Over the last three years, for various reasons, I've not done as much travelling as I would have liked. But this month I went a little way to catching up by "popping over the border" to Germany and Poland, on the first and second weekend of May respectively.
I really appreciate that 1 and 8 of May are both public holidays in the Czech Republic, so if they fall on Thursdays, you can take of the 2 and 9 May and create two long weekends or a week-long holiday. So I used this opportunity to visit Nuremberg, after numerous postponements, and Kłodzko, in the Lower Silesian region of Poland and very close to the Czech border
The towns are quite disparate. Kłodzko is a small historic settlement in a part of rural Poland that digs deep into Czech territory, although it was once part of Bohemia. The shabby but likeable town is a fairly sleepy place, close to impressive, pine-clad mountain ridges. Nuremberg is much larger, with a bustling, big city atmosphere. It's located in Franconia, a part of Germany I must confess I knew little about, which prompted me to find out more about it and its history.
Comparing and contrasting these two visits was an enjoyable exercise because I'm fascinated by connections between regions of Europe. I've finally got round to reading Europe by the historian Norman Davies, and as I leafed through it, I was struck by the links between parts of Central Europe across the centuries. And in Nuremberg I came across an outstanding example of the craftmanship of medieval sculptor Veit Stoss. Perhaps his most outstanding work can be found in St Mary's church in Kraków, not too far from Kłodzko. A good reminder, in this era of intense globalisation, that connections and links between places, people and ideas are nothing new.
I really appreciate that 1 and 8 of May are both public holidays in the Czech Republic, so if they fall on Thursdays, you can take of the 2 and 9 May and create two long weekends or a week-long holiday. So I used this opportunity to visit Nuremberg, after numerous postponements, and Kłodzko, in the Lower Silesian region of Poland and very close to the Czech border
The towns are quite disparate. Kłodzko is a small historic settlement in a part of rural Poland that digs deep into Czech territory, although it was once part of Bohemia. The shabby but likeable town is a fairly sleepy place, close to impressive, pine-clad mountain ridges. Nuremberg is much larger, with a bustling, big city atmosphere. It's located in Franconia, a part of Germany I must confess I knew little about, which prompted me to find out more about it and its history.
Comparing and contrasting these two visits was an enjoyable exercise because I'm fascinated by connections between regions of Europe. I've finally got round to reading Europe by the historian Norman Davies, and as I leafed through it, I was struck by the links between parts of Central Europe across the centuries. And in Nuremberg I came across an outstanding example of the craftmanship of medieval sculptor Veit Stoss. Perhaps his most outstanding work can be found in St Mary's church in Kraków, not too far from Kłodzko. A good reminder, in this era of intense globalisation, that connections and links between places, people and ideas are nothing new.
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