Nurnberg 2

A couple of festivals at the moment and more of them later if I remember, and noting that the next 5 days might be a bit isolated as I traverse the PPP to Prague, then later north to Dresden and Berlin. Which reminds me that the important Irish Catholic President John Kennedy famously said in the height of the cold war "icht bin eine Berliner" or similar. Now here the Nurnberger is their famous (small, hence 3) sausages that you can buy everywhere. Not quite the same.

I felt compelled to start the day by visiting the Nazi Parade Ground about 4 kms out. It does something to a person to be there and remember all the subsequent events. The parade ground is a bland 1,500 m x 60 m paved strip now largely used for parking for major events. The vast Documentation Centre is at the far end on the right out of sight. I sense the Germans and Nurnbergers are dealing with their past quite well (but I don't speak German!).

Next I chose to visit the Museum of Industrial Culture that has a focus on this region, but not solely. Bicycles and motorbikes were big here. The theme was mixed but included scenes on how technology and the associated production of energy reshaped the way we live. Many other museums are in this place - a good week might do it.

The festivals. It is Bavaria so at the Altstadt festival eating a lot of meat and drinking beer is the order of the day, with some fancy dress. The central square has the autumn market where amongst other autumn stuff is early fermented low alcohol grape liquid sort of called juice.

Footnote

Coffee is big here and roasted beans are much cheaper than at home. They do all come from the same global market. However the default coffee is brewed or filtered and so whilst they embrace technology, not yet the espresso that, whilst readily available in the bigger places, is portrayed as a speciality. The other vital part of life is the ice-cream (eis) sundae. Everybody and everybody else indulges and so after seeing them for 10 days I succumbed. So now I have sufficient calories on board to get me a long part of the 5 or so days of hills to Prague, plus probable unplanned deviations.