Medieval Rothenburg

The second leg of our trip was a one night stop in the medieval  town of Rothenburg.  It is in the southern part of Germany, just between Nuremberg and Mannheim.  Nine years ago when Jason and I visited Germany, we had several people mention this town as a "must-see", but we just could not fit it into the schedule.  We were excited to check it out!

Rothenburg, was once a bustling city with over 6,000 people during the Middle Ages, but is now a tourist spot boasting to be the best preserved medieval walled city.  These ancient walls are open to the publice and you can walk completely around the city. 

We arrived in Rothenburg around lunch and after a quick sandwich in our hotel room, we headed off to explore the ancient ramparts. 

Our first destination was the wall tower you see in the distance of the photo above.  We were able to climb several flights of stairs and get a great view of the city.

We all enjoyed gazing out the window and Drew also performed his normal theatrics for the other visitors in the tower. 

Once we had our fill of the bird's eye view, we headed into the town.  The first stop was an ice cream shop to energize the crew for a few hours of exploring. 

Does he look like one satisfied tourist, or what?!

We made it to the city square on this magnificant spring day!  Honestly, I think we were all in sun-shock at this point.  We had not had so much sunshine since leaving North Carolina last July!!  What a blessing to be to have perfect weather for the entire trip, which definitely helps everyone's mood up.

We made our way through the historic town to the the western side of the city, just outside the town wall and reached the "Castle Garden".  There are no remains of the previous castle that was here centuries ago, but the city has maintained a beautiful garden area.  Drew began flirting with this little girl.  She kept squealing and trying to chase him around. 

On one side of the Castle Garden was a spectacular overlook where you can see the southern part of the city. 

In our meanderings around the city, we also found this spot for a family shot.  This part of the Germany countryside reminds me a bit of NC with the tree covered rolling hills. 

By 6:00 p.m., we were all exhausted and starving.  So, we took a quick break to determine our dinner plans. 

We found a recommendation in our trusty Rick Steves guide and settled on an inexpensive and family friendly Italian place.  The funny thing is our guide is actually from 2002 when we visted Germnay before.  This restaurant was still open 9 years later, most likely serving up all the other American tourists who follow whatever Rick Steves says!  The guys enjoyed a little Angry Birds competition while we waited for dinner to be served.

We hopped back on the wall for our evening walk back to the hotel.  The kids were focused on Narnia pretend play throughout this part of the trip.  So this photo is a mix of Narnia Ninja!  Either way, I think we were well protected.

After we had the kids safely tucked in bed and quickly off to sleep, Jason headed back out into the city to capture some night shots. 

Rothenburg is a truly beautiful city on the German Romantic Road.  It was the perfect half-way stop on our way to Austria.  Next post, my favorite part of our eight days away!