Nuremberg

In the middle of June we tagged along with Ted on one of his business trips to Nuremberg. He had to work most of the time but the girls and I had fun exploring this old walled city by ourself. After a few days of playing on the playgrounds I got brave enough to venture out. We headed to the toy museum where we saw old toys dating all the way back to Roman times and up to 1980's where they had an impressive collection of Masters of the Universe and My Little Pony. The old doll houses with immaculately furnished kitchens were fascinating as well. Next we went to the zoo and saw one of the few polar bears born in captivity. The girls were given little stuffed polar bears that they still carry around nearly every day. We also went to Playmobile Land (Leggo's competitors). The girls had tons of fun. Aubrie loved climbing through all the tree houses and riding on the rafts. Kaitlan loved digging for gold. On the weekend we got to explore the city with Ted. We toured the old castle, where the German kings lived from 1050 to 1571. The old water well was cool and so were some of the suits of armor on display. Not much was there really. We also came across an old wooden footbridge called the Henkersteg, here people were hung to death in the 14th century. Next to it was an old building where the lepers lived, now it's where the college students live. (Ironic?) The next day we headed to th Germanic National Museum. Here they had all the really old stuff. I wondered how much was pillaged and came to Germany during WW II. There was fine art by Albrecht Durer (who lived in Nürnberg) and even a Renoir. Ted liked the models of old German homes, I liked the Renaissance tapestry's showing games they used to play and Aubrie liked the suit of armor with a happy face on it, complete with protruding nose. I wonder how seriously that knight was taken. We didn't get to go inside but we did wander around the Nazi Party Rally Grounds where Hitler at one time gave speeches to excite the people about the Nazi party. The area was to become his headquarters with a huge roman coliseum under construction but due the war it was never finished. So now we can say that we've been to a place where Adolf Hitler actually was. It was here in Nürnberg that the allied forces chose to hold the trials of German leaders involved in the atrocity's of the war. 10 people were sent to the gallows during the famous trial in 1946 for their crimes against humanity. I'm surprised it was only 10. All in all Nürnberg (Nuremberg) was a pretty fascinating old city with an interesting history. The 6 hour car ride there and back wasn't too bad either.