EuroFrau goes to Nuernberg (Germany)!

After my awesome week in Austria, I spent a weekend in Nuernberg, Germany.

      My mom has a friend who lives in Nuernberg that she met in college in the USA. They're both German so it's funny that they met and became good friends in the US. We visited the friend and partner and stayed at their house, which is super impressive. It's huge for German standards (in my humble opinion) and has a beautiful garden. We spent the night in the attic which they renovated themselves into a kick-ass guest room with a huge amount of space and beautiful wooden furniture.

View of Nuernberg

     After an amazing breakfast (so much Nutella!) we all drove to Schloss Hohenstein (High Stone Castle.) The castle was bought by local people for about an Euro and they renovated it to look similar to its original form. Hohensteiner was built in the 11th century and was passed on via family as well as bought and resold multiple times. The castle today is pretty much in ruins but there are some rooms that you can walk into to see exhibitions and read information that describes what the castle would have been like in its heyday.

Schloss Hohenstein

     To get to the castle, you have to get a key from a separate place. [The cost for admission per person is two euros.] After you get the key, you walk up a steep hill to the castle. The view from there is great and you can see the city of Nuernberg in the distance. To get into the castle itself, you use the key to open the main door. You have to then lock the door behind you because the owners don't want people going in unless they've paid admission. You can then walk through the castle and see a 360 degree view of Nuernberg. You can also walk up into the highest tower and have an even greater view (warning for people scared of heights. I have a minor case and I was feeling pretty wobbly until back on solid ground. You have to climb a small ladder to get to the top and you are very, very, very high up.) You can also go into a basement. It was pitch black so I used the flashlight function on my phone and then SCREAMED! Behind an iron-bar gate was a sheet draped to look like a ghost. It was a funny trick and left us all in a good mood when we left the castle.

     After the castle tour, we all went to the Hohenstiener Hof cafe. The cafe is famous for its Windbeutels. Windbeutel is a bizarre dessert which is basically a puffed out pastry usually filled with whipped cream. This cafe's Windbeutels are huge concoctions filled with ice cream, syrup, fresh fruit, nuts, alcohol, whipped cream, and pretty much anything else you might desire. I got the larger Windbeutel (there's a small and large size) and I was only able to eat about half of it. 

Windbeutel Cafe

    Although I didn't have a lot of time to spend in Nuernberg, I still had a very fun experience. It's a huge advantage when you have the opportunity to stay with people who live in the place you're visiting because you get an experience you might not know about from travel brochures. If you know people who live in other countries or other cities from you, ask if you can visit! That way you can incorporate a more local experience in your travels. :)