Sex, sex, sex

Würzburg to Rothenberg

This has nothing to do with sex, but my readership has gone down so I thought I'd try to get your attention....

What a day!  We docked in Bamberg and had the choice of Würzburg and the abbey or a tour of Rothenburg. We chose Rothbenburg, and I’m so glad we did!

We knew it was supposed to be a cold day.  Consequently I was wearing a camisole, a turtleneck with a sweater on top, a corduroy jacket, the down jacket I bought for Alaska, socks, boots, a wool scarf, hat and gloves.  I was still cold.

Shortly after we left the ship, it began to snow creating a picturesque landscape unlike any we see on the West Coast.

White snow covered he fall foliage of the trees, the bales of hay, and the vineyards. The colors were like Breughel’s “Hunters in the Snow,” in muted tones of pale green, grey, black, and brown with small splashes of gold.

Although much of it was destroyed in only 20 minutes of bombing during WWII, some of the old ramparts remain.  We climbed the stairs and walked the narrow, stone floor.  The covered roof kept us out of the snow for a while.  Our tour guide said that all of her years of touring, she’s never encountered snow in Rothenburg, not even during the Christmas market.

Rothenburg is considered Germany’s most charming medieval town.  During the Middle Ages, it was the second largest city in the country.

The weather only added to the charm.  In the center of the square, was a small stove with its proprietor selling hot chestnuts.  A red and white awning covered a gingerbread cookie shop (I made a donation).  The owner would occasionally step out from under the protection to knock the snow off of her roof.  The old town clock opens on the hour to reveal two windows with a man in each drinking from a stein of beer. 

We have almost 3 hours on our own, and Dan and I headed to the town Imperial Museum, which is one of the best small museums we have ever visited.  The lighting is good, the items are artfully arranged with signs in English, and consisting of many artifacts we have never seen before.  It is housed in an old convent with some of the old rooms on view including the oldest (13^th century) remaining kitchen in Germany.  I have seen many weapon exhibits, but these were the most fascinating and beautiful.  The steins were not the traditional steins we see today.  Rather they were painted with scenes of birds and flowers.

The Judaica section had tombstones dating back to the 12^th and 13^th centuries and books written by Rabbi Meir Ben Baruch von Rothenburg, who taught at a Talmud School and Synagogue, in the first Jewish Quarter in Rothenburg, which ceased to exist.  I copied the following from the web:

“”From 1241 to 1242, The Staufer Imperial tax statistics recorded the names of the Jews in Rothenburg. Rabbi Meir Ben Baruch of Rothenburg (died 1293, buried 1307 in Worms) had a great reputation as a jurist in Europe. His descendants include members of the dynastic family von Rothberg, noteworthy in that they were accorded noble status in the nineteenth century, becoming the hereditary Counts of Rothberg, later taking up residence in the city of Berlin where they were well known as jewelers until the 1930s. Most members of the family disappeared and are presumed to have been killed during the Second World War.”

Our program manager had given each couple 30 euros to spend on lunch.  We went to a warm (!) colorful restaurant on the main square where we found most of our tour group along with many Japanese tourists.  There are so many Japanese tour groups in this area that the signs on the restaurants and shops are in Japanese as well as German and sometimes English!  I had hot, mulled wine, tomato soup, and a cheese sandwich.  This may not sound gourmet to you, but for me, it was an ideal meal.  Our meal came to 29+ euros just under the 30 given to us.

One of the members of our tour group never made it back to the bus.  After hunting for her for over 30 minutes, our program director stayed in town.  She did find her, and they both returned to the ship by train.   It is FREEZING out but I’m tucked in my warm, comfy bed with the heat on “womb” temperature fortified by tea and waiting for dinner.

I love this trip!