Casey's friend Stephen joined us from Erfurt for his first visit to the town of Nuremberg. This well travelled bloke had never been to this historic city, despite living only a few hours away by train. It speaks to the notion that we percieve what is farther away or outside our nation's bounds as being more exotic and therefore having more appeal.
So how do you show a German around an old German town? Both Casey and I were stumped and so meandered the streets alongside Stephan exchanging information about our hometowns instead. I learned a lot about Erfurt, while Stephan got plenty of detail about my life in the UK.
Casey provided a more suitable tourguide, showing him to the gourmet Lebkuchen stalls and insisting he turn the legendary Nurenburg Ring, an ironwork of intricate piercing inserted withing latticed grills by the renaissance locksmith Andreus Kuhn. It is said that turning the ring once will bring good fortune and make your wish come true.
We toured the Nuremberg tower with Stephan and tried to explore some of the history, but realized we knew very little about the town, its history, or its art. At the end of the day, he said we had seen what Nurermberg wants us to see. I was disappointed that we had only skimmed the surface but then wondered if I really want to see what Nuremberg doesn't want me to.
We ended the day at a local brewery where we dined on traditional food local to this town and bid Stephan adeiu as he hopped on his return to Erfurt.
