Nuremberg is the second largest city in the Bavaria region of Germany, after Munich of course, and its the location that we stayed at for three nights while we toured the surrounding area.
We stayed in a hotel located right on the edge of the old town and spent most of our time exploring that the old quarter of the city.
The old town was actually quite large, so it took a fair amount of time to see everything within the space.
Its surrounded by a large historic wall and has a walking/cycling path right outside it. You can see it in the photo above.
The path makes it easy to get around to different parts of the quarter, especially if you don't want to walk through the streets inside. It's very quick if you travel by bicycle.
Many of the buildings within the walled portion have been modernized over the years.
So it's sort of a mix of old and new buildings and architecture.
Within the old town is a small little Craftsman village called Handwerkerhof Nurnberg which is a pretty unique space in such a large city.
It's an old armory that was converted into a medeival village back in 1971 Source.
Today its a small gathering of quaint little artisinal shops and rustic pubs set within charming cottage style homes.
We stopped in one of the pubs for a beer, as one does, of course.
We also toured a few of the artisinal shops and ended up buying a handcrafted metal christmas ornament from an artist that works specifically with metal. I didn't take a photo of it and now its packed away util next year. Sorry.
It was a small area but very charming, especially considering its location.
Its not large enough to spend a lot of time there but certainly worth checking out during a visit.
From there we wandered a little further into the old quarter.
We passed Lorenzkirch Cathedral, which was located at the end of a major shopping street,
and then headed to Frauenkirche, another church that was a little more interesting than the last.
Frauenkirche was located in a large open square where the city puts on their Christmas Market in the winter.
In the warmer months they also have their weekly market there as you can see by the tent stalls. It actually seemed a little sparse and lacking when we were there, but that was in the afternoon, so it's possible that many of the vendors had already packed up for the day. In France the markets only went until around 1pm, so I wouldn't be surprised if Germany was similar in that regard.
Frauenkirche was built in 1361 in the gothic architectural style, using brick rather than stone. It contains several works of art dating back to the middle ages and a mechanical clock that was installed in the year 1509. Source.
If you look closely at the photos you will see the clock with a golden seal. It represents the Golden Bull of 1356. The Golden Bull outlined certain procedures including a detail of the rules of the election process within the Holy Roman Empire. Source.
I wish I would have taken a picture of it from a little closer.
Another monument that you will notice in the square is the Schöner Brunnen, a 19 meter tall fountain that was built in the 14th century. Source.
We saw more of the city that day and the next but I'll save a few items for next time.