GERMANY, NUREMBERG: AROUND TOWN

 May 19, 2025

After a heavy morning touring sites relevant to the days before and after World War II, we were ready for a change of pace. 

Today's Nuremberg is a large city of over a half-million people. Its roots are in the 11th century, and by the 14th century it had become one of the three most important cities of Germany. In the 15th and 16th centuries it was the center of the German Renaissance, a central city of the Holy Roman Empire, and a significant center of science and the arts.

Extensively damaged during World War II, much of medieval Nuremberg was subsequently restored, including its historic city walls and its impressive castle. Although many people, myself included, tend to connect the city to the Nuremberg Trials, there are a lot of sites to see that are unrelated to the war. 

We had already seen the old town area around the Market Square, so it was time to venture a bit farther out. 

On the left is a doorway dating to the late 16th century that served as an entry to the Fleischbrücke, or Meat Bridge--hence the steer on top. This bridge is one of the few structures that survived the bombings of WWII unscathed. Dancing Peasants (1980) is based on an engraving by Albrecht Dürer from 1514. The cute photobomber is married to me.

COLOMBIA: THESE ARE A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS

 March 14-23, 2023

After many of our trips, starting with some of the trips we took with our kids, we have made a list of all of our favorite experiences and things we want to remember. We decided to do that for this trip. So, in no particular order other than this is the order we came up with them, here are our favorite experiences, places, people, and things from our trip to Colombia.

- Fruit EVERYWHERE! Mangosteen was our favorite, but we also enjoyed granadilla, dragonfruit, lulo, and guanábana.

- Fruit juice of all kinds, but especially the kind mixed with milk (probably sweetened condensed milk).

- And speaking of juice, the raspberry grape juice with dinner in Bogotá was Judy's favorite.

- Cartagena--everything about it. It was our favorite city, and Carolina was our favorite guide.

RUSSIA, KALININGRAD: EEL FOR DINNER, A CAT CITY, AND GOING HOME

June 29-30, 2019

Just before we arrived at the end the Curonian Spit, we stopped for dinner at what looked like a lodge surrounded by cabins. The restaurant had a fun atmosphere created in part by the heads of a dozen or so African animals on the walls. While we were waiting for our food, the bombastic Russian owner, dressed in camouflage pants, a dark t-shirt, and black gloves, invited Bob to sit in a chair "that used to belong to Kaiser Wilhelm and then to Hermann Goering, head of the Luftwaffe."  It was a large armchair with pretty new upholstery, and we suppose it could have been the Kaiser's and Goering's chair, but we were a little skeptical.

The owner brought us a glass of complimentary wine as we were waiting for our food, which we refused, explaining that we don't drink any alcohol. He was very insistent, but we continued to refuse it, and we were afraid we had offended him.

To start the meal, Bob ordered a really good egg, cucumber, and pickle salad . . .

. . . and I had a delicious fresh sauerkraut salad.

Bob was delighted to discover they had one large fresh eel that they would bake for us. (We discovered later that they charged us $70 for it, a huge amount given what we were paying for other things in Kaliningrad.) It was AMAZING (once I could get over its appearance)--tender, moist, and so flavorful. The spine was still in but easy to cut through for individual portions and then to remove. Unlike most regular fish, there were very few little bones.