After 6 busy days in Paris, we flew from Paris to Munich and then took the train to Nuremberg. I booked the train tickets in advance on http://www.bahn.com so I got a great deal 29 euros for 2 of us from Munich airport to Munich Hbf (main train station) and then to Nuremberg on ICE train (faster than regional trains). Another choice is 29 euros as well, Bayern Ticket, but limited to regional trains. From Munich airport, we followed signs to the underground rail and took the S1 train (or S8) to get to hbf. Once we get to hbf, we got a nice sandwich for lunch, the train station was very easy to navigate! The trains were clearly marked with destination (sometimes more than one and your destination station might not be the final destination of the train but all stops would be listed) and train number on the LCD display but be careful with which cabin you are boarding (1st Class or Economy Class). Otherwise, the ride was smooth, we arrived Nuremberg in an hour!
(Our hotel room, simple and chic)
We stayed at the Le Meridien Grand Hotel which located across the street from Nuremberg hbf so it was very convenient. After we checked in the hotel around 2 pm, we got a map of the city from our hotel. We have no scheduled tour or specific plan so we explore this medieval town at our own pace!
We headed to the old town direction and the first site we saw was St. Lorenz. It was a nice little Gothic church. Afterwards, we continued our walk and stopped by Frauenkirche which was like the market square/plaza. Frauenkirche was very beautiful especially with the market stands.
There were many souvenir shops around Frauenkirche, the souvenirs were very beautiful but very expensive since they were all hand-made either wood work or porcelain. However, we still enjoyed browsing through the shops and amazed by the craftsmanship!
Time passed by fast, it was already 5pm so we decided to have our dinner. We were looking at the menus posted outside the restaurant and tried to figure out what we like. It was a challenge because not all restaurant has English menu posted and we don’t know any German LOL! However, we saw a Chinese menu and we went in but guess what……that wasn’t the restaurant. Somehow the Chinese menu was from another restaurant that is located few blocks away! The restaurant waitress was kind enough to gave us the name and address of the “Chinese” restaurant and we found it! The restaurant is called Happy Happa, it looked like a chic bar/cafe place right behind the museum. We couldn’t believe it’s a “Chinese” restaurant but we went in anyways. We asked if they have the Chinese menu that we saw and the waiter said the menu was written by their chef and he was very nice to invite their chef out to talk to us! The chef is Chinese and he spoke Mandarin and Cantonese (we are Cantonese)! We saw two people having Szechuan Spicy Hot Pot and the Chef said that needs advanced reservation but if we want to have it, he can go and prepare! Very nice of him! We were very surprised, the food was very authentic – hot & spicy and yummy!