In this weeks programme Ed discovers Franconia in Northern Bavaria. He visits UNESCO heritage sites in Wurzburg and enjoys majestic gardens and palaces in Bayreuth, before finally spending time in the capital of Franconia – Nuremberg. Amazing culture, food and incredible places to see on Ed Finn Travels.
welcome to my new show Ed Fin travels in this series I’ll discover some of Europe’s best kept secrets from the bass country in Spain to Normandy in France from Franconia in Germany to places closer to home in limrick Wexford and Northern Ireland before finishing my journey in the Garden State of New Jersey USA so join me on edin travels in this week’s show I’m in Franconia which is in Northern Bavaria in Germany I’m going to be visiting the UNESCO Heritage sites of wburg the beautiful town of byro before I go on to visit the capital of Franconia nurenberg so join me for some exciting beer breadfast and some amazing locations an hour and a half’s drive from Frankfurt in Northern Mia lies verburg which was once the capital of the German state of Franconia the verburg residence is one of the most impressive palaces in Europe it’s a UNESCO world heritage site and the former residence of the prince Bishops of verburg I met my guide Maria who was going to show me one of the greatest masterpieces of the 18th century by Venetian painter Gian Batista tiopo too’s magnum opus is 6 00 square m of clouds Gods nymphs rearing horses and it floats above the grand staircase here in the residence tiopo carries you up into another element it’s an amazing experience not least because the staircase itself is a SPAC shifting Roller Coaster by The Splendid Brock architect balazar Newman the palace offers access to about 40 rooms full of paintings tapestry furniture and other 18th century gems every time you you enter a new room you think it can’t get better until it does but don’t forget to stroll through the palace Garden that alone is almost a piece of [Music] art verburg is called a city of a 100 churches and Franconia is the only wine region in Germany using the famous local box bootle a wine bottle shaped like a box sack so only in Franconia you get you can get this very cute bottle so you have to come here to enjoy it you have to come here to enjoy it yeah I have never seen it in any place or any shop or does do you export a lot uh we export um a lot unfortunately not to Ireland um but to uh we do to to the UK to uh we export in way it doesn’t travel well maybe gu that’s right you have to come to Dublin for that but do you have to come here that’s what they say I think they probably the in in Ireland they don’t say that they say that because they want to drink it themselves and we want to drink we’re same here yes I went to meet local wine expert Robert McGregor from the Berg spittle Winery which is considered the home of the Box bootle I’ve got another one here um it’s a it’s a sweeter wine you’re not going to let me go home at all are you I’ll be here all day I’m not complaining now forsburg is at the heart of the Franconia wine region and if you love to combine outstanding wine experiences with amazing architecture vers is the perfect place to spend some time an hour and a half’s drive took me to bayro one of the most beautiful cities in Bavaria where I met local guide Killian Von shamier and Killian you actually grew up here yourself exactly from a young age and we walked past your house today and was beautiful location right in the center it must be amazing living here it’s it’s amazing to live there because we have enough things to do there’s always some form of event going on but it’s still a humble and slow City you can relax and you’re not it’s not overcrowded very civilized or I was got there was a there was a bachelor party earlier and I ever saw such a civilized Bachelor part party in my life they were so well behaved but what I love as well is the mix that you have here the variety for for someone who hasn’t been here before I mean what would you say would be like your top five things to see when you come here of course it’s the Oprah house the UNESCO world heritage that attracts people from all over the world and the f um Richard Wagner um that take place in August every year so those are the main two cultural aspects and then I would say it’s more like experiencing the city with all the single corners of History it’s you have the new Palace over there one minute walk away you have the hoof Garden like our small Central Park I would say history is inside the small um places inside the town I would say as Opera Houses go Killian I’d say it’s definitely up there with the you know top 10 anyway yeah it’s not that big but no it’s it’s very has a flare Boutique so klian I wouldn’t be putting you on the spot on any specific questions AR how many people exactly does this place hold actually it depends on the occasion but I would say for Taylor Swift it wouldn’t be enough Taylor Swift I’d say she probably love it here [Music] so at we are right at FES Bill house this is where the Vagner opras take place FP take place in August 30° Plus in by roid and man have to wear tuxedos women long event wardrobe and no AC wouldn’t see it’s opras that take 6 hours or so okay okay stop you had me you have me I’m sold I’m sold yeah I how long do I have to wait for the tickets The Hermitage garden and Palace as we see today was largely the work of Princess Vina who received it as a present from her husband friedi in 1735 the old Palace was enlarged and a number of new garden areas were created with stunning fountains and dreamy Grotto oh that’s very cool isn’t it wonderful yeah so all the so the and you were say the pressure is all natural it comes from the mountains and down exctly it’s like 50 m higher and flows right to there and the pressure is so natural origin yeah B is kind of like the fountain capital of Germany then if you want to say so yeah great the excitement is building oo Elon mosque kind of yeah who needs Elon MOS most right it’s a they they were doing it here like hundreds of years ago that’s cool a cool little effect isn’t it that’s brilliant so Ed I’ve kept the best Fallout for you the Highlight for me at the amage are those fountains they amazing absolutely oh this place is f i mean it’s the Heritage itself is so impressive um I mean the gardens The Fountains you can just get lost here for a few days you know it’s beautiful and you’ve loads of f here coming up in the summer all like food festivals music all over the ground here so it’s a great place I’ll be back for some of those as well because to see you there yeah definitely thanks a million great to finish with the [Music] fountain and then it was time for my brewery tour for beer lovers I mean this area here like Franconia is where we are be by ro yeah um I mean I I was reading there’s over 300 breweries here so this is is like a beer lovers paradise and what you guys are doing here is real Innovation now we’re I’m staying in the hotel which is a hotel in a brewery beside the brewery which is a really unique idea isn’t it yeah I mean it is a very good Synergy uh bringing the beer together with the hotel so uh you can stay here enjoy the beer and then uh have a good night with the beer yeah so so um Ruben what would be in this then what are the ingredients in this the ingredients in the beer as always in Germany are just four pops malt water and yeast because in Germany we have the Purity law and uh this is what we have as a sort of perimeter to um Brew all the beers from and this is the four ingredients and with those four ingredients you can actually create a surprising amount of different tastes and uh this is also um kind of what our Brew Masters do in their art of course like the like master chefs and so basically it’s the it’s the taste there as I said the smokiness is really nice from much that’s that’s really clever I love that idea man well listen thanks ailon I really love these yeah I hope I have room in the suitcase now for a few of those going home well don’t don’t be caught with too many of them thanks milion PR PR as they let everything here as it was this is actually still fully operational so one could uh start brewing beer like in the old days here maybe they need to oil change but still work that’s fabulous damps machine yes it’s a steam engine yeah very good so steam engines need impr pressure so it’s great so if all techn if a if a Ai and chat gbt can still be to shut everything down ruen we can come back here exactly we won’t be without beer the supply of beer is secured I love us backup plan just 25 km from B on my way to nurburg I made a stop to visit the famous rabenstein castle which is in the heart of franconian Switzerland there’s a hotel and a restaurant in the castle and it really is a magical place Ed it’s so good to see you and have you here in my lovely Town nurg welcome no I’m delighted to be here Martin it’s fabulous and of course I it’s so great direct flights from Dublin now it makes it so accessible and that’s true so easy 20 minutes on the train from the airport that’s true really I’ve heard like I’ve heard so much about nurburg I’m really excited now you’ve a fabulous program lined up for me I’m so excited to show you all the wonderful sites of my lovely Hometown nurg I’ve only got three days Mar oh my gosh yeah I think we will make it so let’s start to have sausage first that we brilliant brilliant [Music] and now there’s a story about why these sausages are so thin isn’t there yeah there is a story there different stories but one story is that you know the gates were closed during Medieval Times in the evening and when people arrived outside at the city Gates they were hungry and so the nergers were good in trading and so they served the people during the keyholes through the keyholes so they so that’s why they are so sin but the real story is price were high for me and so ah after some delicious local Cuisine we went on a fun sing tour of norenburg there’s so much to do and see here visiting the old town enjoying a Scenic Bike Tour sailing on the lake visiting the castle enjoying the local markets and of course learning how to make a local speciality gingerbread so you’re very welcome to gingerbread with Ed here in nurenberg well actually gingerbread with Daniel how are you Daniel nice to see you I’m fine and you now great I have always wanted to try a gingerbread making Workshop oh really and I’m in the right place here right so many people wonder about the bottom thing it’s called a wafer yeah so uh it basically tastes like paper it doesn’t really have looks a bit like a big Holy Communion basically and then oh yeah and then you use this fell here yeah yeah I was watching I know I was paying attention I hope so okay there we go now great fin gingerbread with Edge and nice even oh sweet Mother of God right hold on a second now yeah look at that oh yeah this is called gingerbread light it’s not it’s for less calories than this one not I’m going to go I’m going to go all out and put four on us oh there we go look at that oh yeah listen craziness and there we go [Music] okay ging Mich star gingerbread well done brilliant fantastic thank you yeah in Bavaria of course the beer Garten is part of everyday life and it’s a great way to spend an evening enjoying local food beers and music Stefan it’s great to meet you I believe you’re a big fan of Ireland as well of course yes great to be here you love rugby I love rugby I have been to Dublin and uh played rugby there as well so one thing we’re good at what one thing we’re good at yes say but what you’re really good at is beer and here in Franconia 300 breweries so like you I’m just working my way through them H this of course here is a beautiful beer garden where we are now today yeah yeah so that’s a really big part of our culture so um we grew up we grew up in beer gardens so we um went with our parents in the beer gardens and so we had lovely food lovely beers and so we are glad that we are one part of this uh big Community cheers guys Lacher the German national museum founded in 1852 houses a large collection of items relating to German culture and art and it houses something completely unique the behem globe which received a UNESCO award this year and is the oldest surviving globe in the world we are a German National Museum but German in the sense of uh the German language that’s an international Museum of all German speaking lands in Europe and we have um we are not a special Gallery only on painting we have all media and all things um human being um created and that’s a very interesting thing you’ve just been awarded this fantastic unes go accreditation for the the oldest globe in the world which I mean I I I was really excited when I heard about this because there’s no America on this it’s it’s not America First America’s last uh know that that this globe was made just in a time when Columbus sailed to America and therefore America’s missing but on the other side the globe is too small because pomy um had wrong dimensions of the world even if America has been known it would have been no place to show it on the globe the medieval late medieval Maps uh show has shown Jerusalem a spiritual world and this here is a world of trade yeah that’s this uh direct link between the scientific instruments painting on wood on parchment if you want and the same techniques um are used here by the most brilliant and the most important painter of nberg unfortunately he was so so famous that many Works um has taken away in Prague in Munich but now U dur is a trademark a global trademark for nberg rembrand self-portrait is a mustsee here at the Museum after an expert investigation in 1998 it was declared to be an authentic signed work by the famous artist [Music] himself nurenberg is famous of course for the nurenberg trials which took place here in 1946 after World War II I went to visit the famous courtroom where the trials were held the museum has some incredible history and videos of those somber [Music] events Dr asard it’s a pleasure to meet you um this is a very poignant Place uh the site of the Nazi rallies from 1933 to 1938 here in Norberg um of course when you look at the movies and you look at the history here um it’s a very very interesting place to visit isn’t it yes it is because Hitler really used it to celebrate his uh sort of unity that he celebrated with the with the German people so that’s why he would arrive with a car down there and he would um focus look watch people in their eyes and so on then he would get up to the grand stand and talk to more than 120,000 U soldiers standing there uh but also later on women in 1938 women were dancing here for him so he tried to celebrate this Unity like he always said we are one it’s it’s it’s actually incredible to see the the the the the way that they had this whole propaganda machine working and like you know there almost the fear instilling um movies you see the the might and the size and of course over over a million people would have attended the rallies here they came from all parts of the German rice so they came from Hamburg from dank from also from Austria he always invited also people from other countries in the first years these were fascists the British fascists or the musolini fists and so on but later on he always tried also to get diplomats also from France from Great Britain from the US only the Soviet Union they would never attend because he already all the time he was shouting again the against the Bist these were [Music] enemies it’s not only beer sausages and gingerbread which are culinary symbols of nurenberg the city has also become the epicenter of the German whiskey scene uh we do whiskey since 2003 first selling in 2006 and it’s pretty surprising because our whiskey is for the taste it’s more like the Irish than the scotch so it’s very sweet it’s not that kind of smokey it’s not uh kind of getting some different tastes like more scotch it’s more like the Irish it’s it’s better it’s more it’s better than the Scottish basically oh that’s your opinion it’s kind of if you ask me which German beer is better don’t do that don’t do that oh I forgot to tell you it’s uh 57% M no problem to me at all wow no problem good people always are coming with the age it has to be at least 10 years years old it has to be at least 20 years old that’s kind of a an old thinking which needs to be yeah broken up so for that because the age isn’t important it’s kind of what you do for that my guide Martina knowing that I’m a big foodie had a big surprise for me I was of to meet celebrity chef Alexander Herman for some local frankness or modern traditional cuisine first time I ever had uh dry-aged Pork yeah yeah never saw before it’s not so easy because CU you have you have uh uh uh if you have too much fat it’s not so easy for for a dry aging moment so okay yeah you must be a special like fronia we only we are we are special yes special men’s special women’s special chefs so yeah everything is special I agree yeah I like a lot a to be frank to be frank yes absolutely so take a look and now here the fat yeah is crunchy yes yes splits up if you have a a typical moment man and women comes to eat this is the man this is the wom or or or this is the man and this is a woman I don’t know so maybe yeah so and uh this is the idea you have the the meat you have the potatoes this is fully of energy and then you have the fresh uh light it comes like um uh a fresh moment the vegetable and then you have some sauce and you are I think yeah and this in yeah I can’t wait to try it so you describe your Cuisine Alex as sort of traditional franconian Mo mix meets modern with a little Fusion maybe uh not Fusion but I think it’s important to get the old style of recipes in the new world yes yes yes because if we eat this things that our grandma and grandpa cooked for us it’s delicious but it’s really heavy yes and it’s it’s not um if you have a modern kind of taste is very different about the traditional moments yeah but both are right so bring the old kind of taste and the old kind of art of cooking in a new Ro and this is this is the idea what a fantastic way to f finish off my fabulous food trail here in Franconia I absolutely loved my week visiting verburg bayy and nurenberg in this Hidden Gem of Germany that is Franconia join me next time when I’ll be sailing from Ireland to France and discovering the cotent region of [Music] Normandy [Music]