On our last day of hiking, we wake up to a clear blue sky. After a leisurely breakfast, we board a small chartered bus. The bus will bring 3 of the group who have minor injuries and our luggage to the hotel in Nuernberg, but the rest of us get out in Obertrumbach for our final hike of about 14 miles. I go a little crazy with photos that day, for one, to get a final shot at some flowers like the Margariten (and red clover) above and the Glockenblumen (bell flower).
I never saw such an abundance of flowers where I grew up, the soil here in Upper Franconia as well as the very generous rains have worked a miracle. Here a Glockenblume close-up.
The area so close to Nuernberg is clearly more densely populated than the Frankenwald and there are more farms and more lifestock such as these goats grazing in a meadow...
...and these goats with their de-luxe little cottage closer to town.
We stop for lunch at a small brewery, where we have some traditional food - Thomas has a Salzknoechle, which translates to "salted little bone". It looks very fresh out of dissection class, but he clearly enjoys it and I favor eating the whole animal -- if you decide to eat animals.
Other intrepid hikers that stop at the inn are hiking the brewery trail, and some are in need of a nap in the meadow before they can continue. But we're ready to go on, past meadows and woods with rock formations.
We also go by an area that's favored by climbers, and even though it's Thursday, a few are testing their skills on the not so easy dolomite (the photo is a little washed out, which just shows how bright and sunny the day was).
When we get to Graefenberg, we narrowly miss the train and have an hour in the picturesque city center, with its painted houses and many pubs.
I especially enjoy the small fountain near at the town center, and we're amused by a little girl who drops her ice cream but is so fascinated by us that she doesn't even cry.
The commuter train is waiting for us when we get to the train station, and we have another 1/2 hour by train. Here's how we look after 160 miles of hiking.
then some time on the U-Bahn and finally some time on the bus (we actually could have walked that bit, but Thomas probably doesn't want to try to heard us past the Nuernberg city center with its interesting shop windows, bakeries, ice cream stores, and street artists). We arrive at the Duerer Hotel, right next to the castle, where we take off our hiking boots before we step on their red carpet and get the keys to our comfortable rooms. It turns out to be a very nice place, with a sumptuous breakfast and free chocolate truffles - we're excited we get to stay two nights.
We have an excellent dinner at the world's oldest wine restaurant close by and sit outside enjoying the balmy evening until fairly late.
