NURNBERG
We stayed two nights in Nurnberg.  There is a lot more to see if we get back there again.  The city has a castle and many museums and is a mixture of modern and old buildings.  We are not into SHOPPING much but this town had blocks and blocks of fancy shopping stores.  Luckily for us they were closed because of Easter so I am assuming the crowds were light because of that. Our hotel was great.  The Hotel Deutscher Kaiser  http://www.deutscher-kaiser-hotel.de/english/history.htm    Great location, old building, very well maintained/renovated, quiet rooms, great breakfasts and wonderful friendly staff.  This city has a lot of history also, we only visited a few of the sights but they were really interesting.   The Germanisches National Museum was one of the best ones I've been to and I especially appreciated that they put almost everything in English as well as German so I got a lot out of the signs.

The tickets are from the Castle Museum.
I put a red circle around the location where the Hotel Deutscher Kaiser is that we stayed in.

This is the Hotel Deutscher Kaiser today. 

This is the Hotel in 1889

Inside St. Lorenz (Lawrence) church, decorated for Easter. 

The inside of St. Lorenz Church, built between 1243 and 1315.

St. Lorenz Church down the street

The Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) built between 1352 and 1362.

The Frauenkirche church in the background,
the fountain in the Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain) foreground. 

Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain)

Gothic Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain) which was erected around 1385 but subsequently replaced with a replica (the original fountain is kept in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum).

Entrance to the Imperial Castle built around 1050

Looking back through the arch ( dated around 1050)
you can see a modern crane ,
the tops of the Egidien church and a modern high rise.  

Views from the castle

The well for the castle.  These candles are lowered down on the tour so you can see/hear how far down the well water resides, 47 meters (154 feet)

the castle church chapel and the well house

castle as seen from below

In the castle museum there are many displays of weapons and armor

In 1515, Albrecht Dürer, a native of Nuremberg, mapped the stars of the northern and southern hemispheres, producing the first printed star charts, which had been ordered by Johannes Stabius. Around 1515 Dürer also published the "Stabiussche Weltkarte", the first perspective drawing of the terrestrial globe. He was a painter,engraver, printmaker, mathematician, and theorist

Albrecht Durer's House from 1509 to his death in 1528. The house was built around 1420. 

We really enjoyed the Germanisches Nationalmuseum.  
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Nuernberg-32898/Things_To_Do-Nuernberg-Germanisches_Museum-BR-1.html  This is a good English link to the museum.
We could have spent a lot more time there.  Founded in 1852, it houses a large collection of items relating to German culture and art extending from prehistoric times through to the present day. With current holdings of about 1.2 million objects, the Germanisches Nationalmuseum is Germany's largest museum of cultural history.  I am so glad they had signs in both German and English, unlike the Mannheim museums.

In particular I like the clothing section.  I took photos of some of the period clothing that Christina and I have been interested in making sometime.

Various hoops

dresses and stays

I thought these sleeves where amazing

The embroidery on this mans jacket was awesome

I liked this mans jacket also, uses embroidered tape.

There is an entire display case wall of shoes, here is an example of some from 1720.

Several craft mans tools, and machines where set up in shop like settings.   I like these tools, like this lath, that have the treadles like the old sewing machines also had.

Another part of the museum that was very different and I liked a lot was the floor of old musical instruments.  I only took a few photos, there where so many interesting and beautiful instruments.

Pianos

This harpsichord type instrument opened from a wooden statue of a woman.

Nazi Party Rally Grounds - We saw a little of this on our way out of town.  We didn't get to the museum but saw the old grand stands and grounds where the Zepplin landed.  The stands are falling apart and are costly to maintain.  Now the area is used for car races and rock concerts.

this is what it used to look like.  After the war the swastika was blown up that was on top.

In 1945 the U.S. Army blew up the swastika, here is the gif of it being blown up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:98-animate.gif

This is what it looks like now.

only part of the structure is left

part of the grand stands

ROTHENBURG ob der Tauber
Red Fort on the river Tauber
This is a place we want to go back to often.   Especially when things start growing and it is warmer.  But even at Christmas time this would be a great place to visit.  In September the town turns back into medieval times with costumed people, that would be fun to see.  There is a lot more to see than we had time for.   Buildings go back to 1170 but there was a town there before that around 970.  There are museums we didn't have time to visit.  There is a lot of history, both good and bad to learn about this place.  We thought about buying a sword for the fireplace that we don't have, medieval dress for me, a beer stein (we got one in Nurnberg), and a "Willkommen" sign.  But at another time maybe we will get something to remember our time in Germany.   Next time we will do the "Night Watchman's Tour" and will stay in one of the many cute hotels.  The views all around the walled city are wonderful.  I did have to try another Schneeballen but I liked the long sausage that I had for lunch better.  Rothenburg has appeared in several films, notably fantasies.  It was the inspiration for the village in the 1940 Walt Disney movie Pinocchio. It was also the location for the Vulgarian village scenes in the 1968 family movie, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. 

Cold and cloudy day at one of the entrances to the town.
We will have to go back and take this when the flowers and plants are growing.

They decorate for Easter.

Easter decorations on the fountains.

Amazing cute buildings.

STRASBOURG, FRANCE
The center of this town is very well preserved and/or rebuilt.  The Cathedral is a major landmark and can be seen from almost anywhere in the city.  We stayed in a very old and well maintained hotel right next to the Cathedral.  Strasbourg is is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament.

Map of Strasbourg, the Hotel we stayed in I marked with an X and a small red oval close to the Cathedral.

Hotel Cathedral is the light brown one.  We had the room on the far end, not the top floor but the one under it.   I put a small red oval on it but I don't think it shows up.

Our room.
The entire building was real narrow,
about twice the width of this room.

The view from our hotel window.
I had to reach out  a long way as the window opening is about 2 feet deep.

The hotel room window

The view of the Cathedral from our window.

View of the Cathedral from a block away

The Cathedral construction began in the twelfth century, was completed in 1439 and became the World's Tallest Building, surpassing the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The Illumination Astronomical clock dates from 1843. Its main features, besides the automata, are a perpetual calendar (including a computus), an orrery (planetary dial), a display of the real position of the Sun and the Moon, and solar and lunar eclipses. The main attraction is the procession of the 18 inch high figures of Christ and the Apostles which occurs every day at half past midday while the life-size cock crows thrice

The Illumination Astronomical Clock in the cathedral.

The Illumination Astronomical Clock in the cathedral

For our American service

The old district of Strasbourg is surrounded by these canals.

This area of Strasbourg is known as Petite France

This is one of the big touristy things to do.  Take the Batorma boat tour through the canals and locks.

Maison Des Tanneurs 1572

Panorama from the Barrage Vauban with the medieval bridge Ponts Couverts towers in the foreground  

Saw this guy by the canal.  About the size of a cat.  I don't think it is a rat.  Looks like a beaver with a skinny tail.

Tour boat in the lock, waiting for the water to raise up.

Men in Black

EASTER TRIP - STRASBOURG FRANCE, ROTHENBURG OB DER TAUBER & NURNBERG GERMANY
Germany has a 4 day holiday for Easter.  The stores and most everything closes.  We rented a car and went to Strasbourg for a couple of days, Rothenburg for a part of a day and Nurnberg for a day and a half.  The weather was still really cold in the 30's and windy most of the time.  Snowed a little bit.  We had a nice Renault car, very nice, a lot different than my 1958 Renault I had back in the 70's.  The autoban was FAST, we took some quiet farm roads to see more country on the way back.  We did see a lot of one kind of bird of prey, looked like a big hawk, lots of birds, some deer.  The architecture and history is what Europe if famous for and we saw a good sampling of it.  There is so much to see in every city.  We want to head back to Rothenburg most of all when the weather warms up and the plants start growing.  I'll put up photos of the 3 areas in separate blog entries.

Drove down to Strasbourg, then to Rothenburg, then to Nurnberg. Route is highlighted in green.

Strasbourg
http://susanssmith2012.blogspot.com/2013/04/strasbourg-france-center-of-this-town.html

Rothenburg
http://susanssmith2012.blogspot.com/2013/04/rothenburg-ob-der-tauber-red-fort-on_2.html

Nurnberg
http://susanssmith2012.blogspot.com/2013/04/nurnberg-we-stayed-two-nights-in.html

ANOTHER NEEDLE HOLDER - 6 SIDED BOX THAT HOLDS ANOTHER BOX AND OPENS OUT FLAT.
I finished this needle holder yesterday.  I like the fabric on this one a lot.  I also like the way it folds up and unfolds.  It has a smaller box inside called the thimble holder.  The fabric had a few different designs in the print so that I was able to select one part that has a hex that fit the top of the thimble holder just perfectly.  Later I gave this one to Sister Zimmernink for her birthday.

The Needle holder box as it looks when it is closed.

The bottom of the box is covered too.

The lid off, showing what it looks like when folder up.  The draw string has a clasp that allows the sides of the box to open when the cord is expanded.

Shows the box opened.  The sides of the outer box and second inner box has needle holders .  The small box on the inside is a thimble holder.  I'm going to look for a smaller pair of embroidery scissors for this case but these small gold embroidery scissors fit OK for now.

This is the thimble box.  The pattern called for glueing it to the bottom of the larger boxes, but I chose to leave it as a separate box and I finished off the bottom as well.

The thimble box has the hex print centered on the top of the box.  It worked out very nice.