even though you pay for it, the connection is bad according to previous users on Trip Advisor.

Location wise it was hard to fault the hotel though as it is just across the road from the Old City where all the action is…exploring the old city within the ancient walls was interesting….

 

 

But the highlight of my visit had to be the visit to the Nazi Documentation Centre (Doku Zentrum) where the archives relating to the Nazi party and Hitler’s WWII exploits and misdeeds were documented. An excellent display guided by a free audioguide brought me through the exhibits in one wing of the old Nazi Congress Building leading to the U shaped unfinished building.  A walk around the lake outside the centre brought one a panoramic view of the centre itself and the infamous Zeppelin Field where Hitler would stand on the podium and address 100,000 soldiers and members of the party in wartime Germany….it was a bit chilling to walk on the steps where this malevolent dictator once walked and stand on the very podium where he once held forth….

 

 

 

 

As can be seen from the pictures comparing now and then, the massive white vertical pillars on either side of the main central block have all gone leaving only the terraces to flank the central building.

 

 

 

 

For nature lovers, the walk around the lake yielded about 4-5 different species of interesting birds which I was not able to identify..but it was still fun!

All in all a visit to the Doku Zentrum and walk around the lake to visit the Zeppelin Field and the ‘Main Road’ should take a whole morning…highly recommended.

My final morning in Nurnberg, I decided to walk to a green patch called the Wohrder Wiese adjoining the river that flows through the Alstadt or Old City….it was within a few hundred meters of the city and was a pleasant green lung where there were joggers, bikers, picnickers  etc.

 

 

And when the sun came out…the buttercups in the field were just gorgeous…

 

 

 

And just as I was leaving Nurnberg with memories of the old city, the parks, the history…I come across this splendid Mercedes 600 as if to remind me of Germany’s prowess in design and technology….what an awesome vehicle.  Which reminds me that one of the things I did was to visit the home of the pe ncil…Nurnberg is where Faber Castell has their main factories and workshops.  Unfortunately I was unable to get on one of the factory tours but it was nevertheless extremely interesting just to walk the grounds of the palatial buildings and assimilate some of the history of invention….

Nurnberg is a wonderful little city to visit, well connected and easily walkable….