I feel strongly that any reviews or posts about traveling to a city or country should be honest and give the reader some realistic ideas about what they’ll experience there. I don’t think that I can stand to read one more glowing review of a European city that is ‘absolutely perfect’. When I’m researching cities to visit I need to be prepared for both the elation and the challenges of visiting them. So you can understand why I had to follow up my post about what I found delightful about Würzberg with some things that I found a bit funny.
1. The street that suddenly became one-way.
We had just arrived in Würzberg and were walking up to the Royal Residenz when we noticed a traffic jam. An ornate gate went over the road and temporarily constricted the two lanes down until only one car could pass at a time. It reminded me a bit of those dresses that cinch a woman’s waist so severely. Cars and buses waited impatiently for the other line to pass through until they could fit.
I’m not sure how this spot is not a disaster! Just another reason for why we prefer to walk and take the train.
2. This statue hiding underneath a tree.
Are we playing hide and seek?
There are several of these statues in the Court Gardens surrounding the Royal Residenz. They are underneath large hedged trees that form a circle around a small fountain. There were Germans nearby bathing in the winter sun while I was cracking up and taking photos. It really looked like the statues depicted some overly dramatic people that were preparing for a game of hide and seek.
3. This boy and his goat.
The poor animal clearly did something wrong.
I think it would be fun to walk around the Court Gardens and try to figure out the intent that the crafter had for each sculpture.
4. So many love locks.
Okay, Germany, I give up. I don’t understand your fascination. We first saw them on a tower along the city wall in Schweinfurt, then in Bamberg, and in several different places in Würzberg. We were walking along the Main River when I noticed locks resting on the bottom of the fences.
I haven’t seen locks on vertical bars before – and honestly it looks pretty silly. Instead of hanging they just kind… lie there. At the bottom of the railing. I have to say it comes across as more of a discarded item than a memorial for love.
But Sven and Nicole managed to find some horizontal bars. Good for them.
When we left the river area I thought that we had sighted all our locks for the day. Nope! We were climbing the stairs to the Käppele when I spotted another one hanging on the railing for a statue.
I guess they wanted to be different?
Later we enjoyed the views on the Alte Mainbrucke… which included more of these love locks all bunched together on any available outpost.
I don’t understand the fascination. If I wanted to be profitable, though, I’d open up a lock shop next to every bridge in Germany.
See my post about love locks in Germany.
5. This lovely display at the Market Square.
It’s exactly what I was looking for!
Later I was taking a photo at another booth and received a very strong reprimand that I could not take photos. The man gave me a lot of information in German even after I told him that I don’t speak German. So I don’t really know what happened, but I would caution you to ask first before photographing any merchandise.
6. Schneebälle.
We love to eat German food. On this trip we had pizza, then wine on tap at the bridge, a crepe, bratwurst, and then this strange dessert. It’s a pastry ball that has been around for 300 years in Franconia and is much loved by the German people. This type of dessert is highly recommended by bloggers and tourists, so we were surprised when we tried it and found that it was crumbly, dry, and a bit bland. We saw some that were drenched in chocolate or caramel and I would recommend trying one with some richer trappings.
7. This crescent moon just chilling.
You can see more photos of graffiti in Würzberg and other cities here.
Having experiences that seem a bit off is just part of life when you are an American living in Germany. If you’re visiting a European country soon then keep your eyes wide open – there are funny things everywhere just waiting for you to find them.
7 curious experiences we had in Würzberg, Germany. Click To Tweet
