"One Day in Rotherberg." Rothenberg by Openseas

Monday 4th May
Another beautiful sunny morning we had breakfast and headed off to find the DHL office at the airport, after about forty minutes we located it but to our disappointment it was shut. So we ventured on the highway to find the Romantic Road that takes us to Rothenburg. The scenery was beautiful but not compared to the road we had taken through the Rhine Valley.

We arrived at Rothenburg around midday, the earliest settlements in Rothenberg were about 500bc, and Celtic tribes had built a fortification on the slopes of the Tauber Valley. Around 1142 the Imperial castle was built but an earthquake destroyed it in 1356 which now houses the Rothenburg gardens. This quaint historic fornicated village is uniquely dramatic overlooking the district valley.

It is set upon beautiful hills, still entirely surrounded by ancient walls with their battlemented towers all unchanged by the presence of the Twentieth Century. Through its gate runs the road to yesterday, and once within, the main pleasure of Rothenburg is the town as a whole. The village is a 13th century walled town that is preserved and truly captures the essence of medieval times.

The city is built upon a plateau that brings the level country to its walls on every side but the west; here the land falls steeply away directly from the base of the walls, to the valley of the Tauber some three hundred feet below; and from these western walls, and for miles along the river are some of the most beautiful sylvan views in Bavaria. Indeed, it is this very combination of beauty both within and without the walls to which Rothenburg owes it charm, this charm lies in the rural landscape in which the village is situated.

Interesting buildings within the village is the Town Hall which consists of two buildings one Gothic and the other Renaissance. The Imperial city museum and St Jacob’s Church, City Councillors Tavern are all impressive historic buildings. Coffee was now desperately needed to refuel our tidiness; we had a break in Café Lupre before heading off to look at the Rothenburg gardens.

The gardens were absolutely gorgeous overlooking the valley. We were just commenting on a wooden seat which was delicately placed under a huge oak tree when Mark rang to say hello, so we sat down and had a good chat with him and then wearily trudged up the path to the village again.

After exploring the gardens we had lunch at Rothenburg Hotel in a pretty shaded courtyard overlooking the cobbled stone streets. Peter had a mixture of German sausages with sauerkraut and I had a lovely fresh asparagus salad with a fruity glass of white wine.

Feeling tired after our lunch we ventured off to do a little shopping before heading back to Frankfurt on the autobahn. We arrived back around 6.00pm and proceeded to back our bags for our flight tomorrow to Hong Kong.

In the evening we strolled down to the Hotel restaurant and had a delicious meal. Pete had hare pudding which looked weird and I had a fabulous mixed grill with vegetables. The steak was so tender and light it just melted into my mouth. After drinking two bottles of fruity New Zealand wine we retired to our room. Peter decided to take the hire car back to the airport terminal which took bloody hours for him to return. Evidently the airport bus didn’t turn up so he waited for two hours. I thought he had taken himself to the casino!!!