Well, 10 days into our trip and I’m already falling behind on blogging! I’m writing this in Prague (for anyone wondering, we were thankfully nowhere near the recent shooting), but will save the wonders of Prague for a future post… as I need to update on our time in Germany!
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
During our planning for this trip, I heard about a small town in rural Germany was apparently both rich in history and had a great Christmas market. It went straight on the itinery, and I didn’t think about it too much until we arrived… but I’m glad we added it to our list!
We headed to Rothenburg via train after wrapping up our time in Darmstadt (which was such a great and spontaneous addition to our trip, very glad we stopped in!). The train system in Germany is nuts – everyone keeps complaining about how late the trains are, but I can’t get over just how comprehensive the network is. You can get virtually anywhere – we were able to get from Darmstadt, which towards the outer side of the Frankfurt network, to Rothenburg, which is on the edge of the Nuremburg network, without having to go into either of those cities and their central train stations – the regional trains and linking routes between outer stations are just fantastic. The best part is that in Germany, a 49 Euro “Deutschland ticket” allows you to travel on any train except the high speed rail for an entire month – so we were able to just jump straight on all these trains and not worry about tickets!
When we arrived in Rothenburg, it was clear that I had underestimated just how cool this place is. From the train station, it was a short 5 minute walk, and we were suddenly looking at ancient city walls. We headed through, and entered an incredibly well preserved medieval village. One of only 3 villages in Germany with their full medieval walls intact, and having been inhabited for over 1000 years, it was incredibly surreal to enter such an alternative universe.
Our accomodation was in a adorable little place called the “Pension Elke”. This bed and breakfast was located inside the old city walls, was quite affordable considering the location, and was run by an incredibly energetic man by the name of Klaus, who also operated a general store on the floor below. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay, and the free breakfasts in the morning with an adorable view out the window.
We stayed in Rothenburg for 2 nights, and loved every minute of it. The crowds were intense at times (it is a very popular domestic and international tourist attraction, so a blend of Americans and Germans everywhere) but it was still charming, and at evening, the streets cleared out, the temperature dropped, and we had some of the streets entirely to ourselves. We found a quiet spot one evening where the old castle used to be, looking over the valley – mulled wine was being served, there was great music being played softly through a sound system (including a song called El Buho, by Bianco White, which I had never heard before but was an instant favourite) and the lighting was beautiful. We spent some time just taking it in and looking over the beautiful valley below – I spent a lot of time mulling over the fact that people must have enjoyed (and guarded from the walls) this view for some 1000 years.
Some of the coolest things you could do in Rothenburg were walking the medieval walls (which were clearly built for much shorter people than me) – free, and allowed me to pretend I was a medieval soldier protecting the village – and climbing the town hall tower, which had some sketchy stairs but was worth it for the amazing view of the whole city. The museum also had some epic old armour and weapons!
Apparently, much of the reason Rothenburg is so well preserved is because it went through a period of economic decline during the 19th century – so avoided being modernised like so many other places. It got bombed during WW2, but only about 30% of the city was damaged – and was thankfully rebuilt.
Nuremburg
Our time in Nuremburg was alas extremely brief – served as more of a stopover on our way to Prague. But of course, we found our way to the Christmas markets, and took in some of the sights and famous buildings. We will have to return, as we barely scratched the surface. The Nuremburg Christmas markets are extensive – and serve some slightly different fare to other markets…
Eating our way through Europe pt.2
There was plenty more eating to do – Christmas markets may not be good for your health, but they sure are delicious!
Schneeballen: These were sold all over Rothenburg – and while they look adorable, are somewhat overrated – basically just a ball of dough with some sort of sweet flavouring added
Scharfe Rote in der Stange and Frankisches Bratwurstschneckerl: I have no idea what I just wrote and trying to order these was amusing, but more fantastic Christmas market fare from Rothenburg.
Nürnberger Rostbratwurst: These delicious tiny sausages are a speciality for Nuremburg, so of course we had to try. Still amazed by how many different sausage variations there are here.
Stollen: Delicious fruit bread that is almost cake – very heavy and enough sugar to keep you going for a while!
Nürnberger Lebkuchen: A biscuit that is more like a cake – fruity, spiced and filling, another Nuremburg speciality that we thoroughly enjoyed
So there you have it – been a great few days, and couldn’t recommend Rothenburg highly enough. On to Prague now for a week over Christmas in a hostel – loving hostel life so far, will cover it in my next post.
Next stops: Prague, Budapest, Vienna