Alright now, so here’s some highlights from my trip. We landed in Frankfurt and quickly got our rental car, a Ford Kuga (cougar… rawr) and headed to Nuremberg. This was our first experience driving on the Autobahn. Now, I think most American’s have the wrong idea about the Autobahn, but maybe I’ll save that for another post.

So upon arriving in Nuremberg (Nürnberg as the German’s spell it) we met with our hosts of the rental apartment, Ingeborg & Hartmut, who are an amazingly wonderful couple. We joked around about how much we enjoy Germany and how we always end up back in the country whenever we travel to Europe. Hartmut asked me if I spoke any German, telling me he didn’t speak much English. Quickly Ingeborg told us not to pay attention to Hartmut, and that he speaks English just fine and he needs to practice for their visit to the States in September. Looking like a kid who just got caught sneaking his hand into the cookie jar, Hartmut proceeded to tell me about his favorite beer garden in the area… in English.

After getting everything in our apartment set up we bid farewell to our hosts for the day and wandered onto the streets. We paid a visit to the market in the old town (altstadt), took a walking tour of historic places from Nazi history (Nuremberg was a key city in the reign of the Nazis), and attempted to eat and drink as much as humanly possible. I found this handy guide, Nuremberg Pub Guide, prior to our trip and it came in pretty handy. Check it out, they’ve got pub listings for many cities throughout Europe and even offer guides in E-book format.

The Nuremberg Pub Guide led us to Hausbrauerei Altstadthof. Boy what a treat! We ordered up a half liter of beer, after all, we’re in Germany, that’s what you do. (I was told that only tourists and old men order full liters, though I’m pretty sure later in the trip I notice many locals drinking by the liter) We then noticed on the menu they had a nice platter of pork offerings. This included a liver spread, pork fat, cheese with red onions, chives, and pieces of ham, and finally a good ol’ slice of Black Forest Ham. Sign me up! My personal favorite was the pork liver. It didn’t taste a thing like chicken or duck liver (probably because they’re two very different types of animals). Sorry for the lack of pictures of this as I ate it up too quick! (In reality my wife’s camera accidentally deleted her photos upon arriving in Salzburg.) I’ve already posted my dinner of Schäufele, but in case you’re curious, it came from Schaufelewartschaft, which seems to be rated one of the best restaurants in town.

So after a day of sightseeing and eating & drinking we headed back to our apartment to find we were left a note from Ingeborg and Hartmut! Turns out they too had enjoyed talking to us and if we returned to the apartment early enough they wanted us to stop by their flat for a glass or two of wine. Unfortunately it was nearing midnight and all of their lights were off so we were unable to enjoy that wine and conversation. What a bummer!

Coming up: Salzburg and the surrounding area.

(photo #1: Nurnberg, looking from the square up toward the fortress)

(photo #2: This insane crazy fountain is in the middle of the city, there are more sculptures around it’s other side that believe it or not get even more bizarre)

(photo #3: Inside the Hausbrauerei Altstadthof)