Germany Road Trip - Part 4 - Rothenburg

The next stop along the way was Rothenburg - one of my favorite parts of the trip. Rothenburg is one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Germany. All of the old architecture, the walls around the city, it was just such a different experience. We got there in the afternoon, and I really wanted to make sure we walked along the walls. We did the same thing over our winter break in Lucca, Italy, but these walls were completely different. They were enclosed on three sides, not wide and open like Lucca's. Here's David and Logan: And a view from the wall toward St. Jakob's Church:You can't walk all the way around the city along the walls, they have some parts closed off - here's a shot from outside the city, looking back in. We thought this was so funny! Lucy was walking along and just couldn't figure out what this dog was doing!

The western part of the city sticks out so that if you look towards the southern part, this is what you can see - there isn't a tall wall in this area because of the hills below it, and you can see the vineyards that are on the hill in this shot. One of the most photographed spots in the city - we had dinner at the restaurant on the left both nights we were there, we loved it so much! I loved this bakery sign!

Some more shots from our walk along the wall:

The next day we walked around the city - on the ground this time! Here are some of the sights:

The town hall - the white Old Town Hall in the background, and the New Town Hall in front. This was right across the town square from our hotel! This was the burgermeister's home - I love the statues - there are two rows: the bottom statues are the seven virtues, and they are "holding up" the statues of the seven vices. These are copies, but we saw the originals in the history museum, too. This fountain was used by the townspeople - they could move the troughs to direct water to pour into their buckets. More sights around the city... We walked through the convent's herb garden. They used to be the healers of the town, and people would go to them for "prescriptions." The garden had the typical chamomile, oregano, and things like that, but they they also had the poison herb section - the crosses denote the poison level of the herb... Yikes!

An entrance to the city from where a castle stood many, many years ago. I loved the little door - that's where they used to let people in after they had closed the main doors for the evening. Part of the same entrance, this would be where they'd poor the hot oil through onto their enemies! Again, part of the same entrance: This sign says that dogs must be leashed - I thought it was cute when Lucy went and stood by it. More sights in the city...

This is the town square again - the building on the left has a clock tower were they have figures that come out at certain hours. They represent the town legend which says that when their enemies came during the 30-years war, the mayor proposed that if he could drink three liters of wine in one draught, would they leave the town alone? They said yes, and he did it, saving the town. The stein is even in the history museum.

The next morning, we were on our way pretty early, but we had one last thing to do - get Schneeballen! Crunchy ball-shaped fried dough coated in sugar - what more could you ask for?