A Short Surprising Stop

We spent less than 24 hours in Nuremberg on our way from Prague to Passau, where our cruise was beginning.  I did not do my usual researching ahead of time, and arrived with no expectations.  It was just a city we were spending the night in on the way to our cruise.  I should have done a better job!  Nuremberg turned out to be a pleasant surprise!

Welcome to Bavaria!

We took a four hour bus ride to Nuremberg and arrived at 3 p.m. wondering if we were at the right station, where our hotel was, and how were we going to get there.  Our trusty smart phones told us we were less than a 10 minute walk from our hotel.  Our phones did not tell us that the walk would be over mostly cobblestones (ugh!).  We clickety clacked our way, dragging our bags behind us, to our lovely hotel.  It really wasn't very far, it just seemed like it with those bags and those cobblestones.  We only had a few hours before dark so we went out to explore the old town.

Turned out, old town was very close to our hotel!

Pedestrian streets and outdoor markets!

We wandered the streets and loved the markets, the Bavarian architecture, the manageable number of people (compared to Prague) and the numerous Christmas shops.  It was just what we needed after four hours on a bus.  The farther into the town we got, the more we liked it.  We found the Nuremberg castle, not hard....just look for the biggest and highest building in the Old Town.  We are such geniuses!  I think we managed to hit all of the high points on our walk....you know...church, castle, pub.

I wanted to bring them all home!  

Since our lunch had consisted of the random snacks TJ bought in the store before we left Prague, an early dinner was in order.  We found a nice place, near the church and sat outside for dinner.  We embraced Bavaria and ordered the "tower of sausage"!  The air was crisp and clear, the leaves were turning fall colors and we were in Bavaria drinking local beer and eating sausages!  Our own private Oktoberfest without the oompah band!  

Cheers St. Lorenz!

Tower of sausage!
Complete with mustard, horseradish,
sauerkraut, potato salad and yummy bread!

Feeling fortified, we walked to the river.  I am a sucker for arched bridges and reflections in the water.  Who needs an ancient castle or a Gothic church when you can just stand on a bridge and watch the river flow?  I looked at the houses along the river and wondered what it would be like to live in such a lovely spot.  I wondered what it would be like to live in a city with such a dark history full of wars, religious turmoil, destruction and human tragedy.  How many different feet have walked on those same cobblestones?  The stories they could tell!

The Beautiful Fountain

The 40 colorful figures that adorn the fountain represent the world view of the Holy Roman Empire. They are philosophy, the seven liberal arts, the four Evangelists, the four Church Fathers, the seven Prince-electors, the Nine Worthies, Moses and seven Prophets (Hosea, Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Isaiah and Joel).

Hospice of the Holy Spirit
Truth:  when I took this I thought it was just a lovely scene.
It was only after I got home that I discovered what it was.

Life along the river

Our time with our daughter ended in Nuremberg as she headed "home" to Berlin the next morning and we took the train to meet our cruise.  Who knew a year ago that we would be drinking beer and eating sausages with her in Germany?  What a treat it was to have this time together!  I think we were all pleasantly surprised by our short time in Nuremberg.  

Prague....Where Everyone Knows Your Name

Over a year ago we bit the bullet, along with two other couples, and made plans to go on a river cruise.  A lot of water has run under the bridge of life since we first made those plans.  It is interesting how life works out sometimes.  When we planned this trip we had no idea that our youngest daughter, the newlywed, would be living in Berlin. We had no idea that our summer shore friends would be in Prague while we were there.  We had no idea if the blue Danube would have enough water to float our ship all the way to Budapest.  We had no idea if we would even enjoy a river cruise but we planned and had faith.

Since we were already across the pond we decided to plan a little independent travel at the front end of our cruise.  We had always heard that Prague was a beautiful city so we decided to find out for ourselves.  Turns out so did about a million other people!  So many people!  Aside from all of the other tourists getting in our way we found Prague to be as beautiful as advertised.  One of the most special things about our visit was the fact that our daughter and her new husband met us there upon arrival.

Look, the astronomical clock...
and hundreds of cell phones in the air!  (guilty)

Hello, Prague!  Yes, you are beautiful!

We arrived in Prague on a Sunday morning and met our daughter and husband at our hotel.  We parked all of our bags with the staff there and headed out to brunch. That first day is always a challenge but we had a plan.  Stay awake and moving until bedtime.  Our favorite way to keep moving is to go on a bike tour.  We planned a 2 p.m. bike tour with the goals of getting an overview of an unfamiliar city, seeing some of the "must see" sights and staying awake!

Our bike tour in Prague may have covered the most miles we have ever done on a bike tour.  I'm guessing it was between 8 and 10 miles.  Of those miles, over half of them were over cobblestones.  There was no risk whatsoever of us dozing off!  I remembered that ride for days...every time I sat down.  Cobblestones are unforgiving!  The tour itself was very good!  I love getting to see so much of a city in a few hours plus the benefit of being outside.  We saw a secret courtyard, one of the coolest cemeteries I've ever seen, the famous Dancing Houses, a few churches, we learned some history and climbed up to one of the best views of the city on our ride.

Inside the secret garden is a wall
that looks like the inside of  a cave.

Never would have found this without a guide!

The John Lennon wall...it's a thing.

The point in the tour where Lisa gets distracted by a lovely view.

Giant Bronze alien babies.....

and Dancing Houses....Fred and Ginger!

Made it to the top and staying awake!

Husband and wife gravestone....Here's looking at you kid

A beautiful and interesting cemetery.
Alfons Mucha is buried here.

After all that biking on cobblestones we have earned our refreshments!

Thanks to our bike tour guide's suggestion, we planned to tour Prague Castle bright and early the next day and beat all of the selfie stick toting tour groups.  Our plan worked and we patted ourselves on our backs for being ahead of the masses.  Prague Castle was definitely worth the early departure!

St. Vitus Cathedral is massive!

The stained glass windows are amazing!

The Golden Lane inside the castle, housed goldsmiths in the 17th century,
 now houses souvenir shops...riches to ruins some might say.

Franz Kafka sculpture, interesting artist!

Jewish cemetery, unfortunately closed due the the
Jewish holiday.

One of the coolest things I've ever seen!
So glad we were able to find it!
Watch the transformation here:
Franz Kafka Metalmorphosis

Lunch turned out to be a yummy and unique experience.  Kantyna is a must if you visit Prague.  The bone gives the menu away, nothing but meat....and potato pancakes and deliciousness. 

TJ playing with our order markers.

When was the last time you saw grilled bone marrow on a menu?
Would you order it if you did?  I did....it reminded me of my grandmother's cooking!
It was decadent and delicious!

Wine or beer?  Both!

 Later that same day, after following Kelly and I around to all of our "must see" locations, TJ added his "must see" and asked if we could just stop walking for a while and find a nice wine bar to sit and relax.  We followed our trusty smart phones to one wine bar and decided immediately it was a "no".  TJ was beginning to get hangry...or maybe he was thangry, needless to say I needed to find a decent place and fast.  We ended up at a lovely wine bar, very near our hotel.  We walked in and there were two guys at the bar...they were the only customers.  We stood in the entrance area assessing the situation and one of them turned around and what happened next will go down as one of the best moments in Prague.  One of the guys' faces totally lit up and his mouth dropped wide open and he shouted, "Kelly Mahoney!?!!!".  There were hugs, introductions, mouths agape and two bottles of wine later we had learned more about our daughter's college days than we knew before we went into that wine bar.  They had worked together at the admissions office in college long ago and far away. He had run the Berlin marathon and was on holiday with his partner for the next week.  The world is definitely getting smaller!

Our second small world experience happened only an hour later but we knew it was coming.  We had a lovely dinner with our friends from the shore who also happened to be in Prague... after running the Berlin marathon.  All these healthy, fit people we know!  Dinner was great fun and Prague is now our favorite small town in Europe.  It's where everybody knows your name!

You never know who you are going to run into in Prague!
A big "quack out" to our Canadian travel expert for the
Blue Duckling 2 recommendation!

Our two days in Prague were all we had hoped for and a little more.  We strolled along the river and across the Charles Bridge after dinner and took in the views.  Prague really is as beautiful as everyone says.  I could definitely go back and explore in more depth.  The architecture is stunning, the history in fascinating and the food, wine and beer are delicious.  If you go, keep your eyes open because you never know who will be around the next corner!

A little evening eye candy.

The same building all lit up!

Up next, Nuremberg....and that cruise.