July 1 - July 18 Germany trip report

[ronaldnelson]

one more for the dungeons

 

[ronaldnelson]

These are pictures from the Lutheran Church in Nuremberg, interesting fact is that the church actually took out all the stained glass before the bombing of WW2 in underground vaults as well as the paintings and statues in order to preserve them. they figured someone in Nuremberg part of the Nazi's new what was going to happen so they wanted to make sure nothing happened.

 

[ronaldnelson]

internet is slow again, i will try again tonight

 

[ronaldnelson]

 

[ronaldnelson]

more pics of Lutheran Church

 

[ronaldnelson]

This would have been hands down my favourite places in Nuremberg to visit. it is call St Johns Church, which is a church the was built back in the 1400's and lasted the bombing of WW2 and did not get touched. Outside the church is a cemetery that was just amazingly beautiful, each casket has an above ground tomb that is where the family can put flowers etc, but on each tomb is a family crest that describes that persons life such as how many kids, what his profusion was etc. you could walk through the cemetery and describe Nuremberg's history to a tee

 

[ronaldnelson]

This place was one of those hidden treasures, if you did not know it existed you would not know about it as it used to be a summer house for the wealthy with a beautiful garden. Back in the 1800's they figured there were over 200 of these gardens and now there are only 3 1/2 in Nuremberg which is a tragedy as they are so gorgeous. it was only because we had a guide for a day that we found this place

 

[Cousin Orville]

Great looking photos. Nuremberg is now another place I'll have to add to the list.

 

[ronaldnelson]

Sorry this should have been before the garden, these are pictures from the cemetery

 

[SingingMom]

I am very impressed by your pre-tour! I would be afraid the kids would be tired of "history" by the time you get to the ABD portion! ;-). Lol

Our DD would have been in her glory, but it was interesting hearing some of the comments from the younger kids in our various trips. This past trip, one child said she didn't want to see another castle or hear another story about someone throwing someone out a window. Lol

 

[ronaldnelson]

These are the pictures from the Nuremberg Castle which the kids really had fun in

 

[Cousin Orville]

That crown looks exactly like the Holy Roman Empire crown in Vienna. Is it on tour or a replica or something different?

 

[ronaldnelson]

we went up the one tower at the castle and these pics are the view that we got

 

[ronaldnelson]

we stayed at the Novotel in Nuremberg which was very nice, they have air conditioning and a free hot breakfast in the morning. they do have an outside pool for the kids, the only flaw is that unless you have a car or take a taxi you are stuck on the outskirts of town by the rally grounds with really no restaurant except for the one at the hotel which has a limited menu but was very good

 

[ronaldnelson]

Hi Singingmom, yes i agree i thought it was going to be a bid much of a history overload for the kids but this is also what i wanted to see, and amazingly enough my daughter has enjoyed the history more than all of us as they are not taught this no more in high school. as for the boys they think everything is pretty neat and interesting but there have been times where they just want to be boys. it is like ABD where our guide through this pre-trip was just amazing the kids are very sad to see him go.

Cousin Orville that is a replica as the original is in Vienna

 

[ronaldnelson]

unfortunately internet has been a bit slow as well we have been kept fairly busy. From my last post we were in Nuremberg and the next morning we had to say good bye to our driver Werner as he had a funeral to attend and even though we were only with him for 3 1/2 days we were sorry to see him leave, Our new driver was good but not like Werner, as Werner when we drove between places was an open encyclopedia with information and Yanz was quite quiet. Anyhow we left Nuremberg it was pouring rain but once we stopped in Rothenburg for our 1 1/2hr walking tour the rain had stopped. we didn't spend a lot of time in Rothenburg but enough to know what we want to go through when we return with Adventures by Disney. we arrived in Wurzburg in early afternoon and Yanz took us up to the Fortress Festung Marienberg which was quite neat and overlooks Wurzburg we had some beautiful views
(will post pics when i can) after the fortress we went to our hotel (Novotel Hotel)which was awesome, air-conditioning worked and they had an amazing pool for the kids to play in. this is where we learned that a spa in the pool area is not what a spa back home is like, walked through with my beer as the lady had told me to go to the outside are, and it is a good thing Donna wasn't with me, as the spa was a bunch of naked men in the sauna. on the door it said nothing about "men only" etc and i found out that this is just known - who knew. anyhow had a great swim and we ate at the hotel which has a great restaurant, and like all the other hotels has an amazing hot breakfast that comes with the room. after supper it was off to bed as we knew the next day was going to be a busy one.

the next day was hot in Wurzburg and we had a 3hr walking tour which started at the Catholic Cathedral which was just our luck as the city was celebrating Killian which the Cathedral had put on display the shrine with his skull in the middle of the church which normal is put away in 3 places of the church. on this day they were having mass every hour and i tell you when the bells go off, you can hear them through out the city as their are 8 big bells in 2 towers and they are VERY LOUD. we then went and visited a Gothic Church, town square and then walked to the old bridge and wow the views of the fortress from the bridge were amazing (again, will post pics later) after the bridge the tour was over and we sat down to lunch at a restaurant just before the bridge and wow what an amazing meal (sorry can't remember the place) after lunch we then walked across to the Residence to see the famous stairway but they wanted $7.50 Euro/person to enter and if we were going to walk around the hole place as it is huge as well as the gardens you would need 1/2 day and we only had 1/2hr so we walked around the outside and passed on the inside. we then got in the van ounce again and off to Heidelberg we went to meet up with Adventures By Disney at the Crowne Plazza. we left Wurzburg at 1pm and arrived at the Crown Plazza at around 3pm which we were greeted by Marious and Lexie who came running out to help with the bags (gotta love disney) we were then orientated about the dinner that evening and off to our rooms we went. the hotel was amazing as the rooms and bathroom are very spacious and on the stand by the TV was a huge cookie with HAPPY BIRTHDAY in German on it which was pretty cool. we went for dinner and met the other families (going to be a great group) as well got our lanyard for the pins which they handed out the first day, we got #2 pin as it is our 2nd vacation with ABD and i also received a Happy Birthday pin which was very nice. after dinner off to the pool we went again as we were told this is the hotel for the pool as the others are kind of touch and go. the food is amazingly good and breakfast the next morning was the best we have had on the trip.

 

[TXTransplant]

Yay for Marius and Lexie! I think about them and how wonderful they made our trip every day. Breakfast at the Crown a Plaza is good, but it just gets better at every new place! Enjoy!

 

[ronaldnelson]

now at home and back to normal i thought i would finish the trip report. we left Heidelberg and on our way to Waldeck we stopped in Alsfeld for the brothers Grim which was very neat and a good skit as well as lunch. unfortunately being Sunday nothing was open so all we could do is have ice cream which was totally amazing. We got to the castle in Waldeck and it was raining which was a blessing in disguise as there was no air conditioning and all you had to do is open the window and cooled the room right down. the next morning it was cloudy but no rain so we got to do our bike ride which was a lot of fun and the boys really enjoyed it. the rest of the day just got better as we all enjoyed archery and the tram ride even if there wasn't much to see. after Waldeck we were on our way to Rothenburg and stopped in Kessels to see the Hercules monument and Lowenburg castle which were both amazing but a lot of steps. once in Rothenburg (my favourite of all we visited) we had so much fun and the activities we got to do (night watchman, pretzel making, dress up, crime museum) we just had so much fun. and a few got to go to Hell, if you are there you have to go to Hell which is the name of a pub in Rothenburg which was pretty neat. the hotel in Rothenburg was amazing and right in the middle so you didn't have to walk to far to get to places. once on our way to Munich we did the Stieff Museum which i was not expecting to much from, but amazingly it was quite neat and entertaining, once in Munich we had our walking tour which was very quick and couldn't really appreciate any of it so i would recommend and extra day or two to appreciate it all. The castle was absolutely amazing and would definitely do that over again. i made this quite short and sweet but if you have any questions please ask and i am hoping the pictures say more than words

 

[ronaldnelson]

more pics, first pic is the Lowenburg Castle, then Rothenburg

 

[ronaldnelson]

more pics, first pic is leaving Steiff Museum, my son in his Lederhosen, and i was able to get some great pics of the castle as we had a wonderful sunny day