Road Trip through Germany....

ROADTRIP....Germany style.  We all piled in the Jetta (which side note looks exactly like my old Jetta.  It must be her German cousin) and headed out on our first german road trip.  The plan was to hit 4 towns in 3 days.  Talk about fast and furious...here we go.  First stop was not to far outside of the village Allan lives in and was in the wine country.  The drive there was all on small back roads through villages.  The scenery was really nice.  We arrived in the parking area of the town near a huge wine barrel that also was a restaurant.  There were small village streets near it that we wandered through then we walked back into the vineyards.  It was pretty hot so we didn't spend to much time back there but it was fun to see and actually walk around through the rows of vines.  Since we walked

Wine Country

through the vines and saw the actual grapes that created the wine we felt it was only right for us to go and do a tasting at the winery.  We sat in a little quaint tasting room at a little table and were given tastings of all the different wines they had.  We enjoyed the wines so much we left with a couple of bottles.
On to the next stop on the trip....we drove about another 45 minutes or so to a little town called Heidelberg.  In this town our first stop was the castle.  It is way up on a hill above the town (as most good castles are) so we took the tram up and wandered the grounds.  The unfortunate thing about so many of the castles is that they have been destroyed quite a bit.  This one was pretty good but there was still a lot to be left to the imagination.

Heidelberg Castle

 Even though there were a lot of parts missing it was still very impressive.  The fact that most of its walls were still standing and the interior courtyard was pretty well maintained made it lovely to walk around and look at.  It is hard to really grasp the thought that this building was built to protect the town.  In it's prime it was probably bustling with people and events.  Even in it's slightly destroyed state events are still being help there.  There was actually a wedding happening while we were there.  The locations of these castles always provide a beautiful city view.  Once we had our fill of the castle we walked down into town to have dinner before continuing on our drive.

Nuremberg city view

Next stop was Nuremberg.  Our time in this town was definitely quick and full of tons of history and information.  My little brain was exhausted from taking it all in.  We started out with a walk up the steep hill through town up to the castle.  Along the way we stopped in the large square and viewed the cathedral and checked out the fruit and veggie stands.  Also in this square was a statue with a brass ring hanging off of it.  Apparently if you spin the ring and make a wish it will come true....I spun the ring so we shall see if it works.  Once we arrived at the castle the view of the city was really beautiful.  I love how all the buildings are relatively low in comparison to our modern sky scrapers.  All the buildings are so uniques too.  No two are ever alike.  Such character.

Stripes and flowers

Inside the castle there also were all these cute painted doors with old huge hinged locks and handles.  Each door was surrounded by greens and colored flowers.  Sometimes I do wonder if I am walking around in some sort of children's fable or fairytale.  In contrast to the fairytale feeling there was also so much horrible history that took place here.  Walking around this town now it is hard to think that Hitler also walked these streets and held his rallies here in these squares.  We went to the museum in Nuremberg that gave the full history of this time period.  It was quite overwhelming being in a location where it all happened.  The museum is actually in one of the buildings Hitler had built.  Just the thought that these building were made by stones that were cut in labor camps where innocent people were dying was almost too much to take in.  We left the museum feeling drained but I feel it is so important to really learn about what we have been through and experience all the emotion that goes with it.

Floating town hall in Bamberg

Waving farewell to Nuremberg we head down the road to Bamberg.  Allan was stationed here for a while and he loves the town so he was very excited about sharing it with us.  We arrived and booked a little hotel right in the heart of town.  It was an adorable B&B type place and the location was perfect to walk anywhere we wanted in town.  We basically just walked the streets a bit and the found a spot for dinner.  This meal was where I fell in love with the "smoked beer"  It is the best beer I have ever had in my life.  So smooth, so smokey and not bitter at all.  I also had my first schnitzel which is also a tasty treat.  That night also began my pre-birthday celebration.  It was a fun night.  I did have happy birthday sang to me in German...don't worry there is video!
The next day was filled with castles and cathedrals.  We also did a bit of shopping in the town.  The original plan was to head to a beer fest in another town but Kels and I loved Bamberg so much we

Happy Birthday to me!

decided to stay.  
I could not have asked for a better place to celebrate my birthday!
Smoked beer, good friends, and in Europe!
The next portion of Germany starts tomorrow in Munich.