Snail Crossing

I practically stepped on this little guy while walking to work:

Sunday in the Kunstareal

The Kunstareal is the museum district of München.

I started my day at the Alte Pinakothek.

I then attempted to go to the Neue Pinakothek.  I got a ticket, put my tote bag that I had packed my lunch in (and enjoyed eating picnic style outside of the Alte Pinakothek) in a locker, and kept my purse with me, etc. - exactly the same thing that I had done at the Alte Pinakothek.  However the docent wouldn't let me into the gallery.  The only explaination I got from her was her point to my purse and "too big."  She didn't care about what was or wasn't in my purse, just that it was too big.

I then went and explained to the gentleman behind the front desk whom I had purchased my ticket from that I was not comfortable leaving my purse with my wallet, passport, asthma inhaler, etc. in a locker.  He assured me that the lockers were very secure but that he could offer me a gift shop bag - that was bigger than my purse! - to put the items I was concerned about it.  He also explained to me that all of the museums in the Kunstareal had the same rule and that I was able to walk around the Alte Pinakothek with my purse was a lapse in regulation enforcment on the part of their docents, not a lack of the regulation.

Mavbe I should have gotten over it.  Maybe I was being an inconsiderate American.  Maybe I should just have a smaller purse (I just tend to carry a larger one when traveling).  At that point I was frustrated because I felt that they were getting hung up on the wrong thing.  So I asked for refund - which they did give to me - and moved on to the Pinakothek der Moderne where I had no bag issues.

Selected paintings from the Alte Pinakothek

Selected paintings from the Pinakothek der Moderne

Nürnberg

On Saturday, R and I went to Nürnberg.

Despite the fact that my initial interest in Nürnberg was due to my grandfather's involvement in the Nuremberg trials, we didn't actually visit the Courtroom or the Documentation Center.

I don't know if it was due to the Italian festival going on, but Nürnberg was definitely the most crowded place that I have been to in Germany thus far.  It also seemed to be the most touristy - we saw lots of groups, guided tours, etc.

The first sight that we saw was the Schöner Brunnen, located at Hauptmarkt:

Frauenkirch was also located at Hauptmarkt, so it was our next stop:

Some pictures inside Frauenkirch:

Between the vendor stalls and the consturction, I couldn't get a good picture of the Fleischbrücke, but I did got a good picture of the portal to the bridge, with it's Latin inscription:

Our next stop was the Heilig-Geist-Spital.  One of the largest hospitals during the Middle Ages, it now houses a restaurant and apartments for the elderly.

St. Lorenz was our first stop after lunch:

A few picture from inside St. Lorenz:

Nürnberg's Rathaus:

This is the back end of St. Sebaldus, which was across from the Rathaus:

St. Sebaldus had some cute little gargoyles:

Although perhaps cute isn't exactly the word that they were going for...

I kinda like St. Sebaldus though.  The entry way was kinda dark and twisty:

Some more pics from St. Sebaldus:

St. Sebaldus was located at Albrecht-Dürer-Platz, which has this statue in it's center:

Our next stop was the Albrecht Dürer house,where we took the tour:

Our last stop of the day was Nürnberg Castle, where we went through the museum and up into the Sinwell Tower which offered a  nice panoramic view of Nürnberg:

 

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