Nuremberg

We arrived in Nürnberg at 12.25 and met Sassy at the bus station because she was sweet enough to come get us and help bear the burden of our bags - she didn't know how heavy they were in advance, but still. We dropped our bags off at her apartment and headed out for a Franconian style lunch, which as almost anything in the German food category is, was delicious. We walked around the old town area and showed Chrissy the most famous landmarks such as St. Sebaldus Church and the Burg (kind of like a castle with a moat) until Saskia's mom and sister arrived to meet us for gelato. Side note: Saskia is from Straubing, which is a 1.5h drive away, and Caro and Johanna still came to say hi for a few hours. They are my favorite. After some sinfully good gelato and fantastic conversation, we took a walk through the city until we landed at a Biergarten (not hard to do) and had drinks before Johanna and Caro began their drive home. We headed back to Sassy's to relax - as if we hadn't already been - and shared a bottle of wine until we fell asleep. 

Yesterday morning we were up by nine to go get breakfast at Sassy and I's favorite bakery. Chrissy and I had a life-changing pastry called an Apfeltasche and I think the only comparison I could make is to an apple strudel. Magical. If I recall correctly - I know it was only yesterday but it was a very long day - the bakery trip was followed by a stop at the grocery store so we could make Schmann later - kind of like a doughy pancake thing with powdered sugar and applesauce - and headed home. At this point Chrissy and I decided to print everything we had to print and to buy any remaining travel tickets so that we didn't have a repeat of the copy shop debacle. It took quite awhile because so much planning and price checking has to go into every move, but would have been quite a bit easier if we had not been screwed over - pardon my language - by the German train system, which when we tried to buy tickets, actually just let us reserve seats but not buy the actual tickets, so we did not have the tickets we thought we had. Yay travel, amirite? I know I can't actually complain right now, but it can be trying, I promise I'm not as much of a spoiled brat as you may think. When we'd printed and reserved and paid for everything we could, we headed to Zeppelinfeld, the stone stadium in which Hitler spoke to an astonishingly large live audience several times before the start of WWII. It is an eerie feeling to stand where someone of such horrid influence stood to rally his troops, but I acknowledge how important it is to remember the past, and I appreciate the fact that the field still stands open to the public. Immediately following, we headed to the little lake nearby to paddle boat for a bit before heading back to the apartment to shower and repack for our 1.10am bus to Zurich. I'll get back to this part. Anyway, once we were ready, we headed out for drinks at Sassy and I's favorite bar, where patrons purchase their drinks and sit on the cobblestone courtyard outside while they drink. It's awesome. We stopped for döners on our way back - like the German version of a gyro - and of course me in my white shirt spilled the orange sauce all over myself, and we headed home so I could wash it out. Luckily Sassy's roommate Jakob had stain remover and a blow dryer, so I was back at it in no time. We headed out for a bit longer before returning to pick up our bags and take the subway to the bus station. 

Now listen, it takes 15+ minutes to walk from Sassy's to the station without the subway. We got to the station 25 minutes early, just to be safe. Read that again: 25 minutes EARLY. Guys... We missed the bus. 

I swear all three of us are literate. Some of us are even triliterate - is that a word? It is now. But anyway, our literacy seems to have made us arrogant, because at 1.10 when the bus to Zurich was supposed to leave, the only buses at the station were going elsewhere. Sassy had specifically checked with one bus that I had sworn said "Mailand" on it (Milan) just to make sure we hadn't missed anything. Apparently we missed something. The bus to Mailand was actually going to Zurich, and its sign was wrong. I'm no geographer, but last I checked, Milan and Zurich are two very different places. So by 1.50 when our bus still hadn't showed, we called Flixbus to see if there had been a delay, which was when we heard the news that our bus had come and gone. The woman on the other end of the phone was kind enough to give us a gift card to Flixbus to return our money so that we could buy another ticket for the next day, so we (after some choice expletives) trudged back home, bags and all, cursing Flixbus and subway stations not open past 1am along the way. On our return to Sassy's ever so familiar looking apartment, we bought new tickets for Switzerland and soon headed to bed so that we could wake up in a mere 4 hours to get ready to leave for our next bus. 

Round two of the Nürnberg to Zurich attempt went much more smoothly, and after a quick goodbye with Saskia - we avoid sadness and feelings at all costs - we were on our way. After a confusing layover where we thought we'd lost our bags, and 9hrs of hating Flixbus and everything it stood for, we arrived in a very cold and very rainy Zurich, called an Uber, and climbed the billions of steps up into our new hostel. 

Seeing as I am lying in bed in said hostel about to pass out after our first few hours in this RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE (yet beautiful) city, I think I'll leave this bit of the trip for the next post. 

Until next time!! 

PS. I will never move to this place, my wallet would not survive - it's already on its last leg, but still.