Jacqueline had another scheduled visit to Dr. Meier in Ulm mid October, and we decided to hang a short city trip by rail on after that. We went to three cities that we didn’t really know (we had gone through them in the train, but that was that): Bamberg, Nürnberg and Karlsruhe. The first two didn’t disappoint, with their delightful medieval town centres, both substantially restored after the Second World War, but keeping the character of their centres. In many cases, key old buildings miraculously survived, at least the walls, and they constrained the style of the renovation. Both Bamberg and Nuremberg adopted a similar approach to Ulm, and restricted the height and style of their replacement buildings in the old town centre. In Bamberg, World Heritage Site and a lively university town, the old town hall in the middle of the river was a particular beauty. Nuremberg’s castle, cathedral, and city walls had been expertly restored. Karlsruhe, a planned city centred on the château, was a different kettle of fish: the renovation of the centre after the War was less careful, and the planned nature of the roads made the centre feel considerably less intimate. An interesting installation was the “legal” signs, quite near the pyramid, celebrating Karlsruhe’s role as seat of the German Constitutional Court.. The older medieval town of Dulach which preceded Karlsruhe itself, was nicer, and the trip to the top of the “Bergbahn” gave a good view over the Rhine valley nearby. One of the “legal” signs was repeated here.
Deutsche Bahn was mostly late, but this time not too bad. A couple of journey were even on time! Our last journey back to Switzerland arrived too late for the Swiss rail network arrival window, so we had to change train in Basel, and arrived back in Zürich punctually on a regular Swiss train, 26 minutes later than planned.