One of the wonderful things about living in Nuremberg, is that there always seems to be some sort of an event going on in the city. 80% of the time... its a beer festival, or a street festival with a lot of beer, or a music festival... with more beer than music. Which, the first few times.. is fun, but then you start to feel the effects of it and you look for events that still allow you to experience the culture AND be healthy!
The Klassik Open Air Nuremberg is a free outdoor classical concert where thousands of people come together and bring their own picnics to this massive park and listen to music under the stars. It takes place in Luitpoldhain Park... which this place has quite a history. It was first created in 1906 to host a Bavarian industrial exhibition, then in the 1920's it was used by the National Socialists for the location of their first party meeting. And then in 1933, the grounds were used during the Nazi Party Rallies. After the end of World War II, the Luitpoldhain was once again made into a park. Although the park has a difficult past, the Klassik Open Air is such a beautiful way to re-use this area and bring together families & culture.
When I heard the word "Picnic"... I was so excited. I basically get excited to have any reason to cook or bake. AND I love any excuse to use our picnic basket. (thank you Kathleen & Greg!) We knew we wanted to ride our bikes there (probably a 25 minute ride), but we were unsure of how to take the basket along... luckily tying two of Andrew's belts together seemed to do the trick! (i will admit, it was not the most sturdy way to transport... but we blame the heavy bottles of wine & water)
We got there an hour early, but the place was still PACKED. We didn't get the best view of the actual orchestra, but we didn't mind, it still sounded just as beautiful whether we could see them or not.
We found a spot and started setting up our wonderful picnic. But first... the wine.
Before the music started, we played a little bit of backgammon (Andrew won..) and relaxed. Oh! also, just to keep in mind... this was another one of those 95 degree days, so it was HOT!
Then came the food... We decided to keep it somewhat simple with some meats, cheeses and fruits. (i will admit, we also had a small summer salad prior to this meats and cheese course!).
One thing that drives us CRAZY here in Germany is the amount of Bees they have!! It's insane. And they always love to hover around you the moment you're eating... which drives me nuts because they get so close to you and the food i'm afraid i'm going to eat one by mistake one day. So you usually start with gently shoo-ing them which doesn't work, then you begin swatting and it still doesn't work... and then you have to resort to killing them. We (and by we I mean Andrew, my hero) killed about 5 that night! (proof below of the first victim) You are NOT getting my brie.
Here is a small clip from the music festival.
Then we had our nice and healthy desserts that we prepared. Vanilla chia seed pudding with layers of homemade granola, strawberries and blueberries. Delicious! And we used old jam jars which made it super easy to transport in the picnic basket.
Then, during one of the last songs when the sun had already set... all of a sudden we saw everyone start standing up and lighting sparklers. It was amazing!! Apparently it is tradition, and they do it to one song every year, but it was a complete surprise to us and it was beautiful. Such a perfect way to end the night.
