Built for, and according to the vision of, Richard Wagner. Home to the world renowned annual…read moreFestspielwochen. Being able to attend an opera can take decades of fruitless applications for tickets. We managed to get a pair for Parsifal this year for EUR 210 each through membership of the Bayreuther Wagner association. Seats were located on the Balcony, which had - surprise - cushions and, as it was first row, I could stretch my legs! View of the stage was fantastic! Acoustics was fine. Singers, including chorus, were superb through out. Orchestra was in perfect harmony. Staging was ... memorable. Atmosphere before and during breaks was very pleasant. All in all a fantastic event with just the right dose of scandals e.g. the conductor Andris Nelsons throwing in the towel weeks before the premiere : )

Looks like the Bayreuth crowd is not a big Yelp crowd! Or maybe Richard is censoring all from…read morebeyond the grave.... In any case I wanted to review my swing-through in June on the ride between Nuremberg and Munich: it was a long June day so we had time and light to visit the exterior only. It was a little difficult to find as the GPS seemed to short circuit in this town, and when we got to the theater there was no clear parking, so we pulled over in an odd lot. The festival grounds are meticulously maintained and the flowers are highly arranged, clearly people put a lot of love into this park. I was happy to see that surrounding the bust of Wagner in the front was a surrounding poster display of all the Jewish musicians that in some way suffered discrimination in the hands of Wagner and his festival, justice is served in some small way. One day I will be back to see the show, when I'm richer, older, too old to write a review on whatever website exists in the future.....

The Frauenkirche, Church of Our Lady, is a stunning Gothic church. However a brutal past lies…read moreburied beneath its foundation. The Gothic church was built by Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV between 1352 to 1362. The church was constructed directly on the ruins of one of Nuremberg's main Jewish synagogues. During the Black Death in 1349, a brutal pogrom was orchestrated to remove Nuremberg's medieval Jewish quarter. The local community wanted the prized area for a new marketplace. They petitioned and were granted legal immunity to demolish the Jewish ghetto and confiscate the space. Over 500 Jewish residents were massacred. Homes destroyed. The local Jewish synagogue torn down to rubble. A thriving Jewish neighborhood erased almost overnight. The Holy Roman Emperor then commanded that this church be constructed on the site. A reminder of Imperial and Christian dominance. One of the most notable features of the church is the Männleinlaufen (little men's procession). This mechanical clock commemorates the Golden Bull of 1356. The clock mechanism is activated at midday, when a bell is rung to start the sequence and is followed by the trumpeters and drummer. Then a procession of the electors marches around the figure of the Holy Roman Emperor. Although the church itself is stunning, the history is dark. It stands as a sober reminder of how medieval politics, plague scapegoating and the Holy Roman Emperor collided to change the course of history in Nuremberg. Hundreds of years later, Nuremberg again was the center of history again.

I am not going to go through the history and facts of the church. Clearly another example of…read moreNuernberg's rich history as a medieval city. What makes this church stand out is the fact that it overlooks the main market place with it's many fruit and veggie stands, most with locally grown produce. Of course there are also food trucks and household wares to be had. The market place turns into a giant Christkindl Market and at its opening the Christkindl (which by the way is a Christmas angel - child of Christ) stands atop the church balcony and officially opens the Christkindl Market with a speech and blessings. Definitely worth attending, if you can squeeze in somehow, because be aware that it will be super crowded. Just before 12 noon you will see crowds gather looking up towards the top of the church. They are all waiting for the "Maennleinlaufen" were the figures start moving and the electors turn and face the Roman emperor. There are also musician figures that move as if playing their instruments.