Author: Ann Laemmlen Lewis

Nördlingen is another Bavarian town encircled by well-preserved medieval walls with towers and covered parapet paths. The city center’s focal point is  the massive Gothic St. George’s Church with a tower called the Daniel.  The Rathaus (town hall), with its gabled roof and towers, is one of several medieval buildings, some half-timbered, on the main square. 

We started at the church, which was really wonderful, especially the carved wooden choir seats.

There were lots of people out and about and some sort of festival was going on with booths and food trucks and lots of families. Stores had their wares out in the streets. It felt like they were having discount sales.  There were lots of people, but there was no charm. The place was old, but it didn’t look old. It was hard to find something to take a photo of. We finally just went back to the car and headed on to our next place: Ulm.

Maybe this was my favorite house to look at–the crooked one!

We were also pretty tired.  We’ve walked a lot today in many different places.

An example of an old home (with no charm).

This is the closest thing to a quilt shop that I’ve seen in a long long time!

That’s it for Nördlingen!

From Rothenburg, we drove about 45 minutes to Dinkelsbühl on the Romantisch Road. The route took us on narrow one-lane farm roads through the rolling countryside filled with tended fields and forests. The maize has been harvested. Saw new crops of rapeseed growing and a couple of spectacular fields of sunflowers–bright golden yellow, facing the sun. Mostly rolling fields, many freshly plowed.

Dinkelsbühl is one of the most enchanting towns I’ve ever seen. It was like a fairytale, with every house and every building perfectly restored and colorful, with half-timber homes and businesses of every color and design. It was amazing. We really loved it all. There was a bakery stop for Aaron and an ice cream stop for John. We found a tourist info place for Abbey with a bathroom and we got a map and suggestions of where to walk to see the best parts of the old town. We went into the old churches and enjoyed the Fraktur word descriptions or names on each establishment.  We walked along the old city wall. There was a creek/river and old towers and old trees and quiet cobblestone walkways.  It really was absolutely enchanting.

The Münster St. Georg:

more coming

It was a quiet Sunday morning in Rothenburg.  While waiting for the local Evangelisch church service to begin, John and I climbed the tower at the city hall to take a look around.

This is the ceiling at the top of the tower:

We attended an Evangelisch church service this morning in Rothenburg at the cathedral.  The church is huge. We sat in the middle. There were 7 people in front of us and about 15 behind us.  The service started with a song from a group of children.  We had a prayer/song book and the page numbers on the placards to tell us when to sing, recite or listen. The sermon was about angels, with examples from the Old Testament, then the New Testament, then modern day–there are angels around us to protect us and bless us.  Enjoyed being there.

Many cathedrals have blankets at the back for the worshipers.  It’s cold in these old stone churches.

We spent the rest of the morning enjoying wandering through town.

Last time I was here, I bought an old print from this favorite shop.

Riding on the cart from our hotel to the hotel’s parking lot as we said farewell to Rothenburg.  It’s always hard to leave this place.

Returning to Rothenburg.  You always return.  This is a town you can’t wait to share with loved ones.  I was happy to be back.  Come enjoy the colors, the shops, the details again.

We spent a little time in the Christmas store.

The most photographed street in Germany:

We took the kids up on the city walls to walk along the ramparts.  These are some of my favorite views of Rothenburg:

We love this hotel:

Introducing Aaron to Spaetzle.  He loved it.

I just love these little pull toys.  I’ve collected a few for the grandkids.

The Night Watchman Tour is a must-do attraction here.  Every night, all year long, this man leads people through his town.

I’ve written about it here.

Here’s a look at beautiful Würzburg, the churches, the castle on the mountain top, the old bridge and the people.

Our first pastry of the day:

Etched into this stone archway are dates and high water marks from floods that happened here.

Here are bombs that were dropped on this city during WWII:

City Hall:

The Marienkapelle:

A colorful farmer’s market:

There’s always room for a Brat!

We made our way back to the Residence and since the rain had stopped, we popped back in on the gardens.  Oh, so beautiful!

Next stop:  Rothenburg.

The car was packed and we were excited!

Our first destination was Würzburg. We hadn’t been there before and weren’t sure what to expect, except that there was a big palace called The Residence that had over-the-top decor.  The Residence is where the Prince-Bishops lived–a baroque palace, a UNESCO World Heritage site.  The palace shell was built from 1720 to 1744, and the interior was finished in 1780.  The entry has a famous staircase with a vaulted ceiling and a huge fresco decorated in 1752/53.

During WWII, they removed the furniture, tapestries, wall paneling and art, so when it was bombed and much of the palace destroyed, they had photos and furnishings to bring back to the restored palace (completed in 1987). We were able to tour about 40 rooms. There was a section describing the destruction and the rebuilding, down to every detail.

See how the painting comes off the wall into 3-demensional sculptured parts like the fabric and cherubim.

 

Sometimes your eyes just need a place to rest in a room like this.

Almost all of the huge tapestries depicted war scenes and conquering.

This is the famous room of mirrors.  Can you say, “OVER THE TOP?”

The ceiling:

Here’s how it looked after the bombs fell:

Here’s a merry-go-round for the children to play on.  It was brought into the Residence.  There were several games the kids could play while they rode this carousel.

Some of the games were jousting to knock off the nose of the man, or to go through the large or small rings.

A swan table:

A window view:

The Residence Chapel:

The gardens were a nice change from the baroque decor.

We took cover under an umbrella tree while a storm blew over.

After visiting the Residence and gardens, we walked into town to have a look around.

Stopping at our car, and enjoying the curvy pavement.

When you have to repair the pipes under the pavement, it’s a little bit of work!