Childish Heaven (Nuremberg)

Member Name: Plumptious

Product:	Nuremberg
Date:	24/12/00 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: There was just something about the place.

Disadvantages: It may have changed - but not by that much, surely?

Childish Heaven


Festival
~~~~~~
By pure chance, we arrived in the middle of the annual Nurnberg Festival, which takes place in the Autumn. There were all manner of stalls and shows. There were also numerous games to which all and sundry were invited to participate in for free.

Tempted by the prize, which was a gaily decorated cookie some 10 inches in diameter, I donned a blindfold and tried my hand at "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" (sorry, Tommytentoes). I didn't do well, but still received a consolation prize of a largish rubber ball commemorating the festival. I presented it to my dogs when I got home, and they certainly thought that it was a brilliant prize.

If my participation sounds strange, please note that I was quite young at the time. However, given the opportunity, I suspect that I still would do it today.

Toy Museum
~~~~~~~~~~
Of course, this was a must. And having visited it, I can confirm this.

Unlike many of the toy museums I have since visited, this museum was large. It was well laid out, and featured many of the normal things, of which an extensive train set was my personal favourite. What made it different was that it also delved into the production techniques. What I found particularly interesting was how one method of toy production was very much like the production of seaside rock. There was an explanation of how a long piece of wood would be carved in say, the profile of a dog, and then cut up into little pieces, resulting in efficient production of lots of identical dogs.

I parted with some pocket money and came away clutching my purchases from the museum shop. It consisted of a good part of a zoo set. Each set of animals came in a little matchbox, complete with appropriate accessories. For instance, the monkeys had climbing frames and I think the kangaroos had bushes. The matchboxes could be purchased individually, so you could simply have a he
rd of giraffes or have three times more elephants than lions. As far as I was concerned, what made them extra-cool was the fact that all the animals, trees and accessories had been produced using the seaside rock method.


Technology
~~~~~~~~~
Our wanderings took us into a department store. Strange to think of such a place as having wondrous sights, but image several metres of glass cabinets fitted against the wall. Within them were rows upon rows of revolving roast chicken. Yes, I know that this is commonplace NOW, but remember that this was several decades ago. Back then, if you wanted roast chicken, you went to KFC. They'd even sussed that not everyone wants a whole chicken, and had made half chickens and single portions available. We had a brilliant lunch in the park outside.


Homer Simpson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now, if you aren't partial to sweets and chocolates, skip this bit. Otherwise?
The sweet section of the store was the biggest I had ever seen. It went on for aisles and aisles. It would put the sweet department in Selfridges to shame. I have never seen anything like it since. Are there nominations for a Sweet Mecca?


Communication
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just a quick note. The Germans, like many of our Continental cousins, tend to be multilingual. What we found strange, though, was the fact that the market stall holders just outside the department store were infinitely more fluent in English than the staff in the posh store. The population at large tended to be very courteous and helpful, but communication tended to be most successful with the market traders.


Keeping Warm
~~~~~~~~~~~
Autumn had begun to set in with a vengeance, so winter coats were in order. This is where I may stir up an argument about stereotypes and national averages, for the saleslady, taking one look at my mother, directed her to the "Kinder" section, i.e. "Children's"
; section. My mother found herself selecting her coat from the same racks as me!
Now, my mother is not the largest person I know, but neither is she the smallest. She's 5' 6". You be the judge.


All this took place quite a while ago. But as the memories came flooding back, I felt that Nurnberg was a place worth sharing. If any of you do accompany a child to Nurnberg, please do email me to tell me if it's still as good as I remember.

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