Day 2

After a breakfast of cereal (I had some kind of granola with chocolate in it), rolls with jam or honey, coffee (or kaffee), and orange juice, we boarded the bus and headed from our hotel in Rothenberg to the city of Nurnberg (pronounced New-run-burg). It snowed quite heavily the night before so our bus was covered in a thick white blanket of snow.
On the way to Nurnberg our tour guide, Ilse, gave us a run down of the day in the “City of Toys.” Apparently Nurnberg is very well-known for their toys (or tiny trinkets) and had just finished their toy convention at the Nurnberg Masse (or fairgrounds). It would have been really cool to see the convention but I guess in a way we came right in time because there were over 80,000 people in attendance this year.
Ilse also forewarned us about the somber mood the morning would most likely take on. Nurnberg is also known to be one of Hitler’s most favorite cities, the site of the Nazi Forum, where he spoke to hundreds of thousands of Nazis. We originally planned to walk out to the eight foot by four foot space that towers over the expansive forum, but due to the cold conditions and a restoration project we were only able to walk to the middle of the field and look up. I tried to imagine myself as a young Nazi, brainwashed and intimidated watching Adolf Hitler speak far above me on the platform. Something about the bleak weather made the forum seem all the more…oppressive. I’m very glad we were able to see this place where so much history took place. We also drove past another building designed by Hitler that was modeled after the Roman Coliseum. The building is shaped like a horseshoe with a courtyard made of bricks. The outside of this coliseum is made of giant granite blocks which were carved by concentration camp prisoners. The tour guide had us take a moment and remember all the lives were lost in order to make that wall. It was very moving to see something so tangible illustrate something that I have only really read about.
Nurnberg has a population of about 800,000 and is a much more modern city than our previous city of Rothenberg. The streets were still cobblestone but were much wider and lined with luxurious shops. We also drove past the Nurnberg courthouse where the famous Nurnberg Trials were held. The actual courtroom, number 600, is now used only for high profile cases. We ended our tour around 12:45 pm at the Market Square (or Markt Haupt). At this point we had literally been on the bus since 8:30am and everyone was dying to use the water closet (the European term for restroom), so unfortunately I did not catch much of our tour guides last few tidbits. She did mention that the local opera house performs Wagner’s Die Meistersinger quite often because it gives one of the only example of life in Bavaria in the Middle Ages. After our lunch of potato salad and Nurnberg sausage, we actually saw a statue of Hans Sachs, the main character in Die Meistersinger while we were window shopping.
At 2:45pm the bus dropped us at St. Elizabethkirsche (kirsche meaning church), where we had an hour to set-up, rehearse, and change our clothes. The church was amazing. It huge, booming acoustics and our sound traveled all the way up into the giant copula. It was a small church but had very impressive statues of all twelve disciples and St. Elizabeth. During rehearsal we left out bags and purses against the walls at the back of the church, where we thought they would be safe. Apparently while we were rehearsing, a man took a very expensive camera and the equivalent of about $450 out of a bag in the back that belonged to a member of our group. Needless to say, they were very upset once they realized what had been taken. We all learned a lesson about where to put our valuables.
There was a short mass (about 30 minutes) following our rehearsal, so Brad and I decided to stay and watch. My German diction training paid off because we sang all of the hymns in German. The singing also kept my mind off of the temperature, which was only a few degrees warmer than the 30 degrees outside. After the mass we re-set our stands and chairs and began our concert. There were about 90 people in attendance and they all seemed very enthusiastic about our performance, especially the Souza marches. Personally, it seemed very inappropriate to play Souza or just 20th century music in a beautiful Medieval Catholic church.
After our concert we were frozen solid so we packed up fast, got on the bus, and headed back to our hotel in Rothenberg. We ate a dinner of soup, turkey (which was breaded and fried), and apple streudel. The best part was definitely the streudel because it was served right of the oven, with what tasted like tapioca pudding but without the little chunks, drizzled all over it and around it. It reminded me of warm apple pie a la mode.
Tomorrow we don’t have much planned except for a walking tour in Teentag and then we move to a new hotel. The one we’ve been in, is described as a very basic hotel. It has phones, extra blankets and the tour guide actually provided soap and shampoo for us when she realized the rooms didn’t have any. Apparently the next one “will be much better.” I like this one because it is so simple, but I hope the next one will have wireless internet so I can stop writing these blog entries on word!