Diverted to Nuremberg, Germany

With poor weather in Luxembourg, and the next destination IMC in freezing temperatures, we elected to hold on and kick around Luxembourg for the day.  A historic city, originally a castle purchased in 963 AD, with the town developing around the fortress walls, it has the highest GDP (PPP) in the world.  For us that meant expensive, and everything in town was priced a tad high for our taste, let alone mixing with the well heeled crowds drawn to all the Gucci and Panerai shops, so we were thrilled to get away the following day.

The forecasts looked promising, but once we got into the high country crossing into the Czech Republic, we found ourselves scud running yet again, with power lines and wind turbines leaping out of the soup at us, and soon enough the clouds were right into the trees, so we worked our way back into the nearest valley and crawled to Nuremberg with our tails between our legs.  I'm sure our Skytrack route looked like some kid's scribbling.

The weather in the high country between us and Prague didn't look much better the next day, with forecasts of three hundred feet ceilings and a kilometre visibility in parts, so we went on walkabout in Nuremberg. 

Beer halls, pretzels, bratwurst and sauerkraut, we ate well on the hardy Bavarian cuisine, and met tons of Americans in town for a large Sportsman Show.  I sat with a table full of Leupold Scope reps discussing my collection of their VX-3s, and comparing kudu hunting stories and photos from South Africa.  Next meal we sat with two older German couples in their late seventies, telling stories of their Bavarian countryside.  We did the math and wondered what they had seen in their youth.  Everyone enjoyed Nuremberg.

Often referred to as the "Unofficial Capital" of the Holy Roman Empire (The First Reich), as the Imperial Diet and courts met at Nuremberg Castle, it became one of two great trade centres from Italy to Northern Europe.  Because of the town's significance as a centre for the First Reich, Adolf Hitler chose the city for the huge Nazi rallies of the 1930s.  It was also here that Hermann Goring and fellow Nazi high command were tried for crimes against humanity at the infamous Nuremberg Trials.  We visited the Palace of Justice where the trials took place and a number of the convicted were hung.  We later headed out to the Documentation Centre Nazi Party Grounds where the massive rallies took place in the thirties for a little history lesson.

This morning the weather looks promising.  We will hopefully push on into Prague and then our final destination in Poland.  If all goes well, I could be back home in Canada for the weekend.