In the past couple of weeks, I've had the opportunity to check out some adorable German towns located not far from Frankfurt. On May 29th, the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, Daniel and I made a day trip over to Rothenburg, a charming village surrounded by a medieval wall. Then, last Friday, June 4th, I had a day off from school, so I joined my friend, Stephanie, and her family to revisit Rudesheim. Daniel and I had been there last July with his sister and her husband, but it was such a cute little town, I was happy to go back again, and this time the weather was quite a bit nicer... but before I go on about Rudesheim, let me share more about Rothenburg.
The famed "Romantic Road" of Germany connects Frankfurt and Munich, and Rothenburg is largely considered to be its highlight. Since moving here, I've heard over and over what a neat place it is, so it has been on our must-visit list for quite some time. Thankfully, having a long weekend over Memorial Day provided us a good opportunity to make the two hour drive down there. As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by a very imposing gate leading into the city called the Galgentor. While I whipped out the camera, Daniel went up into the tower for a photo opp :) Once we made our way through the gate, we climbed the stairs to check out the wall more closely, and we walked a bit around its perimeter. Then we headed into the town center, passing another gate-like structure, the White Tower.
Soon we found ourselves in the Market Square. Here you'll find the Town Hall and the Councilor's Tavern, which is where the city council used to imbibe back in the day. As we continued to wander around, we breezed by St. Jakob's Church... we took a quick peek inside and it was actually quite modern, so then we decided to go get some lunch.
Though I am not a huge fan of German food, every once in a while it definitely hits the spot, so I had some cheesy German noodles called spaetzle and Daniel had the wiener schnitzel, which is actually breaded pork, not a hot dog :) After lunch, we checked out a few shops including the Christmas wonderland that is the Kathe Wohlfarht store. I wasn't actually supposed to take any pictures inside, but their huge tree was just too pretty so I snuck one anyway! Daniel had some fun posing with the giant nutcracker outside too.
Once we took in our fill of Christmas decor, we strolled along the cobblestones streets toward the Castle Garden at the far end of town. Up until the 14th century, a castle dominated this section of Rothenburg, but now it is a lovely park with some great views looking back toward the rest of town and the surrounding hills. On the other side of the garden, you can look down and see the "Toppler Castle," a funny little home on a rather high foundation.
After spending a while in the Castle Garden, we ambled back into town and decided to climb one of the wall's towers, the Rodertor, which means "Rooster Tower". With the late afternoon sun beaming by the time we got to the top, we got some great shots of the town, its walls, and the countryside below.
When we returned back to ground level, we strolled around a bit more and then stopped for some apple strudel and ice cream before getting back on the road towards Frankfurt... it was a yummy end to a very pleasant day. We both really enjoyed Rothenburg and were glad we finally made the effort to see it.
Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, in addition to Rothenburg, I've also visited another quaint German town recently, Rudesheim, which is found right along the Rhine River. My friend, Stephanie, had family and friends visiting, so I joined their whole group to check out this area on June 4th.
Since it was such a beautiful day, we started our visit with a ferry ride up the river. We set off from Rudesheim and soon glided past the Niederwald monument surrounded by the vineyards that make the Rhine River valley famous. During the boat trip, while soaking up the sunshine we passed several castles and quaint towns, including the Mauseterm, the Ehrenfels ruins, and the town of Assmannshausen, the Rheinstein and Reichenstein Castles, and the town of Trechtingshausen. Of course, I had to get a picture with Stephanie too :)
The leisurely two-hour ferry ride was a great way to appreciate the Rhine River and to spend a gorgeous afternoon. After debarking the boat, we quickly found a place for lunch so we could refuel before taking in Rudesheim. Strolling around this cute town is quite enjoyable... it boasts many restaurants and shops plus its most renowned street, the Drosselgasse. At the edge of town is a pretty little vineyard graced by rose bushes too. All in all, it was a very nice day visiting one of Germany's gems.
I am going to try to keep up the momentum and get another blog post up very soon... next time I will be rewinding all the way back to last October! Please come back soon to check it out... until then, take care!
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