By We arrived Sunday morning after a 1 hour taxi ride from Rothenburg (best money spent on the trip thus far – all to avoid dealing with the tight train connections and our ever-growing pile of luggage). Our very kind hotel let us dump our bags and we began touring the market. Nuremburg (aka Nürnberg) is world-reknowned for its Christmas market. Nürnberg is also the town that I spent a year as a graduate school student. I have to say their glühwein was the best tasting to me – and the souvenir mug is precious. I told my sister I’d bring one home for her, but I didn’t have the strength to suck down another mugful. It was bitterly cold here, so bad that we took refuge in a book store. I am now a proud owner of a Harry Potter Xmas picture book in German. I bought several gifts (for myself) but began to panic a bit about space in my luggage to get things home.
While we had an absolutely delightful server the night before in Rothenburg, on this night we experienced the grumpiest waitress I’ve ever met. It was quite comical how angry she was at the world. This is someone who does not belong in a customer facing industry. When Angela asked her about the Spätzle her response was ‘It’s cheesy. I don’t like cheese.’ And that was it. When one of us asked about a balsamic vinaigrette instead of the dressing the salad came with, she said ‘No’. Nothing more than that. She was a woman of few words and most of them were tainted with not-so-subtle rage. There were other examples, but hopefully I have conveyed her tone. The food was good (restaurant was Pillhofer) but I would be happy to never run into that waitress again (and the reality is I likely never will!).
In general I love Nürnberg but it was too blasted cold. I did get to nosh on some Nürnberg brats which made my trip complete. When I lived here years ago as a poor student, brats were very budget friendly. I am pretty sure I have eaten them for breakfast, lunch and dinner more than once. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so they were a real treat on this visit.
I had hoped that there would be a Hallmark moment here. In my vision, I’d look up and see some of my friends from decades gone by. A little meet-cute. Shout out to Ingo, Harry, Caroline for welcoming me (not a natural behavior for Germans at all) into their world for the year that I was there. I found Harry on LinkedIn, but have lost track of the others. Sadly no Hallmark moment for me.
We stayed at Hotel Victoria – fabulous location with great rooms and a lovely breakfast. Our next stop is Munich and the end of the trip.
