On our first morning in Würzburg, we woke up to clouds and rain. It wasn’t a surprise, since it’s February in Germany. I was kind of sad about it, though, because I don’t enjoy walking around in the rain. Fortunately, we had a wine tasting scheduled for 3:00 PM, so that kind of limited our time in the great outdoors.
We enjoyed a breakfast of locally made Brötchen and pastries from the bakery. Bill said the lady at the bakery was kind of a character. He’d order something and she’d prompt him to buy more by saying “Und?” after he made a request. The bakery also had eggs for sale, so Bill bought a few and cooked them for our morning repast.
After drinking coffee and sharing our opinions about the morning news (King Charles’s cancer and Toby Keith’s death), we all piled into the Volvo and headed for Würzburg. Bill easily found another spot at the Residenz, and we retraced the path we’d taken the night before, when we had dinner at Wirtshaus am Dom.
I smelled pizza as we rounded the bend into the center of Würzburg. It was already late morning, which meant we’d be having lunch soon. I did mention that this was a leisurely trip, focused more on time spent with Bill’s mom in unfamiliar surroundings, than actually seeing a lot of tourist attractions. I pulled out my phone to take some photos and immediately noticed a bright, colorful ramp at a business.
On closer inspection, I could see that the ramp was made entirely of Legos! I’d never seen one of these before, but apparently they’re a thing. There’s even a firm that builds them for businesses and cafes in the city. The organization that builds these Lego ramps are trying to bring attention to the many physical barriers that still exist in public spaces, making it difficult for people who have disabilities. According to the link I provided, ten Lego ramps were built from August 2020 until January 2022, with the help of local primary school children! I had no idea, and I think this is a great project to help bring awareness to the needs of people with disabilities. I love how the people of Germany are so community minded toward everyone!
As we continued down the main drag, I took note of the colorful trams that were providing service into the inner city. Then we made our way to the Dom– a Roman Catholic cathedral that dates back to 1075, and is dedicated to Saint Kilian. This cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Würzburg, and has served as the burial place for the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg for hundreds of years.
After helping Parker climb the steps, we got some photos of the interior– full of art and colored white and gold. I always marvel at the beauty of cathedrals, and notice how no two are ever the same. I am not a very religious person myself, but I do enjoy the beauty and craftsmanship that God inspires in the people who build holy places.
Just down the street from the Dom is the Neumünster. I wanted to go in there, too, but there were a number of steps to reach it, and it appeared to be closed when we were visiting. I did get a few photos of the outside, though. The Neumünster is a former collegiate church that dates from the 11th century. If we manage to visit Würzburg again, I’ll make a point of venturing inside and taking my own photos. For now, Internet pictures will have to suffice!
We rounded another bend and found ourselves at Maria Chapel, another Roman Catholic church on the Marktplatz in Würzburg. The Maria Chapel is a Gothic church that dates to the 14th century. It’s considered large for a chapel, but is named such because it doesn’t have a parish. I’m not Catholic, so I don’t know much about the ins and outs of Catholic church structures. I just like to see the insides of the churches– especially the windows and the pipe organs. My mom was a church organist for over 50 years, so organs are kind of special to me. She didn’t play pipe organs, but I’ve grown to love the sound of pipe organs.
Bill’s mom, Parker, needed some more euros, so she and Bill went to an ATM, while I took a few more pictures of the Marktplatz and Maria Chapel. We walked past the Rathaus and over the Old Main Bridge, which offers great views of the Marienberg Fortress. The Old Main Bridge crosses the Main River, and was built in the 16th century. It was built in a combination of Gothic and Renaissance styles and completed in 1543. There are rows of statues on either side of the bridge, which reminded me a bit of the Charles Bridge in Prague.
Realizing that we had a three o’clock appointment, we decided it was about time for lunch. We headed back toward the Dom, passing a few restaurants that looked cozy and inviting. Then I noticed a cool looking building and a sign that read Sternbäck. Although I was kind of thinking maybe we’d have something less German for lunch, I couldn’t resist the charm of this “Würzburger Original”. As soon as we walked in, I could tell it’s a very popular spot with the locals. It’s actually lucky that we arrived when we did, as the place filled up soon after we sat down.
It looked like they were doing some renovation, perhaps to the kitchen area. I noticed the waitress kept going outside to pick up her orders. There was a food truck parked next to the restaurant, and I could see craftsmen hard at work from where I was sitting. But the location of the kitchen didn’t affect the excellent quality of the food we ordered, which happened to be the special of the day– Bratwurst with either potato salad or sauerkraut. We enjoyed local draft beers and really excellent music, too. The prices were very reasonable, and the service was friendly and competent. I would definitely go back! Maybe I’d even bring Noyzi; as you can see, it’s also a dog friendly place!
After a leisurely lunch at Sternbäck, we started to make our way back to the car so we could be back at Weingut am Stein in time for our wine tasting at 3:00 PM. The wine tasting also turned out to be surprisingly interesting, as Weingut am Stein specializes in Sylvaners. I mentioned in part one that it was our first time trying German Sylvaners– a type of grape that isn’t as popular as, say, Riesling.
The guy who did our tasting spoke perfect English and came from Hamburg. We really enjoyed learning about the wines offered at Weingut am Stein and just chatting about life in Germany… and of course, American politics. We tried a whole range of wines, each one better than the last, and surprisingly different. We had Sylvaners, Rieslings, and I think we might have had a Pinot… but my memory is a little fuzzy.
After the tasting, we went down to the room where wines were being aged in egg-like structures that were based on Georgian qvevris. Having spent two years in neighboring Armenia, I am delighted to see how Georgian winemaking is catching on in Europe. In that room, there is also a beautiful table that was made from an old tree on the property. I was really admiring it.
We learned more about the history of the winery, including the construction of the degustation room and the guest house. They were built 20 years ago after an architectural competition. I really liked the design of the tasting room, which offered beautiful views, as well as interesting sunlight through the slatted windows. Our guide also told us that most of the vineyards by the winery don’t belong the winery, but are actually owned by the city. I noticed a lot of people walking around in them, and the guide said it was because that was the closest thing to a nature park in the area. It’s definitely not too shabby of a “nature” area for walks!
The wine tasting lasted about two hours, and by then, we were ready to call it a day. So we offered our thanks to the guide and went back to the house for some rest and relaxation. The next day, we were planning our day trip to Bamberg. More on that in the next post!
