Day 19: Rothenburg ob der Tauber

We couldn't have ended the trip in a better place. Rothenburg ob der Tauber was number one in my book of all the cities/villages we visited. Nothing beats a quaint walled-in medieval city to end a trip on a relaxing note.

My mom wanted to arrive there early, which meant we had to leave even earlier. I mean, up at 3:45 to catch the 4:30 train, early. The 4:30 train turned into the 5:15 train, and our 7:00 connection turned into our nearly 9:00 connection. In a nutshell, we woke up at 3:45 to wait at train stations, only to arrive in R.o.d.T. around lunch time, which was hours after my mom's desired early arrival.

We checked into our hotel, which looked like your typical medieval styled German home, and went in search of food. Lunch was absolutely excellent, except for the elderly waiter/owner who asked my mom to leave me in the city. That was slightly uncomfortable... .

We climbed the tower of the Town Hall, which was built between the 1300-1400’s, and overlooked the city. I was paralyzed up at the top, my fear of heights took over... and I was freaking out. Hang gliding was nothing compared to that tower. I tried playing cool, but my mom called my bluff as I was clinging to the wall, trying to stay as far away from the ledge as possible.

After making our way back down, we decided to check out the Christmas shops, which are what put R.o.d.T on the map in our day. By the time we made our way down to the end of the road, we were all Christmas-ed out. So, we decided to walk a part of the wall that surrounded the city.

The view was amazing, and the walk was so relaxing. We ended at the city gardens, which used to be where the royal family's castle was. My mom and I spent a good part of an hour sitting on the wall, absorbing the view. Then rain clouds started rolling in.

We made our way back to the hotel, stopping at any remaining store that was open... which weren't many. However, there was one shop I was excited to find still open. In the medieval era, women used to make a dessert called a "Schneeball" or snowball, which is a ball of dough pieces that taste somewhat like a donut. The tradition has been kept alive for the past 600 years, and is another famous trademark of the city. So, we popped into the store to buy a chocolate covered (and filled) schneeball. My mom didn't like it as much as I did, so I was the "unfortunate" one to finish it off.

We hid from the rain for a while inside our hotel room, but didn't let the rain stop us from taking the Night Watchman tour. We were led through the streets by the local "night watchman" who told us stories about life in the days when the city was in it's prime. We both agreed it's an absolute necessity to take the evening tour if visiting the city. And the rain only helped set the mood.