Our first day in Nuremberg began with a slight melancholy feeling settling over the group because we had just parted with our fearless leader, Gabe. We wish him all the best and a speedy recovery in Berlin. Fortunately, morale began to pick up as we began to walk through the old town under the guidance of our new guide, Andreas. We visited several sights that morning, including the Church of St. Sebaldus, the Church of St. Lawrence, and the Kaiserburg castle. Even though as much as 90% of the city had been destroyed by allied bombings in the later years of the war, the people of Nuremberg had done a fabulous job restoring the city to its former glory. They had also had the foresight to place twelve million works of art in storage prior to the start of the war just in case the allies reached the city. These pieces included statues in the churches, stained glass windows, and paintings. Thanks to this, Nuremberg had many works of art that date back many hundreds of years. After touring the historical sights, we were allowed a few hours to get lunch and get souvenirs for our loved ones and friends back home.
After our respite, the class took a trip over to the Germanic National Museum. Meeting back up with Andreas, we got the opportunity to explore how the Nazis were primed to rise to power because of the history of German nationalism. after spending a few hours there, most of us began to feel our food/history pendulum begin to swing towards the food. Luckily, we had a nice, four course meal waiting for us.
