United had sent a message earlier about possible delays due to weather. Weather was great during the day, so we thought nothing of it. The forecast turned out to be correct. Indeed when 7 pm rolled around, the skies began to darken. Boarding was complete for an on-time 7:35 pm departure, but we just sat at the gate. The captain came on the air and said all ramps were closed (I guess he meant no one was working to push the plane back). Since we had a four hour layover at Frankfurt, I wasn't too worried. At about 9:50 pm the engines started, and we felt push back at about 10 pm. (By the way, these times are based on the texts I sent this evening.) After about 45 minutes, we got to the end of the runway. Then the engines got shut off - all flights were stopped by traffic control. At some point the pilot grumbled that there was no reason to continue to stop takeoffs to the east. (We could see lightning flashes out of the window, but had no idea how far they were.) At 12:35 am the engines were restarted, and takeoff was at 12:56 am (per Flight Radar). We boarded the plane at around 7 pm, so we were stuck inside for nearly 6 hours. The plane landed at 1:22 pm Monday, and it took about 30 minutes to get to the gate. Our connecting flight left at 1:10 pm.
UA960 wheels up and landing times.
The amount of sleep I got (per Apple Watch). Not bad for a 6:30 hour flight actually. It wouldn't characterize the quality of the sleep, though.
Accommodation: Overnight UA960 EWR-FRA.
Monday 8/19. If one searches Lufthansa for flights to Nuremberg, one may connect to NUE from FRA via Deutsche Bahn . We found out later that Lufthansa has this agreement with Deutsche Bahn to use the train to connect the two cities, even giving the journey an LH designation. As I was looking at the possibility of buying the tickets myself, LH sent me messages giving me options on which trains to take, and I managed to check in on line. So the process worked reasonably well, except for the seat assignments: the seats they gave us were non-existent on the train we took. It turns out on these ICE trains one can reserve seats (at some cost, I assume), and those seats would be so indicated inside the train. The rest are open. (HINT, I think.) We managed to find two seats together for the 2 1/2 hour journey to Nuremberg Hbf.
Our hotel is a short-walk from the train station (we had stayed here before). The receptionist told me as a Platinum Elite member we get free afternoon "snack" and free breakfast, and an upgraded room to boot. I am sure I was Platinum two years ago, but wasn't offered these perks. We took advantage of the afternoon snack, which included seafood lasagna as a warm dish, and called it a day.
I could pick our train and check in on line for the replacement train. The problem is Coach 37 didn't have seats 41 and 42.
We were even issued boarding passes. The train did leave from Platform 4. But seats on DB trains don't have A, B designations.
Platinum Elite members can go to the hotel's rooftop. Nuremberg Opera House is very close to the hotel.
Accommodation: Sheraton Carlton Nuremberg. (1 night)
Tuesday 8/20. I went to bed before midnight. Apple Watch says I got close to 8 hours of sleep last night; I could use, and appreciated, the sleep.
We enjoyed the free breakfast offered by Carlton Sheraton. Afterwards I went to the train station to get an Mobi Card which gives 7 days of travel for the two of us (and more) within the VGN service area (HINT). We may not end up making use of the full worth of the ticket if we don't take any additional trips during the "off" days, but the card will give us convenience.
Our first use of it was a ride on the U1 to Lorenzkirche, and then a walk to the Albert Durer House/Museum. It doesn't contain too many of Durer's works, but does offer a perspective on him and his time. One walks away with the idea that he was a good man, perhaps a little vain. He and his wife Agnes didn't have any children.
Frauenkirche. One of the three prominent churches in Nuremberg Altstadt. The other two being St. Sebald's and St. Lorenz.
Sebalduskirche. Sebald was a hermit and saint who may have lived in Nuremberg for a time. He is in any case the patron saint of the city.
A modern sculpture depicting an upside down Peter (our guess).
We found out later this is called Schoner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain), built in the 14th century.
On the bridge over the Pignitz, looking west. (Took photo in other direction last trip).
Market was in town. Anne got a sausage from it. Didn't spill any mustard this time. (And she is wearing same shirt, see photo below.)
Albrecht Durer House.
The Four Apostles. Durer was a Lutheran. The painting was somewhat controversial due to the iconoclast movement during the Reformation.
An altar piece commissioned by a wealthy Nuremberg family.
Two self-portraits. These, as well as the paintings above, are copies of the original. The two portraits now hang in the Louvre and the Prado. There is a third portrait with Durer as Jesus.
Room furnished as imagined by later artists.
What the kitchen might have looked like.
Durer became wealthy because his engraved prints were popular. So the printer press was a great tool for his trade.
A rhino.
View from his house.
The house was extensively damaged in WWII.
We checked out of the hotel and caught the 2:05 pm Regional train to Bayreuth, which took a little longer than the published 55 minutes. Ibis Styles is a short walk from the station. Our very small room costs about $250 a day during the festival period, about double the "normal" price. I guess it does good business during the short summer festival period. The room is minimally equipped: only one desk chair, no refrigerator, and no coffee/hot water machine. We were counting on the last two for milk storage and instant coffee. And it felt very small at 172 sq ft (per Hotels.com website); the budget side has rooms at 118 sq ft, I can't imagine what more space they could cut. Thus our shopping at the nearby ALDI consisted only of cold cuts and cheese we would make wraps with after the concert tonight.
There have been reports on how well people dress for these Bayreuth concerts. And they do: I would say more than 90% of the men were in suit and tie. I felt good as I had the foresight to bring along a couple of short sleeve shirts. Today's high was about 80, and if there was air conditioning inside the theater, it was very weak.
Reviews of the concert will be written in a separate blog, but I do want to make a few remarks. My original expectations were quite low, given (again) the reports on the somewhat inscrutable storyline, and that there would be not surtitles (not even German). I came away pleased. First, the music was great. The auditorium was designed such that the orchestra and the conductor were hidden from view, but the music from the pit sounded great. Also, I could make sense of most of the modified storyline, which often isn't the case even with proper translation. While I would like a play-by-play, only understanding things at a high level was less cognitively dissonant as I didn't have to associate the word "gold" with the child, for instance.
People dress up for these opera performances. Every man here seemed to be wearing a jacket. (The guy in short sleeves had a badge.)
I am glad I was wearing a shirt.
The theater sits 1925, which makes it comparable to La Scala (2030) and Covent Garden (2256).
The "atrium" set was used for scenes 2 and 4 in Wagner's Das Rheingold.
From the left: Freia, Mime, 3 Rheinmaidens, Fafner, Fasolt, Erda, Loge, Froh, Alberich, Fricka, Wotan, Simone Young, and Donner. (My best guess.)
We took Bus 305 up, which saved us a few steps, and walked back to the hotel afterwards, at a leisurely pace. Dinner was the aforementioned wraps made with sliced ham and cheese bought at ALDI earlier.
Accommodations: Ibis Styles Bayreuth (6 nights).
Wednesday 8/21. We decided to not have breakfast at the hotel (at 16 euros per day not unreasonable). This morning we stopped by a nearby cafe (Konditori Doring) for eggs and coffee. That cost about 21 euros. We then stopped by ALDI to pick up some sushi for lunch later on.
I wanted to check out both the laundromat and another supermarket, so took a relatively short walk for a bit over a mile. This is a quiet town, relatively clean, and certainly not defined by the Festival Theater.
Die Walkure started at 4 pm, and we again took the bus (it showed up just when we were ready to give up). Intermissions are about an hour at Bayreuth, and we bought a bratwurst and pretzels for dinner. Lines were long, food was expensive but only okay - except sausage is always good with Anne. We again walked back to the hotel after the show.
View of Festival House from near our hotel. Our room faces the correct direction, but the doors don't open in such a way that we can lean out to see it.
Front lawn in front of the Opera House. Many small statues of Wagner's on the lawn.
Many people wait for the fanfares that announce the show is about to begin. Once 15 minutes prior, twice 10 minutes prior, and three times 5 minutes. Shows begin promptly and late comers are not allowed in.
For a facility that is used a month a year, they manage to keep the surroundings very pleasant.
That may explain why this combination costs 13 euros.
Thursday 8/22. By looking at a map of the area, and with Bamberg a name we recognized, I decided this would be a city we'd visit on our "free" day.
Bamberg Old Town (it goes way back to 1000AD) is a 30 or so minute walk from the train station. Google Maps showed only options on buses that required transfers plus a good walk. The VGN APP, however, provided us with a direct bus that took us very close to Old Town. (We had to run to catch it.)
The place was surprising busy. We read signs that seemed to indicate for the month of August the city gets festive as lights are strung along the rivers, and eateries - many temporary stands - are all over the city. Searching the web for sights to see in the city returned a few we did visit: Klein Venedig, Dom, Old Court House, and New Residence. Inside the Cathedral is the tomb of King Henry II (who was also a Holy Roman Emperor) and his wife Kunigunde; the king died in 1032. Both were canonized by the Catholic Church.
Klein Venedig (Little Venice) has one river/canal. There is a path along the river that used to be the tow path. There used to be a lot of river traffic between Bamberg and Frankfurt, a trip that would take about 2 weeks. (We got this information from a plaque erected along the river.)
Complete with a gondola. We didn't hear any singing, and the boatman had trouble handling the boat, it would appear.
When we first saw this truck at 12:30 pm or so, there was a long line waiting to buy these special bratwursts.
The line was considerable shorted when we got back to it 2 hours later. This is the "pair" of wursts.
Earlier we bought this Leberkase in a roll from Max Liebold. We noticed people were all eating this as we walked towards the butcher shop (flag says since 1897).
The Bamberg Cathedral has undergone many repairs, renovations and expansions over the years. The two front towers are Romanesque, the two in the back are Gothic.
St Peter (carrying the cross) with Adam and Eve at the entrance portal. On the other side of the entry (not show in this photo) are statues of St. Stephens, Kunigunde, and Henry II. And this is the St. Peter and St. George Cathedral. No idea where St. George is.
This statue, known as the "Bamberg Reiter," probably dates back to the 11th Century. People have no idea who made it, or what it represents (of course theories abound).
The organ was making some pained noises while we visited. Tuning, perhaps? (I didn't know one could tune organs.)
The Old Court was a fort before a palace was built on the site in 1003.
Building of the New Residence started in 1603. This is the Rose Garden.
We also took an 80-minute cruise. This may not be the highlight of the cruise, but close.
Someone trying to put an additional porch on his property. I wonder what permits are required for this kind of expansion.
The part of Bayreuth south of the train station is quite pleasant. It was quiet when I walked there around 7:30 pm.
We took a cruise along the river. The narration, such as it was, was in German. I am sure he talked about how some of the more expensive apartments along the river cost. The highlights for the non-German speaking people are probably the yells to "duck" to the upper deck passengers as the boat passed below low bridges, and the lock that the boat went through (perhaps less than a 10-feet change in level).
We caught the 11 am train from Bayreuth to Bamberg, and got back to Bayreuth at about 6 pm. We again bought cold cuts and other food stuff from ALDI for dinner. I took a 30-minute walk afterwards in town (south of train station), it was a nice part of town.
Friday 8/23. For breakfast we tried Cafe Schnittchen, which offers a brighter setting, similar food, for a higher price (12 euros instead of 8.50 for eggs). The big difference today was the many bees/wasps flying around. One simply took over one of the preserve dishes. I am somewhat allergic to wasp stings, so was a bit apprehensive.
After breakfast I walked around the old town area a bit. It is a quiet town, but surprisingly clean. There are a few landmarks, including the Margravial Opera House. I also took advantage of a nearby laundromat.
Wittelsbacher Brunner (Fountain) in front of the Schlosskirche.
This is the Neues Schloss Bayreuth, completed in the 1750s.
Wagner sitting in front of the Tourist Information office.
Siegfried was the opera today.
During the one-hour intermissions patrons can enjoy the food they purchase in this elegant setting. If they can find a table, that is. The strategy is to have one person grab a table while the other orders food. We bought some hot food on Sunday, but couldn't find a table to enjoy it.
Curtain call after performance of Siegfried. From the left: Grune (most people think it's a horse, but not in this production), Erda, Siegfried, Brunnhilde, Wotan, and Hagen (who hasn't made an appearance yet in Wagner's telling of the story).
Saturday 8/24. We decided to visit the old town area, including the Opera House and the Wagner Museum. All these sites are within walking distance of one another. It also didn't take much time to wait for buses that saved us a few steps. (We bought a 7-day ticket anyway.)
The Wagner statue outside the TI yesterday was moved indoors.
The Margravial Opera House was completed in 1750. Wagner supposedly considered this for his festival, but decided it was too small.
Ornate baroque interior. With a capacity of 500, this is still used as venue for various performances today.
We had lunch at Engin's Ponte. Fish and chips, and sausages. No bees.
The Roter Main flows through the center of town.
Wahnfried is now The Wagner Museum, which also includes Siegfried's House and a new building. The statue in front of the house is that of the benefactor Ludwig II. We thought it was Cosima Wagner.
This room was used by Wagner as his office. The piano is a Steinway.
Looking at the entrance foyer from the second floor (or first floor for Europeans).
A 29-staff score (I counted, twice).
Plan of Festival Theater. Indeed seats on the sides have some parts of the stage blocked.
This was our dinner (at Bonsai Bayreuth). We bought some snacks from ALDI afterwards. Food ended up being a small expense for this trip (about $60 per day for the two of us) as we could eat at hotel and airport lounges.
Sunday 8/25. We went back to the old town and visited the Schlosskirche, which is now a Catholic church. The service was well-attended. Anton Bruckner visited Bayreuth occasionally and we found a plaque right by the door of the church. (It took us a while to find the plaque indicating Wagner's birthplace in Leipzig.) The performance of Gotterdammerung tonight brought the Ring cycle to a close.
Bruckner visited Bayreuth quite often (indeed books are written on the subject). He conducted the requiem mass for Franz Liszt, Cosima's father.
A rather well-attended service. I wonder how many are tourists?
A garden dedicated to Mary outside the church.
No idea what this is for ...
End of the Ring Cycle. From left: Siegfried, Brunnhilde, their child (!), Simone Young, Hagen, Gutrune, Gunther, and the aging Rheinmaidens.
Monday 8/26. Google Maps shows the driving distance from Bayreuth to Brussels as less than 700 km, taking about 7 hours (with no traffic); not that I would try to do it. It's equally complicated to take public transportation between the two places. We left our hotel at about 10:45 am, and didn't check into our hotel until after 8 pm. Over nine hours.
First it was a train from Bayreuth to Nuremberg Airport (transfer at Hbf), then a NUE-FRA flight followed by a FRA-BRU flight. We did allow for more connection times due to our unfamiliarity with the airports. It was a good thing as we would have missed an earlier FRA-BRU flight due to both the size of the airport, and that our inbound flight had a tarmac gate (it was on time). Priority Pass and Star Alliance Gold status got us to lounges at both airports, so we got to eat our meals during transit.
Festival Theater taken at end of hotel hallway, by Anne.
So the 11:29 am train would split into two at Pegnitz. What do the yellow lines under the cars mean?
NUE is a surprising large airport. It handled at its peak 4.5 million passengers (pre-pandemic).
Two short flights from NUE-FRA and FRA-BRU. Total flight time just over an hour.
Uber from BRU to the hotel cost about 30 euros, and the process is quite straightforward - again for those who have done it before. We got an upgraded hotel room (using the upgrade certificates provided to me as a Platinum member), although the large room is a bit awkward to navigate. We skipped dinner.
Passed by this "obvious" monument on the way to the hotel. Reminds me of the Brandenburg gate (indeed it was so inspired, per our bus tour the following day). It is the Arch at Parc du Cinquartenaire.
Accommodations. Renaissance Brussels. (3 nights.)
Tuesday 8/27. We took our time enjoying the breakfast at the hotel - the last one was at the Nuremberg Sheraton. After consulting various lists on the web, we decided on some kind of a walking tour of Brussels. Two all-day tickets for the train for two seniors cost 6.60 euros; we ended up using the train only once, though.
Lunch was at Brussel Grill at Grand Place. We had the Mussels and Fries, considered by many the national dish. Most mussels served in Belgium come from Zeeland in the Netherlands. The origin of fries is still a mystery for me. The most plausible version is they were invented in Belgium, but Americans learned about them from French-speaking Belgians during the war, and thus called them French Fries. It is, however, widely acknowledged that they taste good because the are fried in beef fat (which, as I recall, was a scandal with the McDonald's version).
Our own town walk. We ended up not following this plan.
The Luxembourg station at 12 noon. Very quiet.
Brussels Town Hall.
Mannekin Pis. The crowd size during our few minutes there varied much moment to moment.
Mont de Arts. Most of central Brussels is about 15 meters above seal level. The highest point (not here) is 125 meters.
Row of small fountains and rows of trees provide a nice shade. (This is on the left of the photo above.)
St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral. They are the patron saints of Brussels.
Twelve apostles (I am quite sure Paul is there instead of Judas) line the two sides of the nave.
We saw quite a few elaborate pulpits during this trip. Here Adam and Eve are being driven out from Eden.
Mussels and Fries is a popular dish in Belgium. One order is more than enough for the two of us. The dish in front is calamari.
I am sure it makes sense. But the more you buy, the more expensive each macaron is.
We decided to take the Hop On/Off bus as we hope it will give a good overview of the city. We bought the tickets at around 4:20 pm, waited around for other passengers (there were many), and passed by many of the popular tourist sites. We got off at a stop close to the hotel, at around 7 pm. The bus was not air-conditioned, it was quite a warm day (high near 80F), and traffic was stop-and-go for a while, all that made the ride quite uncomfortable until late in the journey when the setting sun was shielded by the buildings, and the air cooled down somewhat.
The narration on the bus offered a 90-second history of Belgium, starting with Julius Caesar. It wasn't until around 1830 that it became an independent kingdom. Now it is a constitutional monarchy, although the king can play an active role in the country's politics.
The Hop On/Off bus made 18 or so stops on it's 2+ hour route. This Atomium structure was built for the 1958 World's Fair. Renovated in the early to mid 2000s, people can still visit today. By the time the bus got to this point I was not quite up to enjoying the views. Anne took this picture.
This Sacred Heart Basilica is inspired by the one in Paris. There are close to 2000 minor basilicas in the Roman Catholic Church, and they may not be where the highest ranking official is located. (In Brussels' case, the highest ranking building is therefore the St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral.)
We ate snacks offered at the hotel's club lounge, and called that dinner. The hotel is right next to the European Parliament, and we walked around the grounds a bit before calling it a night.
Our hotel is right next to the European Parliament.
European Parliament in 24 languages.
Side view of Renaissance Hotel. Our upgraded room takes up two of the three windows shown.
Wednesday 8/28. I knew little about Belgium, but did know about Van Eyck's The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, and this event called Battle of Bruges. So Ghent and Bruges were cities I wanted to visit, and there are tours that go from Brussels to these cities, in a day. It didn't take long for me to realize the little knowledge I had was wrong: the painting was by the Van Eyck brothers (Jan and Hubert), and - as far as I can tell - there was not a Battle of Bruges.
Ghent is about an hour from Brussels, and boasts quite a few churches. Our guide (a Spaniard speaking English) pointed out many of those churches for us, some for the rich and the elite, some for ordinary folk. St. Bavo's Cathedral, however, has a more interesting history. It started as St. John the Baptist (942 AD), but when priests from the "old" St. Bavo's moved in after they were chased out of their old cathedral (by Charles V), the church's name was changed.
People familiar with European Art history know about The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, an altarpiece, completed in 1432, that incorporated significant advancements in Western Art. It survived the Calvinist iconoclasts, many wars in the area over the intervening centuries, and is still in very good shape. (Frankly, one can see more details from the images found on the web.)
Ghent City Hall is a combination of Gothic and Renaissance architecture. The designers were comfortable with the brute force juxtaposition, I guess. The columns are Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian - so no one gets left behind, either.
The building with the six dancing figures on top of the facade is the Mason's Guild Hall. Ghent streets are lined with many of these stepped facades.
River Leie.
St. Bavo's Cathedral.
St. Michael's Church.
St. Michael slaying Satan, represented by a dragon. This is on the St. Michael's Bridge leading to the church. I didn't know the archangel is venerated by the title Saint.
To avoid taxes, some houses were built with a narrow frontage.
Gravensteen Castle. This solid stone castle started in the 12th century as a residence for the nobility but over the centuries became a prison. It's now a museum, naturally.
Neptune sits over the (former) fish market. The two figures below represent the two rivers Leie and Scheldt that meet up in Ghent, as far as I can tell.
Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by the Van Eyck brothers. One can easily find descriptions of the individual panels on the web.
The Conversion of St. Bavo was painted by Rubens.
Another elaborate pulpit in this cathedral. The sculpture is supposed to depict "Time Discovers Truth."
With the limited time we had, we couldn't visit any other churches, or museums, and there are many of them.
Bruges is another hour's bus ride further west from Ghent. The town was first mentioned during Julius Caesar's reign, but it's golden period was during the Middle Ages - it's location and accessibility made it a center of trading. It suffered a multi-century decline starting in the 16th century because of the silting up of it's harbor, and because it fell out of favor with King Maximilian. The city also didn't participate in the Industrial Revolution. Nowadays it's the tourism industry that drives much of the local economy. Our guide told us the city would appear to be frozen in time, to me it looked quite "modern," and, like Ghent, have more of these step-facades than Amsterdam.
A 30-minute boat ride on the city's canals also allowed us to see the city from a different perspective. Here we tried a Belgian Waffle (at Otto's), and bought some Belgian chocolate.
The guide warned us about these horse-drawn carriages and bicycles. They feel they own the streets.
These boat rides in the canals are very popular.
Church of Our Lady. It contains a Madonna and Child sculpture by Michelangelo, which requires paid admission. We forgot about it when we went inside.
Statues of the Apostles line the nave.
This pulpit is not as elaborate as others we have seen.
Otto Waffles. Ours is being made.
We enjoyed this in the small garden right next to a canal.
Some of these bridges have very low clearance.
You do have to duck if you don't want your head scraped against the bottom.
Wood is not allowed as building material because of fire hazard. Don't know how this hotel got away with it.
They take good care of their flowers.
A very small window so toll evaders can be arrested. The punishment is to have a finger cut off. Or the guide was pulling our legs.
The Belfort. There is one in Ghent as well.
Basilica of the Holy Blood. It claims to have a piece of cloth soaked in Christ's blood. It was collected by Joseph of Arimathea, per Catholic tradition.
Anne and I agree these are nice towns to explore over a couple of days. Today we had to make do with a couple of hours in each city.
It was about 7:30 pm when we got back to town. Getting an Uber back to the hotel was easy, and we had a couple of minutes for the lounge. Dinner was at Chez Bal which serves up Middle Eastern Food.
Brussels traffic is bad, for no apparent reason. The lights seem to turn red or green at the wrong times. This morning we called an Uber, and the 5 minutes the APP says the car would get to the hotel ended up being 7 minutes away after 5 minutes. We canceled and opted for a taxi, there was one right outside the hotel.
A few facts about Belgium. The official languages are Dutch, French, and German, with a 60/40/1% split (some rounding, of course). It's divided into three regions: Flanders to the North, Walloon to the South, and Brussels-Capital. Total population of the country is 11.7 million. Antwerp is the largest city with over 529,000; Ghent is second with 264,000; Brussels is No. 5 with 185,000 (2020 numbers per Wikipedia). Flemish is a Dutch dialect (probably more complicated than that).
With that in mind, we got to the airport reasonably early, and collected our boarding passes, a straightforward process. We didn't try Uber, and it was the same taxi driver. After immigration, we stopped by The View, a lounge used by business class customers.
It was only when we got to near the gate area for additional screening that we realized Anne's boarding pass had SSSS on it. That additional step was quick, although now I am sure one has to be older than 65 to be selected for secondary screening (only semi-joking).
The 787 wasn't full. I managed to get reasonably "priced" award tickets for this leg, anyway. Being a day time flight, I couldn't get much sleep. Beyond waiting for about 20 minutes to accommodate connecting passengers, the flight was smooth, and we landed at the scheduled time.
I tend to agree with the sentiments expressed in this poster.
Lunch was short ribs, which was quite decent. The pre-arrival snack consisted of a ham and cheese sandwich (which the menu calls Croque Monsieur) and fries, both barely eatable.
Immigration was easy, even with declared food (aforementioned chocolate). Uber got us home around 2 pm.
