Rothenburg ob der Tauber

October 1-2, 2021

To my delight, Sarah and Avery were able to take a long weekend and come adventuring with me. (And also translate stuff for me along the way) Our first day was in Rothenburg (Rote-en-burg). It's name translates to the red town above the Tauber (river) and it has a wonderfully preserved medieval old town section, still walled off from the more modern parts of the city.

Going through the entrance gate into the old town.

It's small streets are filled with real half-timbered houses (not modern ones with the timbers painted on) dating back to the 1800s. After dropping our bags at our 100+ year old guesthouse, we wandered around town.

The gothic church had a small fee to go in, and was totally worth it. The 50 meter tall inside was stunning, and parts of it's construction date back to the 1300s. I especially enjoyed the organ pipes in the back.

We headed next to the castle gardens which had a lovely park area, as well as a view down into the Tauber valley and back to another part of the walled city.

From there we got up onto the walls themselves. You can walk several kilometers around the perimeter of the town, looking down at the red tile roofs below.

We got an afternoon snack of flammkuchen (flame cake) which is basically a thin crust pizza. This one was the traditional cheese, bacon and onion. I also tried an aperol spritz, the popular drink around here which has orangy aperol, champagne, and some other fruit juice.

Another meander around town during golden hour brought more beautiful views of the valley and buildings lit up as the sun started dipping down.

For dinner I got my Oktoberfest beer and had a yummy chicken dish. I got the 'small' beer at half a liter, and I have no idea how anyone goes through multiples of the full liter steins. That's just so much liquid.

After dinner we caught the start of the night watchman's tour. Each night two guys, (one for the German tour, one for English) dress in historical night watchmen outfits, grab their halberds and horns, and lead a group of tourists Pied Piper style through the streets talking about the medieval history of the town. There was a lot of people watching value when everyone gathered in the square to begin.

The next morning at breakfast, we asked our host Norry about his 'Norryphone' the guidebooks mentioned. He has created a cross between a baritone sax and a trombone, and we persuaded him to play for us.

The keys on the sax were replaced with the three valves of the trombone, and that whole section slid up and down to get the changes in pitch like a trombone, but it had a bari sax bell to help give it that rich sound.

Sarah made the mistake of telling him she played the french horn, so he brought out a flugelhorn for her to play, and we had breakfast duets. Truly the best way to start the day.

Our morning plan before train time was to the Torture Museum, which had extensive collections talking about medieval torture and punishment, as well as laws, legal proceedings, money, and other administrative type things since ancient times. Let me just say I'm glad our justice system has evolved a little since then.

A variety of tools to clamp around neck and wrists for public humiliation.

The afternoon was complete with a schneeball pastry from the cafe, as I heard they had the best in town. Basically strips of really light pie crust wrapped in a ball, fried, and coated with powdered sugar. More delicious than it sounds, actually, and just right for a second breakfast snack.

Then we grabbed our bags and headed to the train station to catch a train. Next stop- Heidelburg.