Early Monday morning, we set out toward Munich, but first, we bade farewell to our old bus driver and said hello to our new one. We all assumed we'd downsize, but instead, our new bus was just as large (if not larger) than our prior one. It was a Mercedes-Benz, so we were cruising in style, and there was enough room for each of us to have a row all our own, so we spread out and took up the whole of the bus.
We rode for a few hours with a 30-minute break at a rest stop and then continued on until we made it to Nürnberg, which was
the center of the Nazi party before and during the war. We saw the former stadium and
Congress Hall, as well as the
Zeppelin Field - all places where Hitler would film propaganda, hold parades, and address audiences of his supporters.
It was interesting to see these massive buildings and realize how egotistical and self-absorbed Hitler really was - in addition to being entirely misguided and sick. And it's kind of weird to think about how there is a city of 500,000 people living their lives where all of this took place. It would be difficult for me to not be reminded daily of it.
But then again, the city itself is beautiful and Hitler chose it specifically because of how much he himself loved it. It's difficult to deny how lovely and picturesque the place is, history of it aside.
When we'd finished checking out the grounds, we headed to the downtown area to eat lunch and explore a bit. Elia and I had a delicious lunch (so good to be eating "real" food after our Czech experience) and there was a Farmer's Market going on in the main square, so people were at that, or setting up for soccer game screenings.
There is also a statue which has the Nuremberg Ring welded to its fence, and it's supposed to bring good luck and make your wish come true if you touch it all the way around. There is also a distracting gold ring welded to it, which is misleading, as es ist nicht alles Gold was glänz. Luckily, we found the non-gold ring, so I made a wish of my own.
When we finished spending time there, we headed out for Munich, which was another couple hours away, and immediately went to our restaurant, where we (the vegetarians anyway) were served pretzels, dumplings, käsespätzle and a custard-ish dessert, complete with delicious local beer. The scene there was very much representative of the "traditional" picture of Germany that most people unfamiliar with the country get, particularly as it pertains to Oktoberfest.
Once done with dinner, we made our way to our final place of lodging,
Hotel Domicil, in
Puchheim, which was not quite as nice as our first hotel, but better than the one in Prague (excepting all the mosquitos from the nearby lake). We settled in for the evening, and ordered drinks in the adjoining restaurant while watching the game on TV. I couldn't sleep, so I ended up staying awake until 1 a.m. or so, before finally falling asleep.
cute beer server....i could use one right now...the server and the beer
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