Nürnberg

I jumped in with both feet and took the train to Nürnberg today. I walked to the train station here in Rothenburg at 7:30 to catch the 8:06 train to Steinbach. All Rothenburg trains go to Steinbach for a transfer. We have the nicest tiny train here in Rothenburg.....new, clean, attractive, with this handy green button you push to open the door...effortless! I wasn't sure if there was a price difference between the regional trains and the regional express trains so I stuck to the regional which added 30 minutes to my journey. Upon purchasing my ticket for the return home, it did not appear that there was a price difference between these two types of trains. Handy information I will tuck away in my mental rolodex for future reference.

The trains to Ansbach and Nürnberg were older, not so clean, with doors you have to manually open. At least they opened...in Italy you could easily be tugging away at a nonfunctional door handle as the train begins pulling away from the station. Yikes! The train station in Nürnberg was very large with many shops and stores on several levels. There was even a McDonald's. The public restroom is called a "McClean" and cost $1.80 per use! You can bet I got my money's worth out of the toilet paper and soap. Had I been able to steal a roll of toilet paper I might have been tempted...all for economy's sake, don't you know.

A tourist information office is located right across the street from the station and I stopped to get a map and a quick orientation from the young woman at the counter. Walking up the street into the old town, I stopped at several department stores. One had a fine selection of old lady style, large-sized clothes. Gads! The other had none at all, but they had a huge lingerie department and I spent a long time looking at "büstenhalter", bras. Now, isn't büstenhalter a pleasant and attractive German word? Not many were in my size and several cost $100...way out of my price range!

I stopped by a church, St. Lorenz, for a visit and was disapointed to see that I was not allowed to take pictures. As a side note for those of you who have not been to Germany, it is a very rule oriented society. There are rules, official and unofficial, about just about everything, and they are followed. The only thing there is no rule about is lining up and waiting your turn...when one wants to buy a brötchen at the bakery, beware! It's every man, woman, and dog (literally) for himself! At any rate, I was disappointed to see that no one, other than myself, was trying to surreptitiously take pictures of the inside of the church. In Italy, people stand right in front of the "no cameras" sign and snap away. Rules are made to be broken in Italy, rules are made to be made in Germany. Not right, not wrong, just different.

I wandered around the old town area taking a few pictures until I was tired and hungry, at which time I found a pizzeria (Italian food is an addiction, I'm afraid) where I sat at a table outside and ordered a spicy sausage pizza. Two elderly women eventually joined me and the one was quite friendly and chattered away to me even though I could not understand most of the conversation. She was very sweet, and I giggled with her as she lost control of her cane and nearly beheaded her geriatric companion. My waiter was tall, dark, gorgeous, looked Italian, but did not speak Italian. I guess no one's perfect!

After lunch I found the IMAX theater to see if, by chance, they had a movie in English...no such luck. After nearly 4 months, I would love to go to the theater and see a movie in English. It's one of the first things I will do when I get back home! Right after I visit the Bean Tree for a sugar free, fat free, mocha ice cap. Mmmmm.

The ride home was not quite as relaxing as the train was filled to the brim with small and noisy children. There was also no air conditioning and it got rather uncomfortable as my window did open. I was so thirsty after the hot ride and all that salty pizza that I had to stop by the store and guzzle down a bottle of water before walking to the internet point in Rothenburg to check email. I also needed a nap. Getting up at 6:30 was a killer!