Nuremburg Volksfest and Coburg

After working on Friday - Vic was able to take Monday and Tuesday off of work. It was nice to have a little break. The weather was great, so we decided to get out and cross a couple things off of our bucket list. Fest season is in full swing here in Germany. We have been to a couple small Volksfests, but the one in Nuremberg is the largest in Bavaria, and it did not disappoint. I'm pretty sure Elliott had the best day of his life.

Our trusty car needs a completely new brake system, so we decided to rent a car instead of being stuck taking taxis and trains. The whole situation is setting us back a pretty penny, but we got an awesome rental and Vic, finally, got to drive fast on the autobahn.

Entrance way ...

Traditional Bavarian treats ...

Fish ... barf ...

The first thing Elliott wanted to do was ride the ferris wheel ... at almost $18 for all of us - I'm sure glad he enjoyed himself!

Enjoying his first hefeweizen ...

Elliott's face was priceless on these rides. I was a little nervous about him going alone, but he did great.

Candy covered doughnuts ...

Another ride ... these little kiddie rides were $3 each! Thank goodness there was an ATM nearby ... we definitely needed more funds!

Elliott's first 'roller coaster' ... I even got him to put his hands up on the hills ...

The May pole ...

Driving with daddy ...

Tons of different pickles ...

His first flying ride ...

We stopped for lunch and Vic had to get his beloved pork knuckle ...

Due to a communication error - I accidentally bought four tickets to this slide.

So we took turns climbing to the top. Elliott was hilarious ... he had so much fun.

We ended the day with a horse ride ... which E is still talking about.

Heading home ...

One last view of the riesenrad (ferris wheel) ...

The Volksfest took place on the former Nazi Rally grounds ... so there was a lot of history around us for a day at the fair!

The next day we headed a couple hours north to check out the city of Coburg. The main thing I wanted to see was the huge fortress (one of the biggest in Germany) where Martin Luther lived while he was translating the bible into German. It was pretty cool ... and massive.

Entrance way ...

We stopped for lunch at the cafe inside the fortress and had some amazing sausages ... and Elliott rode this random horse ...

So so so good ... I actually got this meal for dinner as well.

You can see from this picture just how huge the castle is ...

Inside grounds of the castle ...

Taken with the self-timer on the camera ... Elliott looks thrilled ...

Looking out over the city of Coburg ...

Elliott loved hearing his voice echo in the well ...

Elliott is obsessed with tanks and 'boom-booms' ...

Exploring ...

Vic explaining how the castle gate works ...

Side view of the castle ...

We had a fun couple of days, but now it's back to reality! It's raining again ... and Vic is back to work. Only two more weeks until Paris though!