Milan, Nürnberg, and Sigmaringen

Alllllright. So last Saturday, I went with my friends Jenn and Conúil on a trip to Milan sponsored by the university. Unfortunately, Milan is not nearly as impressive as Rome and to be honest, not that much to write home about. Especially since we did not get to see The Last Supper.  The Duomo was very impressive- more intricate on the outside than St. Peter’s, but unless you can afford Prada and Dolce & Gabbana, Milan isn’t really your kind of place.

There were no classes this past Thursday, and as myself and most of my friends have no class on Friday, we decided to go away for the weekend.  We chose Nürnberg (Nuremberg) mostly for the sole reason that getting and staying there were relatively cheap. But I had an amazing time, so I’m glad we chose it.

This was my first real youth hostel experience. I stayed in one in Rome, but we got a private room because it was only 5 euro more. This hostel, however, was the real deal- we stayed in dorm style rooms with several other people, hung out in the common room, cooked breakfast in a communal kitchen. We met some very interesting people- on the first night, an incredibly xenophobic Canadian who was extremely polite to the members of our group from Greece, Ireland, Finland, and Singapore- but starting going at us Americans, so much as to personally accuse Rachel of war crimes…oy vey. BUT the next night we met two really nice English guys, bought some 2 euro beer from the hostel, taught them how to play “Kings” and then went out to an English pub with them.

The first day we were there we just walked around and took in the sights- the Pegnitz River flows through Nürnberg and you can really see why its called “The City of Empires” and why it was such an important city for both the Holy Roman Empire and the Third Reich. A lot of it was destroyed in the war, but enough still stands/has been rebuilt to make it extremely impressive. Creepy fountains (see facebook pictures) and sordid history notwithstanding- an absolutely beautiful city. We went up to the castle and ate at a beautiful little beer garden called “the witch’s house”, and really did look like something out of a German fairy tale.

The second day we split into two  groups for the morning, some went to see the Nazi Rally Grounds, but Dachau having quite filled my appetite for Nazi history for the time being, I went with Ross and Mari to the German National History and Art Museum, said to be the best museum in Germany outside Berlin. And boy did it deliver- I’d say it’s my second favorite museum ever, besides the Met. There was very little security, both in the lack of security guards and the fact that there was no rope or glass or partition separating you from priceless works of art. We quite literally got our noses less than a centimeter away from some Dürer paintings (he was from Nürnberg, by the way).  Also, it was very early when we went so we were practically the only ones there. The museum used to be a monastary, and obviously its been added on to, but there are many beautiful courtyards in the center and everything in it seems to be placed randomly, so you really have to examine and see where in history you are.

After lunch, three of our group had to head home, so the rest of us headed to the old town and shopped and rested. Later at the hostel we met the two aforementioned British guys, and after teaching them some American drinking games and an accidental visit to the red light district, we went out to sample some local beer.

This morning we got up early, and on the way home we decided to stop for a few hours in Sigmaringen. You see, we have to take the slow trains to save money, so we thought we’d break up the monotony of  6 hours on a train. I went to Sigmaringen last time I was in Germany, and I remembered the beautiful castle that sits up on a hill overlooking the town. We walked around the castle but didnt go in (didnt feel like paying), and walked by the Danube to stretch our legs.

Now I am home and exhausted and really should have been in bed hours ago.

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