Nurnberg Pt. II, Rothenburg, and Christmas in Frankfurt

On the 21st Levi, Danny, Dana, and I hopped on the train in to Nurnberg together. After arriving there it was just a short tram ride outside of the old city center to where the former Nazi rally grounds were from the 1930's. It was really unreal and haunting being in an area where the Nazis and Hitler once organized in massive numbers. Inside what was to become Hitler's Congresshall, is now a Nazi Documentation Center which showed in detail how the Nazi party came in to power and abused that power. We also walked through the Groβe Straβe, Zeppelin Field, and stood on the very podium where Hitler addressed thousands of his followers.



It's a part of history that is obviously very sensitive still to many Germans and it was interesting and creepy to see the remains of the rally grounds first hand.



The following morning Danny and Dana dropped off Levi and I at the train station in Bamberg and the two of us were off to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. This small town was once a very rich city- selling textiles, full of fertile land, and at a popular medieval cross roads. During the 30 Years War however the city was ravaged and pillaged, but luckily not burned to the ground like most cities were. Although it was very poor now and did not have the funds for hundreds of years to update itself over time and thus while the rest of the world was greatly modernized, Rothenburg remained trapped in medieval times. Eventually though this became why the city is so well visited and appreciated today. It was a city preserved by poverty and now it flourishes with tourism without losing its medieval charm.




Levi and I did the short tour from the Rick Steves book and peroused the shops and cobblestone streets. It was like a storybook town and every street was picture worthy and beautiful. Famous for its endless year-round Christmas shops, Rothenburg was stocked with Nutcrackers, steins, and ornaments in every store and from the temporary Christmas Market stalls. Levi and I did the bulk of our Christmas shopping here and even separated for a short while to buy each other gifts :)




Aside from the shops there are a lot of interesting historical parts in Rothenburg- the old city wall, the remains of the former imperial castle, the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum, St. Jakob's Church, and hundreds of homes with foundations built as early as the 6th century. We also went on a pretty funny tour- the Nightwatchman's Tour- which was an informative, but comical tour around Rothenburg with the city's "nightwatchman" who in medieval times would have been responsible for ensuring the security of the city at night.



We spent the night in Rothenburg in a precious guesthouse filled to the brim with kitschy German decor and the next afternoon got back to the train station to head back to Frankfurt. Just our luck-about 30 minutes outside Frankfurt our train broke down and we ultimately had to take another train back two stations and then switch to another train back to Frankfurt. We were an hour late, but made it back to Frankfurt, uncle Roland, and Wally.

In Germany the Christmas holiday includes Christmas Eve on the 24th, Christmas Day on the 25th and an extra day of celebration on the 26th. Christmas Eve Levi and I went in to Frankfurt (most of the stores didn't close until about 1 or 2) and bought some books to read over the holiday (in case watching endless hours of just CNN became old). We had a nice traditional German dinner cooked by Uncle Roland of Frankfurters, weiβwurst, potato salad, and lots of wine. Then we all sat together with some champagne and watched one of Uncle Roland's DVDs- Coppelia. We all enjoyed the ballet (well maybe not Levi) and Levi and I gave Uncle Roland and Wally their small Christmas gifts we had brought for them.




On the 25th Levi and I spent the day at the house with Uncle Roland and Wally watching CNN, reading books, and watching the Parent Trap (in German of course). For dinner we had more German food- spätzle pork roast with gravy, and of course-quite a bit more wine. Post dinner we sat down for another ballet. This time- what else other than The Nutcracker and more champagne.

Overall it was a small, peaceful, but enjoyable Christmas.

For the second day of the holidays (Dec. 26th) and Levi and I went through Frankfurt and toured a bit more for our last day. We made it back to Uncle Roland's for our last dinner all together and it was a bittersweet. We are excited to go to Berlin and to eventually return home to Texas, but we are both going to miss Uncle Roland and Wally. They were both some generous and welcoming!



love, stine