Rothenburg

One could get used to these wonderful four day weekends. After enjoying a leisurely Saturday AND Sunday together, Daniel and I woke up Monday morning and drove to Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber. Upon arrival, we checked into our hotel and decided to make our first purchase in the fairytale town ... an umbrella. Thrilling, right? Perhaps not, but considering the rainy weather, very useful. Sadly, this meant leaving my new Sony toy in the hotel room to avoid damaging it before I even learned to use it. Good news is, Tuesday was much less rainy and slightly less foggy so the camera was able to make its debut.

 

Our charming hotel, directly outside the wall. Perfect location. With onsite parking we were able to walk wherever we needed to go.  

 

From our hotel window we could see one of the towers (pictured below).

 

  

 

The wall that wraps around the entire city.

We climbed these steps and were able to walk around the top of the wall.

 

There's just something about exposed brick.

 

 

 

One of the most famous "picture spots" in Rothenburg. On our way towards this iconic spot, we decided it was time for a snack. If there is one thing Germany is never short on, its bakeries. This vision was the closest target and therefore, the lucky winner of our business.

 

We opted for the irresistible German pretzel, but failed to get a picture as they were quickly consumed.

 

Standing in the middle of Market Square.

The 13th-century Town Hall. The meeting point for the "Night Watchman's Tour". This tour is one of the main reasons we decided to stay overnight. On the tour we were able to follow the night watchman on his "rounds" as he shared stories about medieval Rothenburg. One of the most entertaining and informative tours I've ever been on. Best 7 euros to date.      

 Councillor's Tavern.

 

 

Okay, second only to the Watchman's tour my absolute favorite part of the trip - across the street from the Market Square ... the GIANT, magical Kathe Wohlfahrt Christmas Village Shop and German Christmas Museum.

Sadly, but understandably we were not allowed to take pictures inside. Let me just tell you though, magical is an understatement. Stepping into this store I was instantly ready to embrace all things Christmas. I'd imagine, even in the middle of April, entering this store would evoke much of the same emotion. It also made me long to be sitting in the Boston Opera House, watching the Boston Ballet Company gracefully perform The Nutcracker over and over again. It took everything in me to holdback from covering every inch of our home in Christmas décor the second we walked in the door Tuesday night.  

St. Jakob's Church (St. Jakobskirche). Built in the 14th century. On our tour we learned that it took over 180 years for the construction of this masterpiece.

Churches ...another thing Germany is not short on. Bakeries and churches.

The Main Alter (from 1466).

500-year-old, 35-foot-high Alter of the Holy Blood.

 

The Castle Garden (Burggarten). Also learned on our tour that several movies have come here to film scenes - the latest being Harry Potter.

 

View from the Garden - where the Red Castle, destroyed in the 14th-century once stood. You can also see more of the wall.  

(Still playing around with the camera and all its marvelous settings and options)

This is the part where I won't admit that this picture is my new computer AND phone background. xoxo stud!

 

I really do love old doors.

If you squint, you can see an adorable, not so tiny teddy in "Teddy Land".

 

Thin, crispy, handmade pizza. No regrets.

 

And that in a nutshell, is our trip to Rothenburg.

The Oldest City in Germany

 Trier, the oldest city in Germany. Backdrop for our last weekend excursion in October.

After sleeping in and making ourselves a hearty breakfast of waffles, bacon and eggs we made a quick stop in town to pick up a new fuse for one of our transformers and were on our way.

Coming highly recommended by our neighbors, Daniel and I recently purchased a few of Rick Steves' books, to include "Germany". His books are great for several reasons, but particularly for their self-guided walking tours. It's only our first use, but so far so good.

Taking Rick's recommendation, we started out at the city's most famous landmark, Porta Nigra (pictured below). The city of Trier was originally built as a Roman capital. Of the four-mile town's four large gates, only this northern gate survives and has become known as Porta Nigra.

Daniel was pretty impressed by the fact that it was built without mortar. For a few euros each, we were able to climb up and around the structure. Totally worth the price.

  

Next on the agenda - lunch. We walked over to one of the food trucks and ordered an original flammkuchen. Basically an extremely thin crusted pizza with a cheese sauce and small bits of ham. Pretty tasty if I do say so myself.  Daniel gets credit for correctly ordering in German on this one.  ...maybe next time we'll be bold enough to attempt our broken German past "Ein original flammkucken bitte."  and add some more yummy toppings. So far I know that onions is "zwiebeln" and meat is "fleisch". It's a start.

After lunch we took a stroll through Hauptmarkt (Market Square). Because I was the weekend, there were all types of tents and food trucks with various treasures... cheese, sausage, pastries, flowers the whole nine yards.

From here we located the Basillica/ Imperial Throne Room. Our handy self-guided tour informed us that this building is the largest intact Roman structure outside of Rome. Sadly, the building was under construction so we weren't able to go inside.

 

The Rococo Wing was added to the Basilica in the 18th century to house the archbishop-elector.

Behind the vast grounds to the Basilica/ Imperial Thrown Room are the imperial baths. Built by Constantine, they are believed to have been the most intricate baths in the Roman world.

 

Just beyond the city wall is the amphitheater. Cruel games with wild animals and gladiators were conducted here. The arena, built in the 2nd century, had a seating capacity of over 20,000.

 

 

Our final stop, the oldest Christian church in Germany - the Cathedral (Dom). Our trusty self-guided tour informed us that that cathedral stands at the "center above a former palace from the era of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great. The palace complex was supplanted in the 4th century by the largest Christian church complex from ancient times". From inside we were able to see the four basilicas and rather large baptistery at the front.

 

 

From here we began our walk back to the car. Spotting our first ever Dinkin Donuts in Germany we knew we had to stop. Waiting in line, the anticipation built. We ordered. We fixed our drinks (in German Dunkin's they don't pre-add any sugar or cream). Walked out. Took out first sip and... sad moment. Heart dropped. My "iced coffee" was simply hot coffee poured over ice, causing all of the ice to melt and the coffee to become watered down and a weird temperature between hot and cold. Not a good combination. Daniel ordered a Dunkachiino ...wasn't a dunkachino, more of a mocha. #firstworldproblems #theymessedupmycoffee. Life goes on.

 

Overall, we are doing well with adjustments. Since my last post I have started volunteering at one of the schools here in hopes of getting my name in the door and building some connections. No word on a job yet. However, I can't even explain how great it has been to be in a classroom again. With students. Not the same {not at all really} as having my own class, but Lord willing, that day will come. For now, I do what I can. Daniel is plugging away at work, learning the ropes of the joint environment as he goes. Last Friday his office had a family Halloween party that I was able to attend. It was great to finally put some faces to all the names.

 

We have enjoyed getting back into a running routine together, are looking forward to our trip to Ireland over Thanksgiving, and have been busy working to plan some other trips and adventures. Next week, Rothenburg - the walled city.

 

Now I must go finish dinner.

Heidelberg & Stuttgart

Friday, taking advantage of Daniel's first four-day weekend {thanks Christopher Columbus!}, we drove to Heidelberg. By car, Heidelberg is only about an hour and fifteen minutes from our village; making it an ideal day-trip for us. We parked at the top of the hill, closer to the castle, and walked down a very steep hill to get to the ruins.

 

 



"Once a Gothic masterpiece, the Castle of Heidelberg has encountered turbulent times: It was plundered and burned by the French army in 1689, then struck by lightning 100 years later, and its red stones were even used to build new houses.

The Castle of Heidelberg never regained its original glory, but the ruins have a ragged charm of their own. They are considered the symbol of German Romanticism."  About Travel

We enjoyed walking around the ruins, exploring all the charming details and breathtaking views. Walking around the castle grounds is free and open to the public daily. However, to enter the castle and explore the inner walls there is a small entrance fee of 6 euro per visitor. For an addition fee you are able to purchase headphones for a guided audio tour. We opted to wonder around on our own this time.

 

{The photo below is the view I was attempting to get into the background of the picture above.}

 

The weather was perfect for exploring. Perhaps not ideal for picture taking with the heavy cloud coverage, BUT certainly cool enough to walk around without breaking into a sweaty mess  . . .that is, until it was time to climb back UP the steep hill to return to our vehicle. We're also pros at reading German parking metros & pay stations now. . .  riigght. ;)

S A T U R D A Y  we woke up extra early to catch our train for our next adventure. . .  Stuttgart. We of course needed to stop at the train station bakery for fuel. "Zwei zaffee, ein brezel bitta."  . . .two coffees, one pretzel please. Breakfast of champions. Okay, so it may not be fluent German {or really, anywhere close to fluent} BUT it's something.

Bahnhof selfies.

Final weekend of the festival AND it was Saturday = P A C K E D. But so worth it. We went with our neighbors (the ones I mentioned here in my last post), riding the train the entire way {we're learning!}. Once we arrived, the six of us walked pushed our way through the crowds to the tent where we would spend the afternoon.

 

 



At 4:00 PM they clear the tents to make way for the second set of visitors. We took our exit and decided to wonder around the rest of the fairgrounds. We were on a mission to find the go-carts. Check. ...even though I completely and utterly LOST. We're talking last place people, l-a-s-t  place. I will say this though - the Germans know how to do "carnival food". You're not limited to cotton candy, peanuts and hot dogs. Unfortunately, I inhaled my food far too quickly to even think of taking a picture, but trust me - deliciousness on a bun.



By this point we were all pretty beat from the loong day soo we voted to head towards the train station and stop for some STARBUCKS. That's right, the Bahnhof in Stuttgart has a Starbucks. I'm pretty positive I dreamed about that pumpkin spiced latte. YUM. From there, we boarded our train and headed back to Kaiserslautern and HOME.

Sunday and Monday we decided to lay low and finish up some of the organizing and unpacking around the house. Sunday morning we were both craving a hearty breakfast from one of our favorite local spots back in Massachusetts. Since hoping on a plane wasn't an option, we decided to improvise. SO we made waffles {thankful for transformers that make my American 110 appliances work}, crispy bacon & eggs AND of course dripped some coffee from our beloved Keurig. Monday I was in a very fall-ish mood. Daniel didn't mind too much as he benefited from many warm pumpkin, chocolate chip cookies.

QUALITY weekend with my favorite boy and some of our new friends. Thankful for a refreshing, restful AND fun long weekend. Thankful for our house here in Germany and the ability to make it feel a little more like home. Thankful for pumpkin flavored things and changing leaves.