No, that's not Jeff!
Town Square
Too Bad we left my camera at the hotel room! Google like Jeff said in the journal below to see some great pics of this!!!
In this stained glass window are images of reformers, Hess and Calvin. Click on the image and see if you can find them.
This is the entrance of the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum.
Mask no. 1 (far left) had to be worn by sexual offenders, mask no. 2 (middle) was for acting like a pig, and mask no. 3 (far right) was for gossipers.
A letter from the Pope about buying indulgences. See explanation in photo below.
See Jeff's journal below for an explanation of this T-shirt.
Candy store where I bought a schneeball.
Owners of the store that Rick Steves highly recommends in his 2009 Europe Guidebook.
March 13, 2009 (4:00 p.m.)
Today has been a very relaxing day in Rothernburg ob der Tauber. We slept in a little and ate a wonderful breakfast prepared by our hosts. Then we headed for the streets to do a little shopping. We absolutely loved walking up and down the cobblestone streets and taking our time in each of the little shops that specialize in authentic German products – beer steins, ceramic figures (Hummels), cuckoo clocks, beautifully inlayed jewelry boxes, music boxes, nutcrackers, Christmas ornaments, swords, armored knights, etc. One of our favorite discoveries was schneeballs which are a famous product of Rothenburg. They are huge balls of a type of shortbread covered with a layer of chocolate and other varieties of things such as nuts or powered sugar. I didn’t eat any since dairy is my enemy, but it sure looked good.
The highlight of our morning was a visit to St. Jakob’s Church. This former catholic church has been Lutheran since 1544, just after the birth of the protestant reformation. The highlight of this great cathedral is in the back of the building, upstairs behind the choir loft and pipe organ. What is considered by many to be the greatest wood carving in all of Germany, Tilman Riemenschneider’s 500-year-old, 35-foot-high “Altar of the Holy Blood” is stunning. I took pictures, but unfortunately they could not capture the intricate detail that was carved into this masterpiece during a period of five years from 1499 to 1504. Google it. You won’t be disappointed.
After another fine German lunch (salad and schnitzel), we took a short walk around part of the wall of the city and then visited the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum. It was very educational but I think we’ve had our fill of stories of torture and execution for one trip. We decided to wrap the afternoon up by shopping a little more which ended up costing us quite a bit of money, but I will have to say that we racked up, at one shop in particular.
We are now relaxing in the hotel until dinner. Afterwards we will meet the Night Watchman in the town square for a late night stroll around the city. Rick Steves refers to this guy as the Jerry Seinfeld of medieval history in Germany. Strange combination, but we’re really looking forward to it. I will probably blog about it tomorrow since it will be very late tonight when we finish the tour.
Misc. notes for today…
· Did you know that Rothenburg is the town where the Vulgarian scenes were filmed from the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? It was also the inspiration for the village of the Disney animated classic, Pinocchio.
· The past two days I have enjoyed drinking Fanta Orangenlemonade, a soft drink I used to absolutely love while living in Germany as a kid. It’s not as orange and syrupy as the orange soda in the States. It is light and has more of a lemon flavor mixed in. Delicious! I’m sure they’ll have this drink in Heaven.
· I was also able to find another of my favorite childhood sweets – saure gurken. They are basically sour gummies in the shape of pickles/cucumbers sliced long ways. Jacqueline, I bought extras for you. I hope they make it home ;-)
· Sonya’s sister and her family, the Sowells, and our friends, the Gladishes, would absolutely love this town. They all share a love of medieval times and stories like I do, particularly their sons.
· You know, just when you think you know your spouse you need to take a two week trip with them alone. One thing I never knew about Sonya is how much water she drinks. Good grief! I guarantee you she drinks at least a gallon per day. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a good thing, but what goes in must come out, right?
· OK, OK, I keep forgetting to write this. The German word for “Exit” is “Ausfahrt” which I personally think is very humorous sounding. What is even funnier though is I thought Sonya knew what it meant since there is a prominent blue sign with the word, “Ausfahrt”, stamped in big white letters at every exit of the autobahn. Yesterday, however, after seeing this word every few miles from Franfurt to St. Goar (about 60 miles), she said, “Hey, that word must mean exit. I thought it was a town!” But wait, I’m not done yet… While shopping today, we ran across a T-shirt that said, “Where the @#$& is Ausfahrt, Germany”. I thought we were going to fall down laughing. They also sold a magnet, so we had to buy it! LOL!!!
The next time I write will be from a small hotel in Fussen, Germany at the base of the famous “Cinderella Castle”, Neuschwanstein, in Bavaria. Cant’ wait!
Today has been a very relaxing day in Rothernburg ob der Tauber. We slept in a little and ate a wonderful breakfast prepared by our hosts. Then we headed for the streets to do a little shopping. We absolutely loved walking up and down the cobblestone streets and taking our time in each of the little shops that specialize in authentic German products – beer steins, ceramic figures (Hummels), cuckoo clocks, beautifully inlayed jewelry boxes, music boxes, nutcrackers, Christmas ornaments, swords, armored knights, etc. One of our favorite discoveries was schneeballs which are a famous product of Rothenburg. They are huge balls of a type of shortbread covered with a layer of chocolate and other varieties of things such as nuts or powered sugar. I didn’t eat any since dairy is my enemy, but it sure looked good.
The highlight of our morning was a visit to St. Jakob’s Church. This former catholic church has been Lutheran since 1544, just after the birth of the protestant reformation. The highlight of this great cathedral is in the back of the building, upstairs behind the choir loft and pipe organ. What is considered by many to be the greatest wood carving in all of Germany, Tilman Riemenschneider’s 500-year-old, 35-foot-high “Altar of the Holy Blood” is stunning. I took pictures, but unfortunately they could not capture the intricate detail that was carved into this masterpiece during a period of five years from 1499 to 1504. Google it. You won’t be disappointed.
After another fine German lunch (salad and schnitzel), we took a short walk around part of the wall of the city and then visited the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum. It was very educational but I think we’ve had our fill of stories of torture and execution for one trip. We decided to wrap the afternoon up by shopping a little more which ended up costing us quite a bit of money, but I will have to say that we racked up, at one shop in particular.
We are now relaxing in the hotel until dinner. Afterwards we will meet the Night Watchman in the town square for a late night stroll around the city. Rick Steves refers to this guy as the Jerry Seinfeld of medieval history in Germany. Strange combination, but we’re really looking forward to it. I will probably blog about it tomorrow since it will be very late tonight when we finish the tour.
Misc. notes for today…
· Did you know that Rothenburg is the town where the Vulgarian scenes were filmed from the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? It was also the inspiration for the village of the Disney animated classic, Pinocchio.
· The past two days I have enjoyed drinking Fanta Orangenlemonade, a soft drink I used to absolutely love while living in Germany as a kid. It’s not as orange and syrupy as the orange soda in the States. It is light and has more of a lemon flavor mixed in. Delicious! I’m sure they’ll have this drink in Heaven.
· I was also able to find another of my favorite childhood sweets – saure gurken. They are basically sour gummies in the shape of pickles/cucumbers sliced long ways. Jacqueline, I bought extras for you. I hope they make it home ;-)
· Sonya’s sister and her family, the Sowells, and our friends, the Gladishes, would absolutely love this town. They all share a love of medieval times and stories like I do, particularly their sons.
· You know, just when you think you know your spouse you need to take a two week trip with them alone. One thing I never knew about Sonya is how much water she drinks. Good grief! I guarantee you she drinks at least a gallon per day. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a good thing, but what goes in must come out, right?
· OK, OK, I keep forgetting to write this. The German word for “Exit” is “Ausfahrt” which I personally think is very humorous sounding. What is even funnier though is I thought Sonya knew what it meant since there is a prominent blue sign with the word, “Ausfahrt”, stamped in big white letters at every exit of the autobahn. Yesterday, however, after seeing this word every few miles from Franfurt to St. Goar (about 60 miles), she said, “Hey, that word must mean exit. I thought it was a town!” But wait, I’m not done yet… While shopping today, we ran across a T-shirt that said, “Where the @#$& is Ausfahrt, Germany”. I thought we were going to fall down laughing. They also sold a magnet, so we had to buy it! LOL!!!
The next time I write will be from a small hotel in Fussen, Germany at the base of the famous “Cinderella Castle”, Neuschwanstein, in Bavaria. Cant’ wait!
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