Hostel on acid

So this is how I am going to introduce the city of Nurnberg...by introducing my hostel. Lets just keep in mind here that this is the first place I am traveling to on my own...which is such a change! I left Munich yesterday, caught the two hour train to Nurnberg (northeast of munich) which is the second largest city in Bavaria. It is one thing to stay with a friend and do some sightseeing on your own...it is quite another thing to actually physically travel by yourself. First thing to know, it is incredibly how and muggy here right now. It actually reminds me of a really humid day in downtown Toronto. I get on the train yesterday, fell asleep asap and woke up covered in sweat and alone on the train. No idea where I was (what city or country!) or where everyone else went. So naturally I panicked, grabbed my things, jumped off the train (which wasn't easy considering I have a giant backpack, my camera bag and my shoes weren't on) ran up to the first person I saw and started blabbering away in English asking her where I was, what happened to the train going to Nurnberg etc? Think I scared the crap out of her..but luckily there was a nice man who overheard and assured me that it was the right train, going to Nurnberg and that it had only left Munich 10 minutes ago. I was slightly embarrassed at this point, but I will blame the hot weather for my disorientation! The rest of the train ride passed fairly uneventfully. 

So once in Nurnberg I had to find me hostel. These are the directions the website gave me. Turn left outside the Hbf(trainstation) , walk 400m along a brick wall, turn right at the opera house, then turn left down the first alley way (the alley way should have been my warning sign). No street names or anything! Of course I get lost, but at this point I can ask for directions in German so that wasn't too hard. Walked into my hostel with two other guys, and first thing one of them says is 'wow this is sketchy', which was my thoughts exactly! The walls here look like they were painted by someone on an acid trip. No lie. My room is called the 'Italian Ambassy, its a large room painted bright lime green, purple, orange and red with 8 bunkbeds, steel bars on the windows plus those spiked things that stab people who try to climb through. Very welcoming! My roommates on the other hand are wonderful.  There is a group of 12 year old Italian boy scouts and their leaders (side note: who ever heard of staying in a hostel for boyscouts!?!? aren't they supposed to be roughing it in the outdoors? europe is different...), a brazilian student (who I am going for drinks with tonight) and a group of students from a university in Kansas on a study tour. Plus an American couple and an old man who just nods at me when I say hi.  The italian boys were nice enough to wake me up this morning by tickling my nose with feathers. Never a dull moment! They say hello, by the way (two of them are watching me type this right now)

So after settling into my sketchy accommodation, I headed out (with a poketmap) to explore Nurnberg.  Walked for what felt like forever and finally found a nice platz with churches, a bridge over the river and an Italian restaurant for dinner.  It was really enjoyable sitting by myself, eating tomatoes, cheese, drinking wine and people watching. Strange at the same time to have no one to talk with...I found myself narrating my day (sad to admit) But I found all you need to do is sit with confidence, look like your supposed to be there by yourself and instantly your more comfortable. After my dinner I was approached by a young Turkish man who asked me out for icecream...he seemed nice enough but I declined just to be on the safe side. So I started walking back since I couldn't entirely remember where my hostel was and it was starting to get dark outside. Well 'couldn't entirely remember' is the understatement of the year!!! I walked for almost 2 hours in circles. You know that sinking stomach feeling you have when you just spent the last half hour walking away from a particular landmark, then you turn a corner and it's right in front of you again? Three times with one landmark! I couldn't bloody get away from this one church...every road I took led me in a circle back to the same place. With the help of my poketmap I finally made it back to the street my hostel was on...only to realize I had no idea whether I need to go left or right. The old city part of Nurnberg is laid out like a circle, with an old fortress wall going all around the sides. My hostel is on the outskirt street that encircles that entire area. Eventually I put my problem solving cap on and walked outside the fortress walls...once I was there I could see the opera house which I knew was close to my hostel. So I turned left. And walked right into the red light district of Nurnberg. I wanted to cry...but I didn't! I laughed instead and just decided to blaze on through. It was what I expected to see in Amsterdam...not Nurnberg. There was actually red lights! Every window had a women leaning out and catcalling...which wasn't as disturbing as the types of men you see walking the dark ally. Creepy would describe them. But nevertheless I made it down the road to my hostel, completely unharmed although I was mentally preparing myself to pull out my swiss army knife if I needed to! About 10 minutes later I'm sitting in my hostel, having a beer when some guy runs into the common room and yells 'DID you guys know were staying in the RED LIGHT DISTRICT? Don't go that way unless you want to pay for sex!!!' haha I can imagine the abuse he got walking down the road because even I was getting harassed by the women! 

Needless to say I've painted a pretty bad picture of Nurnberg, but it's actually a really beautiful city (I've just been a comedy of errors!) Today I did a war tour of the city that showed where the rallies used to be, a holocaust museum and where the Nurnberg trials were held.  Connecting the history to the places is quite unreal.  This afternoon I went to the fresh market, bought cheese, bread and veggies for lunch, and took some more pictures of course. Then decided to wonder back to call Elvira, my moms second cousin (I think) who I'm going to go stay with in Wurzburg tomorrow. And did you think I could make it back to the hostel? Nope! Walked in circles again...ended up in the red light district AGAIN! Although it was totally fine to walk through during the day.  

So that concludes my stay in Nurnberg thus far. Lets hope I can make it through this evenings dinner and drinks without venturing into sketchy areas!