After our whirlwind weekend to Ludwig II's fairytale castles (posts here and here), we took the day off on Monday and just stayed local to Munich. We toured some of the sights (I will post the details when I do the Munich post) and come home in time for a homemade dinner. The next morning we were on the road again, this time for a day trip to Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
We had been here last year on our ski week break and found it to be utterly magical and have recommended it to everyone since. And since the previous time we were here it was cold, rainy, snowy, sleeting and did I mention freezing cold, I was up for visiting it again in the relative warmth. For the recap of the city's history and pictures of our first trip - click here. I won't bore you with all of the information of the monuments and landmarks again as it is all in my previous post.
After a short drive north, we parked right outside of the fortress walls and walked through the gate to find that it was exactly as I remembered it - just less snowy. And less windy. And with a lot more sun. We wandered the streets and headed straight to hell. Well, rather the restaurant named Hell. Sadly, the restaurant did not open until 5 pm...so we wandered on down the road, looking for lunch.
All decorated for Easter.
Yes, Hell has opening hours.
We found a small restaurant to have a very traditional meal of small white sausages, potato pancakes and saurkraut (all of us had the same dish) and with full bellies went to see the one place that we had not spent a lot of time last visit for obvious reasons, the Castle Gardens.
The castle, built in 1152, was completely destroyed by an earthquake 200 years later. The stones of the ruins were used to build the city walls. No castle was rebuilt in its place as the ruling family died out early on, but the gardens had already been established and live on to this day.
The view back into the city from the gardens.
The girls were happy to be free to run without their jackets (and hats, and scarves and mittens)
As you leave the gardens through the Burgtor gate, look up, and you will see this mask. This used to be where the guards would pour hot pitch onto attackers.
Back to our wandering, we passed the fountain decorated for Easter...
Town Hall...
And entered St. Jakobs Church. You can read all about it here - it really is worth the time.
The church was just as amazing as it was the first time.
Twelve Apostles Altar.
The Holy Blood Altarpiece - 1500 a.d.
The details on this carving are impressive!
Back outside we decided it was time for a late afternoon snack. Schneeballs to the rescue. We ordered 3 different types to share and then devoured them so quickly that the only picture I got of them was the aftermath of one poor ball that had yet to be gobbled up.
It was getting to be time to head home, and we still had one last thing to check off our list - walk the town walls. With a stairway located near the parking lot, we were in we headed up and wandered around for a bit.
Looking up into the rafters...
And down to the streets below.
We carefully walked back down the precarious stairs and were back in the car and on our way home shortly after that. We made it in time to make a late dinner and throw ourselves down on the sofa to rest. It had been another jam-packed, but fun, day. Good thing we had planned another "rest" day in Munich before we headed out again for the long weekend.
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