Pubs, Cafes and Coffee Shops

This may be the most important photo I took in Germany. On our last day in Nuremberg it was raining. We wandered into the place pictured above. It was an average looking place but had seats buy the windows (pictured above) overlooking the river. We spent the afternoon drinking beer and reliving our travels. We saw nothing but the inside of that bar and the view from those windows but it was perhaps the most fun we had on the whole trip. So I snapped a photo on the way out. We stopped at five or six more places as we wandered the charming old town and I did not snap any more photos. Upon returning and looking through my photos of bridges, castles and churches, I came upon this photo. It made me think, "what if I had taken a photo of every place we enjoyed a beer?". The best times we had were in beer halls in Munich, small beer gardens in Rothenburg ob der Tauber and pubs like this one. Those are the memories I cherish. Yet after you are home a while you start to remember through your photographic record. I mostly have photos of the things that you think you should take pictures of. While I cherished seeing such things the little moments of chatting and drinking and laughing in wonderful cozy places were what I will remember most fondly. What if in Paris, I had a photo of every café we went to. The better part of our December trip was wandering different neighborhoods and warming up in cafés. Yet most of my pictures are of the monuments you can find in millions of books.

It also gives you a record, a way to find this place upon your return. As we left the pub picture above, a couple of Englishmen came in and ordered. They were brought a wood plank with thirteen beers on it ranging from dark to light. We were so jealous we did not know about this. At that moment we said "when we come back we are going to do that!" Now, if and when I return I have more than a fading memory to rely on. So, on my next adventure I will record the name and photograph every where I eat drink or just want to remember. But at least I know there are thirteen beers in Nuremberg with my name on it.