Germany Part II: Day 4 Arrival in Nürnberg, & Beer Festival!

Day 4: The second ICE trip, arrival in Nürnberg, meeting up with Jens & Marija, & Erlangen Beer Festival

We got on our train at the Berlin Hauptbahnhoff (main train depot) without issue after having breakfast at "Kamps" a German chain that seems to specialize in coffee, pretzels (brezeln) and light fare. Our ride was pleasant and we arrived at the Nürnberg Hauptbahnhoff early. We wandered around the shopping complex for an hour. Kate snapped some photos of the outside of the station and some buildings near by. Once (If) I get a copy I'll add them on in an appendix. I tried using Flickr to find some pictures to complement this narrative, but I found the variations in crediting people for the photos were a bit to complicated to make it worth my while.

We were scheduled to meet Jens and Marija around 16:30, and when the time approached we headed to the train platform where we were expected to arrive. Jens and Marija were there to greet us.

It is a strange feeling to see someone for the first time in 8 years. If I did stop and think about it, when I spent time with Jens, on some level it felt like it had been weeks since I saw him last, rather than years. I like to think that it is a testament to the quality of the friendship, that it could span long periods of time, and just sort of pick up where it left off.

Jens helped Kate carry her suitcase and we walked to Jens and Marija's apartment which was in a great old building. (If I recall correctly, 150 yrs old?) Jens explained that it was one of the few that survived WWII bombing with little damage. Apparently a bomb had fallen through the building however, it never detonated. The apartment was very nice, very stylish, spacious, furnished entirely with IKEA items. They treated us very well, setting us up in the master bedroom. When we arrived Jens offered us all "Children's Beer" as he called them. Jens calls them children's beer because they are Beck's with low alcohol content (2.5%) that essentially taste like lemonade with a hint of beer. Even Kate, who typically does not drink had a Beck's Lemon beer. I can see why Jens & Marija get them, and I find myself wishing they had something similar here. We lounged around a bit which was nice before heading out. A day on the train can tire you out, even if they are comfortable and you remain sitting down all day.

I was pleasantly surprised by what Jens and Marija had planned for us. We took a short car trip to the nearby city of Erlangen. Erlangen is a college town and is very picturesque. I regret that I do not have more photos to show. The point of going to Erlangen was (drum roll) a beer festival! Kate and I got to have one of the quintessential German experiences, one which we never expected we would get to partake in.

The town was absolutely mobbed with people, many of whom were drunk college kids. Kate and I were amused by Jens complaining about the "Idiots" wearing traditional Bavarian clothes which may have been appropriate for Oktoberfest, but not Erlangen. Of course without Jens telling us we wouldn't have known any different.

I wish I could have captured some photos of the food booths

everywhere. At the time I was too busy drooling over what type of meat or brezel I wanted to sample. I settled on a grilled knackwurst of some sort. I was hungry and the food hit the spot. We walked around for a bit, and Jens treated us for a ride on an enormous Ferris wheel. It was a fun ride and the views were spectacular. As we were commiserating about the various things about Ferris wheel motion that made us ill, the wheel operator thought it would be funny to spin our cart as we went by. At first some of us were wide-eyed in horror, and this quickly gave way to

some cringing. Eventually Jens got his wits and asked me to help him break the cart using the big wheel (they are like teacup ride carts). I wasn't firing on all pistons, and had he not thought of it I'm not certain I would have.

Next we headed into the extensive beer gardens set up on a steep hillside. We ordered a couple beers which come in huge ceramic mugs that you put down a 5 euro deposit on. When you return the mugs you get the money back. The beer was a Tucher lager, which is the main brewer out of the Nürnberg region. We sat down, talked, drank, and took in the atmosphere. A couple of bands were set up loudly performing American pop standards. They weren't particularly good, but they effectively performed songs that everyone could sing along to, and many of them did. Jens shook his head pointing out that very few people actually knew what they were singing. I responded saying people in the U.S. aren't really aware of what they sing either.

Jens and Marija ordered a sampler plate of traditional German food for us. On the plate was Blutwurst, or blood sausage, a pickle, some white radish, a type of smoked sausage (Which Kate wasn't a big fan of), Smoked Ham (Nussschinken), a type of sausage which resembled salami, some cheese, and a brown (wheat) bread which is traditional to the region. I tried everything on the plate. I think the ham was probably my favorite item, but I enjoyed trying all of it and really appreciated the opportunity to sample different things.

I tried to snap a couple of photos as we were leaving Erlangen. We stopped at an ice cream shoppe and got some cones before heading to the parking garage where Marija's VW Polo was located. Ice cream is always a welcome treat!

The Erlanger Bergkirchweih was a great beginning to our time together with Jens and Marija. Kate and I had a great day, but we were eager to head to bed and get rest for an eventful day of sightsing on Tuesday.