Adventures of NaDave: Dave Germany: 11 (Nuremberg & a bike)

On Friday, getting to Nuremberg required a bus from Herzo to Erlangen, and then a regional train to Nuremberg. The weather was cooperating for my long day of exploring, it was clear & sunny. I was expert at this point with the buses, but I realized that if I had a bike on the way home, I would have to ride it back. No sign of bikes on buses.

I had looked up the train schedule, so I knew that several trains were between 9-10am, which meant I didn't need to fret catching an exact train. I walked up to the train station, and headed over to the Bahnfahrkarte (ticket) kiosk. They had an English button! It was glorious. I grabbed my roundtrip fare, then hopped on the Hersbruck train headed for Nuremburg Bahnhof.

Again, my eyes were glued to the world outside. I was viewing and learning the next radius of societal distance from me. We rolled through the suburb city of Furth, and then into Nuremberg. I walked around the train station a bit, to see what maps and info I could gather. Usually I would just depend on my smart phone, but my remaining data was low and I wanted to save that for if/when I used my GPS to bike home. (And even that is a luxury...people years ago had a paper map at most!)

So I walked out of the train station, and was right next to the wall of the Altstadt (old city). The city center is surrounded by this huge medieval wall (repaired from WW2 bombings). I then walked through a gate, and wow, I had my first moment of the history of Germany! Only pictures can describe the sights (see attached). I continued to walk through the rest of the Altstadt. Cobblestone roads, old churches, true Franconian Architecture everywhere. Even a river ran through the town, so the bridge views were fantastic.

The main medieval attraction is the Imperial Castle. It's up on a hill, so its towers & flags can be seen from the city. And once you climb up to the castle, you can equally see above the city. And I also saw that the beerfest was right by the castle. What an awesome start to the day :-)

Then it was time for yoga. Why not another challenge at this point?! I followed my map to the studio, and made it for the 1pm Vinyasa class (no hot yoga in Nuremberg). The lady at the desk spoke English, so it was easy to sign in. As I was getting setup for class, the teacher walked over, and confirmed that I would be okay, since the whole class was in German. I smiled and told her I had taken several classes before and would follow along by watching the poses. Class started with me and ten older women, and sure enough, it was all jibberish. But I managed quite well, and moving my body felt great. I realized I was tight all over.

Class ended, and I showered up. I filled up my water bottle, then headed out for lunch. I was tempted to treat myself, but the site of a discount grocery suede my decision. Bread & pasta sauce for less than 2 Euro. I headed to the nearby park, and enjoyed my feast!

I then headed to the Franconian beerfest. I showed up right as it started, which was perfect on a Friday, because I didn't want the sea of people. Rather than 14 different large breweries (like at Erlangen), this one had 30+ smaller breweries. I strolled around, and tried a few, but couldn't get too happy, since I was looking at my bike soon.

I was happy with my tame bierfest experience, and it was time to hike to the bike. It was south of the main city, and about a 45 minute walk. When I got there, the bike was in good shape. The guy didn't speak English, so the negotiation capability was limited. But for 200 Euro, I walked away with a bike! New wheels! I was moving up in the world!

It was already 5pm, so I decided to catch a train back to Erlangen and ensure I had daylight for my quest home via bike. During the train ride back, I could tell my body was tired, but I had one more leg to go to make the day a Home Run. I hopped off the train and started the slow trek back. I quickly learned there are TONS of bike paths, connecting all the little towns. And they are well marked.

While riding home, I felt a sense of comfort, calm, and familiarity. Biking was soothing my soul. I was finally doing something that my body and mind wanted to do. I was even humming and smiling. A day of yoga & biking...I can already see Nadine & Tanya smiling.

I made it home around 7pm, and of course was hungry. The Herzo festival was still going on, so I wandered down for dinner. Beer & bratwurst!

After 11 days in Germany...I had a bike, an apartment (soft of), and an idea of what surrounded me. And I still had 2 days of my weekend left. I would prep for moving out.