September 24 & 25, 2016

It’s Old Town Festival in Nuremberg, and the city is filled with tents and food carts along the major streets, and the main platz is filled with tidy rows of tents selling all sorts of foods and merchandise. Our two days here were filled with eating, exploring and lollygagging.

Often times, pictures of Germany feature Nuremberg because of its German character and history as being the seat of the Holy Roman Empire for centuries and then as Hitler’s National Socialist Party headquarters. We spent our time in the Old Town (Allstadt) and were able to worship at the magnificent and beautiful St. Lorenz Lutheran Church. Thunderous bells pealed for ten minutes calling people to worship. The mighty pipe organ wafted familiar hymns and tunes throughout the carved and vaulted ceilings. While in German, the service had a familiar sound and the time was reflective and deeply spiritual. The trek up the hill to the Imperial Castle Complex was strenuous. Emperors got horse drawn carriages–we got stairs and steep, cobble- stoned inclines. At a thousand years old, the castle complex is the most important medieval castle in Europe due to its Holy Roman Empire inhabitants over centuries.

Mike bought a belt and then found one at 1/3 the price in the market square. Kathy bought scarves in the market. Allen found gelato and circled back several times. I found German sausage and hard rolls and skipped breakfast so that I could indulge. Wonderful city and wonderful times. WEG