Day 9 Nurnberg

First thing this morning, I read that Mel from my church had passed away.  I felt sad.  I just saw him a couple of days before I left for my sabbatical.  I remembered our parting and a hundred memories of him from over the last 11 years.  He was a gentle guy, very compassionate and kind. 

I had been dreading that anyone would pass away while I was gone.  What would I do?  But this instance was clear.  I was in another country.  I couldn't be there for the family.  It was out of my hands.

Nick was feeling sick, so I found a pharmacy and headed off to get him some medicine.  I felt pretty good about speaking German by this point and started describing his symptoms to the pharmacist.  She understood me and spoke the best English she knew.  Between the 2 of us we figured out what I should get.  Medicine in Germany seems very different from in the US.  For one thing, you don't just go pick out what you want, even if it is nonprescription.  The pharmacist helps.  Secondly, most medicines don't seem to cover a whole list of symptoms. You buy one for each symptom.  Next, many of the remedies seemed natural or plant-based.

I brought Nick his medicine and then headed out to find the street where the army hospital used to be where I was born.  They bulldozed the hospital in 2002 and built a neighborhood there. http://www.nbg-mil-com.de/Hospital/ho.html
I think I found it.  I was on the right street, anyway.

Nick was ready to go when I got back and we headed out to see the glockenspiel go off at the Frauenkirche at noon in the town square.  We stopped by two other churches that day, St. Sebaldus, and St. Lorenz.  Each of the churches was just filled with art of all kinds.  Each had several altar areas, with carvings and paintings.  They all had more recent art, as well.  St. Sebaldus has been bombed out at the end of WWII and was restored and stands as a witness to peace.  I lit a candle at St. Lorenz, the Lutheran Cathedral, for Mel and his family.

 We drove to a record store so Nick could do some shopping.  I went walking around the neighborhood and found a thrift store.  This was something I had hoped I would find!  The proceeds benefit the charity Oxfam.  I found a shirt for me and a small pitcher and glasses as well as some gifts for other people.
 

After dinner we walked down to see part of the old city walls of Nurnberg and take more pictures.