Moving on we headed south towards Bavaria. All the German autobahns are in perfect condition and a joy to drive. Cruising along at 100mph in our little rental, I was getting the doors blown off by the numerous BMW and Audi’s that rule these roads. Home base for the next three nights would be Bad Mergenheim. Not exactly the best-known town, but it sits along the romantic road and was fairly near to both the day trips we had planned. The funny thing is that when I booked this hotel on hotels.com, it came up at 12 euros per night for the whole family. It seemed a bit too low, so I called hotels.com customer service and they confirmed it was correct. When we checked they chuckled as the price of the suite we had booked sells for 192 euros per night, not 12. Never the less, they called hotels.com, took blame for the error, and checked us in. The hotel was much nicer than even the web listing portrayed and the kids were wondering why every place we stay couldn’t be like this. The room was beautiful with a large deck overlooking the enormous landscaped grounds. Every night when we returned from our sightseeing, a live orchestra would be playing in the band shell out back while the kids played in the pool. In the morning they served a breakfast buffet fit for kings (all included in the 12 euros of course).
But enough about our deal of the day, it’s on to Nürnberg. Probably best known as home to the infamous Nazi rallies, Nürnberg is a very pleasant city to explore. It's fairly large with around 500,000 people, but it’s treasures all lie within the old city center. By the time World War II was over, 90% of the old town had been destroyed. (Only Dresden suffered more damage.) Postwar architects choose to rebuild in the traditional style with a few modern amenities mixed in. A bonus for us was that when you visit any Nürnberg museum, the rest are complimentary when visited on the same day. So we started off at the Spielzeugmuseum (a big toy museum), full of vintage toys and interactive displays. After a walk up to Kaiserburg castle, it was on to the Albrecht Dürer House. Nürnberg’s most famous resident, this artist had his studio here for the last 30 years of his life. The kids got to create their own wood etching in his workshop and we learned how to work with an intaglio press as well. We finished on the outskirts of town at the Nazi Documentation Center and Rally Grounds. Hitler loved Nürnberg for many reasons. First it was centrally located in Germany and also considered to be the “most German of German cities”. It was also a place to legitimize his Third Reich, as the rallies were held within sight of the Kaiserburg Castle, a symbol of the “First Reich” (Holy Roman Empire). The massive grounds had buildings capable of holding 400,000 spectators, although some were never completed. With the onset of the war, funds were diverted from these projects to the war effort. The National Socialist German Workers' Party certainly grew in strength here, but the regime ultimately came to an end here as well. With the Nürnberg trials held in 1945, 21 Nazi war criminals stood trial. When the dust settled, 12 were sentenced to death by hanging, 6 sent to prison, and 3 acquitted.
