Standby

High-tech folding benches and tables, customised for this very slope, belonging to a Creperie in Untere Schmiedgasse, near the castle.

Buddha

This time I'm confident it's a Buddha ;-) -- sitting in front of a small, but very colorful flower shop in Winklerstrasse, behind St. Sebald.

Defense

The castle is sitting in the north-west corner of the old city wall ring. This is a small part of its fortification, now a part of the castle gardens and a really nice place in summer. When it was still in use for defense purposes, there were no trees in the moat or on the bastion because enemies could have climbed them.

Summer is back -

- and it is nice and warm and sunny again. Near Kobergerplatz.

House Art

I actually don't know when it was fashionable to decorate houses like this, guessing from the architecture and the style it might have been in the 1960s and 1970s. It is not an uncommon sight in Germany, and while the materials used in these pieces of art vary, sometimes they are done in stone, as mosaics, some are painted, some are made from metal like here, the style is always similar.

Schleifersteg is a small bridge between Hauptmarkt and Trödelmarkt, just behind Starbucks.

Parallels

A part of the (only partly old) city wall and houses directly behind it. Frauentorgraben, near metro station Opernhaus.

Franconian Venice

Isn't it beautiful? Taken from the bridge right next to Cinecitta, on our way to watch Hancock on Sunday evening. The river is, as always, the Pegnitz, and the small street on the other side of the houses is called "Wespennest" (wasps' nest), don't ask me why.

They call it summer

I don't complain, the weather in May and June was fantastic, and it actually looks more depressing in the picture than it really was.

Frauentorgraben, near Opernhaus.

Goddess on the street

I must admit I'm a bit incompetent here, so I don't know if this is one of the many Hindu goddesses, or someone else. (I'm quite confident she's a she though, given the anatomy.)
She stands in front of our local "Esoladen", a metaphysical bookstore, in Färberstrasse.

Sky and clouds...

.. and the houses of Karolinenstrasse, reflected in the glass facade of a large and chic clothes store.

Church of Our Lady

In german, "Frauenkirche", with a piece of Hauptmarkt and the farmers' market. Germans don't usually hang the german flag from their windows, but this picture was taken a few days before the european soccer world cup started, and for sports events flags are ok these days.

The area now covered by the Hauptmarkt was in medieval times the jewish ghetto. It was destroyed in 1349 (sic) and turned from low-lying, muddy, narrow streets near the river into a market place for the growing city. The Frauenkirche was built on the ruins of the destroyed synagoge.

Who would have thought?

This sign says "Protected landscape", and that's not what I would have expected right next to a very busy road. It applies to the Wöhrder Wiese park, and stands at one of its entrances.

Burgstrasse

I'm standing in front of the castle grounds, looking down to Hauptmarkt. Usually when I'm there, this street is full of tourists of all ages (remember the youth hostel right next to the castle), but this picture was taken on a weekday morning, and the street is quiet.

Bags packed, ready to go

Nürnberg is proud to have one of the most beautiful youth hostels in Germany: the former stables, part of the Kaiserburg.

Major building activity

This is only a few steps away from Hauptmarkt. I have no idea what was here before, even if I have used that street as a short cut from time to time. I hope it was ugly.

The water is sprayed to keep the dust and sand down. It almost worked.

Caged piper

The life of a piper is a hard and dangerous one, most people just don't understand the beauty of the high-pitched, ear-deafening sound...

One of them ended up cast in bronze on a fountain on Unschlittplatz, behind heavy bars. I admit that the choice of focus was made by the camera automatic ;-)

War and peace

Both the eagle of war and the dove of peace are sitting on obelisks on Karlsbrücke, facing each other.

And somewhere, a child is very unhappy...

... about the loss of a blue ball, which is drifting very slowly, but absolutely unreachable on the Pegnitz, from Wöhrder Wiese towards the city center.

Who is that? What does she want? Eh?

Nürnberg is not all houses and streets, however picturesque some of them may be. We also have a few parks rather close to the city center. This picture was taken right outside the metro station Wöhrder Wiese, near the park with the same name.

Imported shop front

Now this one is not at all typical for Nuernberg, or even Germany. I have no idea where the wooden store front comes from. They sell antiquities. (Obere Wörthstrasse)

Floating cafe

This is also near Starbucks, but the floating cafe on the pontoon does not belong to any chain. A very popular place in the summer, though not exactly cheap.

Fountain ram

Maybe it's a ram, maybe a mutton, both my zoology and my english are a bit wobbly in that regard. It is a fountain, right next to the big Starbucks at Hauptmarkt, and a welcome source of cool water on hot days.

Oriels

These are typical for Nuernberg, ornate, small oriels on otherwise rather plain houses, called "Chörlein" in the language of the locals. This one is in Obere Wörthstraße.

Art?

I assume it is art. "Hier" means "here", and these paving stones can be found throughout the city. This one is near Wöhrder Wiese.