Bavaria Christmas Markets - Day 4 Nuremburg

 It's now several days later and I'm typing this on a train back to Munich.  The train's wifi seems to be down, so I've got the blog with the photos open on my phone while I type this in notepad on my computer.  You do what ya gotta do, I guess.

I started my first day in Nuremburg just starting out without direction from my hotel.  I decided to head toward the walled old town, with it's cobbled streets and towers.  I ended up walking along the wall for a bit.

Parts of the wall look really old and parts look like they've been patched kind of recently.

The wall took me to the German National Museum with these cool columns in the front.  I walked inside and paid my 10 Euro admission.  I mostly explored the medieval and Middle Ages section.  

There is also evidence of the Roman occupation, like this door handle

Of course, it's not Germany without all of the religious artifacts.  I found this Mary statue particularly interesting.  Look closely at her mid-section

As we can see that she is pregnant with Baby Jesus.

St George slaying the dragon is one of my favorite images.  This is just the first of many that I saw that day.

A very cool broach

This is an elephant candlestick made by someone who has obviously never seen an actual elephant.  It kind of looks like a cross between a boar and an anteater...

This is another neat broach in the shape of an Eagle.

A very interesting statuette of a bull made using the lost wax method.

A medieval military helmet

And we're back to St. George.  This poor version is missing his arms and spear

And St. George again

The last one I'll be bothering you with...

Here are two different versions of St. John the Baptist's head on a platter.

And this is the most smug I've ever seen Baby Jesus look in my life

St. Notburga, the patron of domestic servants.  I just thought she looked very German with her apron full of potatoes

I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of pieces by one of my favorite Austrian artists, Franz Xavier Messerschmidt.  This one is called "The Constipated One"

And this one is "The Satirist" from a series he did of character heads.  There were about a dozen of these I saw in The Belvedere in Vienna

Of course, you can't be in Nuremburg without seeing a bunch of Albrecht Duhrer.  I opted not to focus on his animal studies, but am sharing with you his portrait of his mother.

At this point, I was getting tired and needed a drink.  I got a nice cappuccino at the museum cafe and made a few small purchases at the gift shop...because...Hello!  I'm Donna!

I then decided to find the Christmas markets.  There are 3 of them and I was to find that they were all right next to each other.

It was Sunday night, and each and every one of them was wall to wall humanity.  As with many markets, the main one was in a square in front of a cathedral.

With many interesting buildings surrounding it

I decided to indulge in Kartoffelpuffen (potato pancakes) mit Apfelmuss (with applesauce).  These were deep fried.  Not how I would make them, but a much faster process for mass production. 

 then checked out the cathedral

On the inside too

I then checked out the smaller market of partner cities (or sister cites), which was pretty cool.  The stall were from all of Nuremburg's sister cities in other countries.  There were stalls from Palestine, China, Turkey, Israel, and a few others...including Glasgow, Scotland.

Where I opted for a Hot Toddy instead of the ubiquitous gluhwein for a change.  That whiskey hit just right 

Back to the main market where there were carolers on stage in front of the cathedral

and more seething humanity.  It was a bit more than this introvert could comfortably handle

After a bit more, I decided to head back to the hotel...but got distracted by some lights down a side street

I stumbled upon the Children's Christmas Market

Which was pretty cute, but took me just a few minutes to wander through (it was very small). I then discovered that my phone battery had died.  I did have a power bank on me, but had to sit and wait a few minutes to get a minimal charge for the phone to turn back on. 

Then, it was back over the bridge

And back down the decorated streets to my hotel.