Friday morning, I get an email that goes something like this: "Would you like to meet me for lunch tomorrow?" Of course I said yes... but the question was where. I had been thinking of where we could meet up as I am in a little town and he is in Linz, Austria. The main towns between here and there we've kind of visited already. Two towns stuck out in my mind - I have been reading through my "Europe on a Shoestring" Lonely Planet book and found Nürnberg and Augsburg on my list.
So while he suggested lunch, I countered with dinner which then turned into an overnight. Why spend only a few hours together when you can spend a few more! The tricky part was that he didn't actually have Sunday off work. So I did all the research for Nürnberg and by the end of the day, we were booked in to spend Saturday afternoon and night together. It was 3 hours by train for both of us and turned out much cheaper than München (where we first met together 2 years ago).
It just so happened that this year the weekend that we chose was also the "Bardentreffen". We had the fortune to be in the city during their Busker's Music Festival. The whole city was alive with music, and about every 100m there were new single artists or groups, along with some on the main stages throughout the city. It was a spectacular atmosphere all over the place. The 30°C+ weather also was enjoyable and gave the good feeling of summer!
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| One of the many Busking groups |
An additional element to the date was the spontaneous purchase of Opera tickets. Thankfully, he had the foresight to give me the heads up so I brought a dress along with me ( normally I would have just traveled with t-shirts & shorts!). We got last minute upper balcony seats to "Carmen" which was lovely. Really enjoyed our first Opera experience - it was something different and memorable.
The Altstadt is really lovely as well as the castle up on the hill and well worth the visit. Although we were only there for about 24 hrs, there was much more that we could have explored. Nürnberg was the home of the WWII trials as well as home of a German culture museum which ensures the city is soaked in modern history.
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| St Lorenz Church |
Sunday morning, the city was significantly "dead" in comparison to the live bustle of the night before (this town really was alive well past when we turned in for the night at 1 am!) but the quietness of a city still asleep gave us the pleasant impression we were the only people in town. We found a great little place for a relaxed brunch before heading back to the train station to part ways again.
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| In the Castle grounds |
While Long Distance Relationships (LDR) are not always much fun, little gems like these are what make it so much fun. We know that spontaneous trips like this can only be done when you are without kids and other commitments! So while we persevere through the distance, we hold on to great weekends away and quality time that can be spent together :)
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| Him in his Beachy holiday hat :) |
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