Our visit to Nürnberg at the tail end of September came just a couple of weeks after we’d learned that Richard and Collette had been busy again and were expecting the arrival of identical twins in early April next year. Who says ‘lightning never strikes twice’? By the time of our visit I think that we’d all more or less got over the initial shock, so it was great to spend a little time with them commiserating congratulating them on their exciting news and hearing their plans. It was also wonderful to have a few days with Gretel who unsurprisingly seems to change and grow with every week that passes.
For this visit we used Airbnb to book a very nice room in Weilandstraβe which is no more than10 minutes gentle stroll from Richard and Collette’s apartment. We didn’t see a great deal of our hostess, Karin Wittenstein, but she made us very welcome and the room was comfortable and relatively inexpensive, so in all likelihood we’ll use it again for future visits.
Once again we struck lucky with the weather and had an opportunity to do a bit more exploring around Nürnberg, including a fascinating visit to the building in which the war crimes trials were conducted in the aftermath of WW2. Courtroom 600 and the associated visitor centre provided an excellent and well-balanced insight into the history of the Nazi era, the accused, the trials themselves and the social and political environment in which they were held.
On the Saturday we decided to venture a little further afield and, in company with Richard and Gretel, we let the train take the strain for the hour-long journey to Bayreuth. On the way Denise enjoyed a long and detailed conversation with the German lady who she sat next to – a great opportunity to practise her language skills but quite what they spoke about I don’t think even Denise is entirely sure.
Bayreuth itself is a quiet and elegant city and well worth a visit. As we sat in the main concourse enjoying our lunch I was reminded of our life in Germany nearly 40 years ago. When all’s said and done things haven’t changed so very much – the beer and sausages still taste good!
