Thursday, September 4, 2014

On the buses! Nuremburg on our way to Prague!!

All went well with the "de-embarkation" and we soon found ourselves on a bus for the day!! (Not our favourite means of transport!). Our bus, loaded up with all our bags, spent the first two hours on a driving tour of Nuremburg with another very knowledgeable local guide who, again, was very good. We saw the remains of the Nuremburg Rally grounds - "Zeppelin Fields" actually as the ill-fated took off from there - and all those newsreels of the ranting Hitler came back to our consciousness.
Rafe, the guide, had been born around 1963, and had interesting insights into his grandfather's unwillingness to talk his war involvement and the changing History curriculum in German schools over time. It is obviously a difficult historical period for the German people and it was interesting to hear his reflections. We walked (guided) around Nuremburg castle and were amazed as much by the rebuilding efforts as by the history of the place itself. With some time to ourselves, we had a simple lunch, a walk around the old city centre (this included a humungous "Red Bull" crazy cycling track being set up for the weekend) before climbing back on the bus for Prague.
The trip took aound four and a half hours and there is nothing to report about it at all. We arrived at the Marriott and were able to shower and have a welcome drink before Martina, our new local guide and "Scenic" Tour Director for these last few days, took the troops for a quick orientation walk around the block. Martina was excellent and we are sure that everyone felt that they knew where to go - it is a great location!

Elaine and Mick headed straight for the Municipal House for a wonderful Art Deco dining experience in a beer hall. The decor was divine, the beer was cold and plentiful and the duck and lamb shank went down easily!
Fortified, we walked to the Old Town Square and the Charles Bridge - gaining and insight into just how lovely and wonderful this place is!!! Having never really been destroyed by the usual liltany of pestilences the architecture and spaces are simply delightful - coupled with the bustle of an emerging city that is going well. We will have some fun here!!!

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