Day 2 – The Fairytale city of Rothenburg ob de Tauber

Tired as we were, everyone was very excited to see the little German towns that we passed on our way to Rothenberg.

We arrived in town around 9am and dropped off our luggage at the Hotel Rappen and a little talk on what was to happen today.

We then headed into town – our hotel is JUST outside the medieval wall which enclosed the main town. Okay, get ready for photo overload….. the first two were taken on our way to the main square…

which was just gorgeous…. many of the buildings date back as far the 1300s….

The kids (if that’s what you call teenage students) all went up the tower over the town hall. We would have but it was a bit unorganised (from the towers end) that we ended up not bothering and just waited on the steps of the town hall. Definitely not a bad spot to have to wait. When eventually all the kids had been up (only 20 people could be there at a time) we headed back to our hotel to have lunch (which is two doors up from the actual hotel). It was a lovely day (I think we got to a top of 18) so we were able to sit outside in the beirgarten.

My meal was a lovely cauliflower fritter and I ate Kevin’s side salad. Kevin had schnitzel (he doesn’t normally eat veal but pretty much it was only meat choice available. He was also very brave and tried someones blood sausage – which he said was disgusting!!!)

After lunch we split the group into two. Our group went for a walk around part of the town wall, seeing the town from above and exploring under some of the gates.

Everywhere you look in this town is just so cute and fairytale like. Hard to believe it’s all real.

We headed to the Castle Gardens (though there is no longer a castle) where the kids were given the task of drawing something they’d seen that day. Kevin and I relaxed (so glad to be off our feet for a while) and enjoyed the stunning location. One thing I didn’t realized is that all the trees would still be bare – though many are just now starting to bud.

After a bit Kevin and I decided to do a drawing too. Though I only filmed Kevin’s, so you’ll just have to admire my endeavor. I did love Art at school – took it till year 10 but I never very good :-).

Afters our drawing endeavors we headed back to the market square to meet with the other group. Of course I took more photos along the way. It’s one of those places that you want to capture every way you turn. There were lot more people out and about but it was still pretty quiet – I’m guessing because shops are closed here on Sunday.

We then went to have some afternoon tea in the form of “snow balls” – sorry don’t recall the German name. These very delicious treats are only available in this town.

Kevin and I chose 3 small ones to share – chocolate, lemon and powdered. The lemon was our favourite, and yes, we’ll be coming back for more tomorrow :-).

Everyone was feeling rather tired by now and it finally time to head back to the hotel and get into our rooms for showers (yay). We were very impressed by the room. It’s very modern and clean and we even have a balcony. As you can see Kevin was more than ready for bed :-).

After showering and getting changed I did some washing and Kevin made a make-shift clothes line on our balcony.

I also got started on yesterdays blog and at 7pm headed up two doors to have dinner (inside this time). We were served 3 courses. The first was soup with omelette strips.

The same cauliflower fritter that I’d had for lunch but it was so yummy I was happy to have it again.

Desert was a delicious pineapple fritter but I was too full to finish it (so Kevin did as he loves cooked fruit).

I tend to only photograph my own meals but if you’re keen to see what Kevin (non-vegetarian) is eating just let me know.

Some of the kids (like Amy) fell asleep at the table. Afterward we walked like zombies back to the hotel and fell straight into bed. I’m pretty sure I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

If you remember our trip to the UK back in 2010 you’ll know we like to spot goldens. Well, yesterday there was a record count of 5 goldens :-). And to think we weren’t even sure if we’d see any in Germany.

Tomorrow : Another day in Rothenburg