Nuremburg: Not Just a Place for Nazis (oh yea, I went there!)

So did you know that Nuremberg boasts having the best Christmas market not only in Bavaria but in all of Germany. And I do have to say it's pretty awesome! It is HUGE too! But we'll get to that soon....
We did very little research before hitting this city-always a mistake in my opinion. My main goal here was to see the market and do a little shopping. However, there is actually a good bit to do here. One being the Albrecht Durer House/Museum. Who is Albrecht Durer you ask? First of all, I can't believe you don't know who he is. Secondly, I'm glad you asked! He was a pretty awesome painter and print maker from Nuremberg. He's kind of a big deal-if you've studied art you know him. To view who he is and what he's done, click here: http://www.albrecht-durer.org/
So I was pretty jazzed about getting to go to the home he bought in Nuremberg where he lived (and died) and created his works. It was quite an expensive house when, and where, he bought. I didn't take too many photos because I was so enamored with the (INCLUDED!) audio guide and looking at the house. Sadly there are no original pieces in the house but we did see some in Munchen at Old Pinakothek (where one of his most famous pieces resides, the "Self Portrait" in which he looks like Jesus [so they think/say]). But we did see his studio and replica presses that would be like the ones he used. It made me miss printmaking so much! I love that medium-I'm always jealous when my sister-in-law, Sarah, sends out cards with prints she's done. One day I too will be artsy and she won't be the only one in the family, muahahaaa!
Anyway, I digress....

Here is a reproduction of a press with a print on it-I really do know how to do that!

Of course we hit some churches but I figure you're getting tired of me posting photos of those so we'll skip to the market and food! Oh how I love food!! I'm not a big foodie and you all know how Matt and I are not the most adventurous when it comes to trying new things but we ate almost anything here-most things were pretty safe (except the white brats-don't eat those!) So when we saw these babies sizzling in a cart and had to try some....

Yummy potato pancakes....sooo greasy....soo good!

Now although these are made of edible things, you're not supposed to eat them. They are nut and prune people-yea I'm not kidding. We only saw them here and in Munchen, but a lot more people had them here. Matt wouldn't let me look at them closely-he was probably afraid I'd want one.

They're PRUUUUUUUUNE PEEEEOPLE!!!

The decor and atmosphere here was pretty awesome. The market was HUGE!! It covered all sorts of parts of the inner city. They even had a creepy kids are-why must animatronics be so creepy? Seriously, they're supposed to welcome kids not lure them into the dark, pedophilic lair.

No creepy Santas here! Just lovely decorations!

O (big, outdoor, plastic) Tannenbaum, How steadfast are your branches!

And no wintery, Christmasy, wonderland is complete with out horse drawn carriages right? Of course!! The answer is no-we didn't ride one. Those things can be rather pricey and we had a train to catch.

What are those Belgian horses doing in Germany?? Silly ponies-wrong country ;)
(Those are Belgian Cream Drafts for those who don't get my joke....)

All in all it was a fun day. We got some GREAT presents and ornaments and enjoyed walking around and seeing some nice churches. We didn't get to do any of the Nazi things (I know you were wondering when I was going to tie in the Nazis!) like the rally spot (which is supposed to be really cool!) so we'll have to visit another time.
Next stop, Sleeping Beauty's Castle!

Rothenburg ob der Tauber: Torture in the Imperial City

So our next stop for Christmas Marketpaloosa 2011 was Rothenburg. We didn't go there because of their Christmas market, although it wasn't too bad (small though), but we went because it's a SAWEET example of a walled medieval town. This town went from being the peak of commerce and trade to nothing to being bombed in WWII to being rebuilt after being destroyed and to the great tourist gem that it is to. Not too bad for the few hundred years it's been around. This place is situated on the Romantic Road (which we didn't get to drive on-next time!) and is a must stop place along the way. They also have Christmas stores that are open year round which was cool since we went at Christmas time but would be kind of weird in the middle of July in the heat.

Here is Matt in front of the year-round Christmas store-can't beat cider and a giant nutcracker!

So we took this AMAZING tour called the "Night Watchmen" which is totally worth the 7 Euro a piece! It's an hour long and really informational, funny, and shows the history of the town so well!

"Night Watchmen" sounding the alarm for the town!

The next day we went around town to see the sights. First stop, town hall complete with tower. I know you're wondering if we went up into the tower and the answer is yes we did. Remember how I don't like heights. Especially cold, windy, scary ones. Case and point below.....

This is me freaking out.

I bolted rather quickly after that photo was taken. Matt stayed to take more, like this one....

Now you all know how I LOVE churches right? So of course we had to go into the main one here too. St. Jacob's has some amazing wood carvings, which is a thing in Germany in case you didn't know. The altar down stairs and the other altar piece upstairs were spectacular truly.

The Last Supper. Amazing right?!

So they had this really cool carving from Africa on display. See below for info:

Isn't it beautiful??? The funny thing is when I saw it I said to Matt "What the heck is an African piece doing in Germany?" Then I read the sign.

So I entitled this post "torture in the imperial city" because there is a wicked Medieval Crime and Torture museum in Rothenburg. I was a little worried about going, because of the whole torture aspect, but it turned out to be so cool! There was so much info on law, crime, punishment, and life in the middle ages. My favorite were the "shame masks", which were put on men and women who were gossips, acted like pigs, and who in general needed to be put to shame a little. I know a few people who could have one put on every now and then ;)

Can't you imagine it? You got caught gossiping so now you have to wear a mask in the town square for a few hours until you learn not to have big ears and a big mouth!

This was the other cool thing-a "double, neck violin." This was for squabbling women-they were put together in it until they could resolve their differences. Matt and I need that sometimes....

Next up, a walk around the town wall. The cool thing about this is that during WWII the town was bombed and parts of it were destroyed, like the wall. In order to raise funds, the city sent out a plea to the world asking for donations. In essence, you "bought" so much of the wall-you could donate so much and buy 1 meter (or more if you like). Your information (name, city, country) is then put on a block in the wall and you are immortalized forever as a helped of the city. You can still by a piece today which I think is pretty awesome.

See how close the homes are to the wall? Truly protected huh??

Hey Matt!! Having a nice stroll?

We walked as much as we could all along the wall and then went to ground level and continued out walk outside the city wall some. Here you could see the neighboring area and the pretty countryside. I think it would be so beautiful in the autumn with all the changing colors!

Aren't we so cute?? And cold!!

We finished up our day with some dinner, as usual. They had some table decorations that were too good to resist playing with.....

see.....

It was a great day! We had so much fun and learned a lot! I think if we went back to Bavaria I would like to do the Romantic Road and stay here again, just so we could stroll in some warmer weather! We did have another night here but the next day we went to Nuremberg.

Munchen: Pretty Stinkin' Awesome If You Ask Me!

So Germany was AMAZING!!! We loved it. I want to move there, right now! Our first city was Munchen, also known as Munich. It was really fun! We mainly went to Germany to go to the Christmas markets, which we went to a lot!! We also visited the Residence and the Science Museum. They were both wonderful and worth a visit!

In the Residence-what has been used as a dining hall!

They have a large collection of Asian art since that was a popular thing to collect-this makes me think of Lord of the Rings though-"my preciousssssssss"-you hear it too!

They also have some great porcelain figures. I thought it was funny that a fox was playing the piano for her.

So needless to say, Matt LOVED the science museum! It was pretty cool but I'll admit I got bored after 3 hours of Matt hitting every button known to man to make things light up and move. I know understand how he feels while we're in an art museum. At least he has a place to sit down!

He's getting ready to go to work in the coal mines!!

He's such a happy man! Flight simulation!

I think it's pretty obvious we were in Matts paradise!

Although it was freezing cold we did walk around a bit.

Who could resist such a nice view?

And obviously no trip to Germany is complete without beer.....

...and gluewhine at the Christmas market. Who doesn't love a mug in the shape of a boot???

Sadly we didn't make it to the BMW museum. It's kind of on the outskirts of town and rather pricey to get in to. We did make it to 2 art museums for a euro entrance at each-that was pretty awesome. And we got to see the largest collection of Rubens so that was cool too! We were silly and didn't take any pics of the markets in Munich-way to screw the pooch on that one right?? We did like this market a lot; there was a lot of variety and there was one that was like a renaissance festival-people and booths in traditional costume. It was really cool. Next stop was Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

I Realize You All Have Missed Me....

So I fully realize it's been a while since I last updated you on the craziness that is our life. Welp, we've been kinda busy. I went to Portugal with mom to ride some really fancy horses and learn tons! It was amazing! I'm going back for sure, just don't tell Matt ;) It truly was a great experience and I learned so much about riding, horses, and what I want in a horse. I really think I improved a great deal which is good news for the horses here! I can't describe what 9 rides in 5 days will do to you! Thank you so much to the Valenca's for being willing to teach and share their knowledge!! I am a better rider because of it!

Last ride-those are the 2 horses we rode the most-mine is Lotus and mom is on Jaguar. And yes, we did go really fast!

After our week of horseyness we decided to stay in Lisboa (Lisbon to the laymen) for a few days and tour around. WOWIE!! Who knew Portugal was so stinkin awesome?!?! Seriously, I think Portugal is like the neglected cousin of Europe. Honestly, do you really include it in your places to go while touring around Europe? NO! It's always a "if we can squeeze it in" kind of place. Well let me tell you, don't just squeeze it in, make it a stop!! The people are so amazing and friendly. The food is pretty tasty. They have some amazing sites and history. Just go there people. You won't regret it!

Hey mom! Looking pretty good by the arch there!

I made a new friend at the Ocenarium. Which by the way is REALLY COOL!

As usual, we did a bike tour. It was pretty good!

Eating the local treats, pastel de belem. It's a custard pastry. Yum yum!

After Portugal, mom came home with me for a week for a nice visit. It was good to have her here. We went riding, saw some sites, cooked, and spent a lot of money in Lefkara. After mom left the Moritz's came for a visit! Matt was so happy to have his parents here for the week, and to take time off from work! They also got to go all over the place and spend some big bucks in Lefkara.I'm pretty sure Marina loves me and wants to adopt me now! The weekend that they left I had a horse show to compete in! Now I haven't competed in YEARS! So I didn't have high expectations for myself, or the old man I was riding! Monnie is one of the club's school horses so he's a good, quiet boy but doesn't work all that great. But we did pretty well! We got a third and a fifth place in dressage tests and a clear round for jumping. That's better than I could've imagined! I had a great time and can't wait for the next competition!

Look at us go!! WEEEEEE!!!

He's so happy!! I'm glad I could take him!

And today is Thanksgiving. In America we would probably be with one of our families, getting ready to gorge ourselves on tastiness. But this year we're hosting a bunch of Brits. Crazy I know. But they are all so excited to get to do a traditional American holiday! And they are bringing food from the motherland! This will take place Saturday so I've still got 2 days to prepare. Speaking of which, I'm off to the grocery store to get goodies to make! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and we love and miss you all so much!

Sex, Chips, and Ouzo-a Wild Night Out

So yeah....we went to see this play called "Sex, Chips, and Ouzo." It's about post Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1978-four years after the invasion. Basically these two British chicks come to Cyprus on holiday and meet two Cypriot men and the rest is chaos. If you want to read up on it more, check out their website: http://rubberear.wordpress.com/about/ The cool thing about this show was it was at Kourion Amphitheater (check out the Kourion post to see the amphitheater in daylight.) We had heard that it was a "thing" in Cyprus to see a show here so we figured we'd go since we missed their production of Romeo and Juliet.

A walk on the beach, how romantic ;)

Matt strolling along...

Don't we look nice?

So we found a dead fish on the beach, which I didn't think was real, and I wanted to take some pics to examine later to see if it was real (later we found 2 more fish just like the first so I decided it was real.) But some of the photos came out pretty.

I like the lighting on this one. And the fish is smiling!

Yup, we live here.

Since the show was from 1978 you have to throw out a peace sign while posing!

I look a LITTLE tan, right?

There was one scene where the one guy was in a dress and it was HILARIOUS! Especially when he sat down, as displayed below. The audience was pretty rambunctious so there was lots of wolf whistling during this scene.

All in all it was a pretty fun(ny) show. We didn't get a couple of the jokes (not being British and all) but we enjoyed ourselves. Hopefully there will be another show there soon (or at another amphitheater near by) so we can have another fun experience!

Finally, the End....

So here we are, the end. The finale. The last installment. We made it back to Paris Friday night and decided to go up to Sacre Couer since we didn't get to make it during the week. It was one of the things I REALLY REALLY wanted to do. And oh man am I glad we did!! We didn't really think about the fact that this is a catholic church that we were visiting on Friday afternoon, yup, right in time for mass! We went inside and walked around a little, during mass, then decided to go into the bell tower since it's supposed to have the best view of the city. Those who told me how amazing it is up there were right-it was fantastic!

What a beautiful basilica!

Up the stairs to the tower!

The walkways at the top-kinda mystical and creepy huh?

Gargoyle almost eating the Eiffle Tower.

Look! I'm squishing the Eiffle Tower!


At the top overlooking the city on a glorious summer day!

After finishing at Sacre Couer we went back to our hotel for the night, ready to see a few more things in the morning before heading off the the airport and home.
From the beginning Matt said he really wanted to see the Arc du Triomphe. So that was where we headed first thing Saturday morning. As it would take more time and money, we didn't go on the top which I was ok with since I had been before.

Take that Napoleon AND Hitler!

Our next stop was to go back to Notre Dame but to go into the bell tower! On the way we walked down the Champs Elysee and by the Louvre. It was such a lovely day and we had a wonderful walk!

We realized we had never gotten a pic in front of the Louvre, so here we are ;)

So after waiting a few hours, yes hours, to go up the bell tower we made it! Matt was having a great time up there. Me? Not so much!

Gargoyles and Notre Dame go hand in hand right?

Great View of the city.

You can see Sacre Couer just off the wing of the gargoyle. And in case you didn't know, this one is photographed A LOT!

In front of the cathedral after descending from the very top. If you look really close you can see people on the top right part of the tower-we were there. Insert me freaking out a little bit.

So there you have it loyal follower(s). An entire 2 weeks of food, culture, art, rain, bikes, and fun with my amazing hubby. We had so much fun! I hope you had fun seeing it and are inspired to go on your own crazy adventures! I can't wait for our next big adventure/trip! But before we go anywhere again, we have a college friend of Matt's coming for a long weekend, I'm off to Portugal with mom to ride fancy horses, mom comes home with me for a week, and then Matt's parents come for a week. Phew! It's about to get really crazy here!