The German Countryside

Today, Brian and I hit the road so we could see more of the German countryside. We grabbed our rental car in Munich and then drove up the Romantic Road stopping at some of the most adorable villages on the way.

Near the big city it looked like it could have been Oregon, but as we drifted further and further away the view changed. We saw soooo many fields of yellow, which google tells me are rapeseed, grown for the oil in the seeds. We also started seeing these little towns on the hills and even some castles popping up. You won’t see that in Oregon!

First up was figuring out all the road signs! Brian had studied up but there were a few he didn’t know - especially the one that tells you the speed limit has ended. We figured out quickly that was a bit of a free for all. But we soon had the signs and road marks figured out.

Right before our first trip to Europe I was talking with Darin Knight and asked him if he ever got tired of looking at architecture and visiting churches. He said no and I was skeptical that we would like it as much as he claimed. I was wrong last trip - we did love it. So today was going to be filled with architecture and churches!

The first village we stopped at was Nördlingen. We grabbed a quick lunch at a local shop and then visited the gorgeous old town area. There are some amazing buildings and I love the old wood style. We also visited St George Church, which had a beautiful stained glass and some really unique carvings on the choir chairs.

Moving on, our next stop was Dinkelsbühl. Guess what we did? Looked at the amazing architecture and visited their church, called the Cathedral of St. George. This one is a Catholic church, as opposed to Nördlingen’s evangelical church with the same saints name.

While in Dinkelsbühl, it started snowballing on us. I don’t even know what else to call it. It was almost like hail but it was pellets of soft snow instead of ice. My sister-in-law Gin says it's called graupel. Totally bizarre. After getting covered with snowballs we decided it was time to go.

Back on the road, we arrived at tonight’s destination - Rothenburg ob de Tauber. I’ve been really excited to visit here and it didn’t disappoint. There were so many amazing little shops, but traveling light means not buying too many souvenirs. We did, however, have to buy an ornament from the Käthe Wohlfahrt shop. It was an AMAZING Christmas shop!

To munch on during our walk, Brian grabbed a little donut type pastry coated in cinnamon and sugar. I grabbed a Schneeball (snowball), the specialty here in Rothenburg. It’s long ribbons of fried dough that are lightly balled up and then fried. It’s then coated with some sort of melted toppings that soak between the ribbons and the outside and then harden. I got white chocolate and lemon and it was interesting. I told Brian it sort of tasted like bland cheerios coated in flavorings. It’s doesn’t make the bland cheerios taste any better. Lol. Then again, I’m not really a pastry girl so maybe this was wasted on me. Give me chocolate any day of the week. 🙂

Next up was a walk along the top of the city walls as we made our way back to the hotel for a little midday break to put our feet up. Walking the walls was really neat and there were some great views of the city and buildings.

We headed back out for dinner at an Italian restaurant. I had gnocchi mama Rosa and it was so delicious! I’ve never really been a fan of gnocchi until now. Brian got tortellini al carne bolognese that was delicious as well.

We timed our dinner so we could be done for our next activity, but we had about 10 minutes so popped into a store that sold Steiff bears. My mom was a bear collector when I was growing up so I was tempted by the adorable bears made in Germany. They even had an exclusive bear for Rothenburg. While there, I saw the most adorable kids clothes - little tiny lederhosen and dresses. If I had little kids in my life I would have spent way too much buying them something they would outgrow so quickly.

Our last activity was something I was really excited about - the Rothenburg Night Watchman's Tour. The tour carries on the tradition of the Night Watchman by sharing the stories of what they did (watch for fire and kept the city streets safe), why they did it (mainly to keep the city from burning), and historical facts (how Rothenburg was formed and how it changed over the years). The tour started with watching the only glockenspiel in Rothenburg, featuring the story of how their town was saved when the invading general (holding the sword) bet the city’s mayor (with the glass) that he couldn’t drink 3.5 liters of wine at one time. The mayor does it and saves the city. It’s a great story from the Night Watchman that helps the figurines make sense.

This tour was funny and informational at the same time. Such a great experience that I highly recommend. And, because we were there during a slow season, there were only about 25 in our group. During the busy season the tour is often 100 or more! They might have better weather in the busy season, but I’ll take the slow season any day of the week.