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The Boomer and the Gen-Zer: A trip of firsts
About a year ago it occurred to me that it might be fun to take my 19 year old niece (hereby referred to as K) on her first trip to Europe. She’d seen photos from some of our Christmas trips to Germany and has expressed interest in travel, so I decided to gift her with a two week trip to Germany and Austria over Christmas.
She and I had never spent more than a few days at a time together; she’s a college freshman, I’m a child-free retiree, so it was sure to be a learning experience for both of us. I’d monitored fares for months, and had just about given up on finding reasonably priced tickets, when I decided to take a look at Expedia. Lo’ and behold they were offering a fare I could live with on my preferred airline (Lufthansa). I’d never used Expedia, and had a few concerns, but I read the fine print, did my research, asked questions and finally took the plunge, booking flights from COS-DEN-MUC and return, plus three nights at a Munich hotel ($2,134 including insurance). In the months prior to the trip, United did what they do; made schedule and flight changes to the 15 minute flight from COS to DEN - four times! Lufthansa on the other hand, never made a single change. All went well, and I was quite pleased with my first Expedia experience. I’m a planner by nature, and I’d spent a great deal of time planning this particular trip. I’d researched which tickets to buy, which trains and specific routes to take and I’d complied a long list of what to see and do in each city, particularly things that might interest my 19 year old companion. My goal was to include a mix of cities, mountains, medieval architecture, churches, a castle or two, scenic trains and cable cars, Christmas markets, and even a couple of zoos, a special interest of my niece. Museums aren’t really my thing, but she had expressed interest, so I made sure to include some of those as well. The itinerary: Munich – three nights Rothenburg ob der Tauber – three nights Innsbruck – three nights Salzburg – four nights Munich – one night I also spent quite a bit of time familiarizing myself with my smartphone – laugh all you want, but this was the first time I relied on it for almost everything during a trip – photos (which I downloaded daily to a USB), Air BnB communication, train schedules, internet searches, email, texting, international phone calls, dinner reservations that I’d made and loaded into my calendar, and a Google Map list I compiled for each city, which included our accommodation and every single museum, restaurant, and attraction that even slightly appealed. Dec 14 & 15 I can’t remember the last time I flew UA without at least one thing going wrong and today was no exception. Evidently a UA flight prior to ours had been delayed for several hours, so UA’s solution was to use our incoming plane for that flight, and bring an out-of-service plane from the hangar for us, thereby getting the seriously delayed flight in the air and delaying ours by 30 minutes. I fully expected something to go amiss and had opted for a long layover in Denver for this very reason, so no drama. We spent that long layover in DIA’s Red Carpet Club; K’s first airline club experience, which she seemed to thoroughly enjoy. Our Lufthansa flight left on time; I’d selected and paid for aisle seats across from each other ($240), and as luck would have it, the middle seats next to both of us were empty, which is always a nice surprise; we both managed to get 2-3 hours of sleep, which is about as good it gets for me. The flight was smooth, the food surprisingly good. We arrived in Munich around 9:30 am, 30 minutes early. After cappuccinos and getting our bearings, I purchased the Gruppen Tageskarte (2-5 people), an all-day ticket which covers the entire train network in Munich (€24.30). Soon we were off on the ~40 minute train journey to the Hauptbahnhof, under an unexpected blue sky. Finding our hotel was a bit of an ordeal. I assumed it was because I was a phone GPS newbie, but we later learned that we’d exited the Hauptbahnhof from the wrong side, necessitating a detour around a construction site, a walk through an underpass…suffice to say it took much longer than the advertised five minutes. Our hotel - Marc Munchen, ‘adults’ only’, bundled with our flights through Expedia; comfortable and modern, spacious room, excellent breakfast, we thoroughly enjoyed it. Centrally located, yet very quiet. Some might consider the immediate area around the Hauptbahnhof seedy, but I prefer to think of it as colorful and ethnically diverse. The location worked quite well for us. The main objective of today was to get some fresh air, keep busy and stay awake as long as possible. It was too early to check in, so we left our bags at our hotel, then walked to Marienplatz, where we soaked up the festive Christmas Market atmosphere, sampled the bratwurst and kartoffelpuffer (potato pancakes), watched a street performance and took the elevator up to the Rathausturm, the observation deck of the Neues Rathaus, to admire the views (€7 Euro for both of us, extremely cold and windy). https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5921ec4f34.jpg Views from Rathausturm, the observation deck of the Neues Rathaus https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c845bbf670.jpg Views from Rathausturm, the observation deck of the Neues Rathaus https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5d353fd1ff.jpg Views from Rathausturm, the observation deck of the Neues Rathaus https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...61eae17639.jpg Marienplatz Then it was back to the hotel to get settled and shower, and then back to the Marienplatz by train for the 5:30 Advent music at the Neues Rathaus (brass band). https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...344aca5e34.jpg Neues Rathaus https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b3e01022b9.jpg Marienplatz Christmas Market https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a5893c9b51.jpg Marienplatz Christmas Market https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...afa2dbfeb8.jpg Marienplatz Christmas Market Afterwards we took the S-Bahn to Isator and walked to my favorite Munich Indian Restaurant, Goa, where we had a dinner booking. We intentionally went early; the last time I’d booked via their website they had no record of the reservation. Nor did they this time, but we were seated immediately when I presented the confirmation. This place is tiny and fills up quickly. Unfamiliar with Indian food (and the German menu) my niece let me order; we shared Butter Paneer and Paneer Achari, rice, garlic naan and sparkling mineral water. I’d told her that she was legal in Germany, so she tried a glass of Prosecco. The food was a hit, the Prosecco, not-so-much (€38) On the return to our hotel we managed to get on a train going in the wrong direction (I’m directionally challenged even when not sleep deprived, so no surprise really) but we figured it out pretty quickly, detrained and boarded another train going the right way. We’d managed to stay up until 8 pm. Success! To be continued... |
Melnq8, I'm on board with your adventure.
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I’ve been waiting for this report! |
We just missed you, we were there the 18th, 19th and 20th. It was so warm.
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Lovely photos!
I think it's brave of you to take a niece that you haven't spent lots of consecutive time with on a long trip! Hopefully you were good travel companions. Looking forward to hearing more! |
Wonderful to read your report!!
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I have been patiently waiting for this, Mel. :lol: Nice itinerary! |
jumping on board with you both and hoping for a nice smooth ride.
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Thank you all for coming along!
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I am really enjoying this report! Can't wait to read more. I think traveling with college age kids is the absolute best!
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Dec 16 – Munich-Garmisch-Zugspitz-Garmisch-Munich
As a Colorado girl, my niece loves the mountains as much as I do, and I really wanted her to experience Germany’s highest, the Zugspitz. With only two full days to choose from, I’d been keeping an eye on the weather forecast; today looked to be the better option. https://zugspitze.de/en/winter/mountain/zugspitze So we were up with the birds and in the breakfast room as soon as it opened at 6:30, then we hoofed it over to the Hauptbahnhof in the dark (the easy way this time). I bought two Garmisch Ski Tickets at the DB ticket office (€60 each, which included transportation from Munich and return as well as the cogwheel train and cable cars to/from Zugspitz) and we boarded the 7:34 am train to Garmisch, making sure to get on the right end of the train, as it separated in Augsburg. NOTE: The Garmisch Ski Ticket isn’t available online or from a ticket kiosk, but can also be purchased on board the train for a surcharge. Some 90 minutes later we arrived in Garmisch, walked via the underpass to the Zugsptitzbahn ticket booth, exchanged our voucher for a ticket, and then took the cogwheel train up to the Zugspitzplatt (Zugspitze glacier), which took another 90 minutes. Soon we were stepping out into a winter wonderland. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6768187e7f.jpg Zugspitzplatt https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c1eb6962e7.jpg Zugspitzplatt https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...08d9627e4b.jpg Zugspitzplatt We soaked up the spectacular views, tromped around a bit and took a gazillion photos. We then settled in with a warm drink in the restaurant, entertained by a group of little people learning to ski right outside the window. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...dd644f24b8.jpg Zugspitzplatt We eventually tore ourselves away and took the short cable car ride up to the summit of the Zugspitz. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...07986b0bf0.jpg Zugspitz Summit The frigid wind at the summit was absolutely brutal – our faces were pelted with sharp icy shards and the strong gusts made it a challenge to stay upright as we took photos; we weren’t able to spend much time on the viewing platform. We retreated indoors to enjoy the views from the warmth of the self-service restaurant, where we tucked into large pots of cheese soup (€15) and watched a guy shovel snow from the ledge near the cable car – no thank you! https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2008c571bc.jpg We eventually took the cable car down to Eibsee. This was a first for both of us, as the last time I visited the Zugspitz, the original Eibsee-Seilbahn (built in 1963) was still in operation. The new cable car, part of a €50 million re-design, opened in 2017 and can now accommodate 120 passengers; it’s much smoother than the previous cable car; the rumbling drop as the cable car passes over the pylons is gone, reducing the thrill somewhat (I’d told K to be prepared for the drop, but nothing happened). Also gone are the long queues, which is a very good thing in my book. I was impressed with the new and improved Zugspitz experience, and K seemed to thoroughly enjoy it as well. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1062ab3d40.jpg https://zugspitze.de/en/news/seilbahn-zugspitze Once at Eibsee, we donned our Yak Trax and walked around the lake – the path was icy in spots, dry in others. The wind was pretty fierce down here too, although it improved as we circled the lake; the walk took us close to two hours; ample time for girl talk. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0d39d70019.jpg Eibsee Then it was back to the Eibsee train station to await our train back to Garmisch. Here we learned that the cable car had been closed due to the high winds; evidently we’d timed our descent pretty well. Back in Garmisch we walked through the Christmas Market and met up with Fodorite swandav, whom I’d contacted to let her know we’d be in town. We had a nice chat over apfelstrudel with vanilla sauce (a first for K) and cappuccinos at Franz Krönner, then walked down to the river. With swandav’s help we eventually worked our way back to the train station and caught the 6:05 pm train back to Munich. The return trip seemed to take forever; the train kept slowing and stopping for no apparent reason. We eventually made it back to the Munich Hauptbahnhof, picked up sandwiches from a kiosk, successfully located our hotel and called it a night. It’d been a long day; we’d been gone for over 12 hours. This being a tourist is exhausting! To be continued... |
Hmmmm, Mel, that cold sounds beyond my tolerance level. But what a great day :) |
Nah, you're tougher than you think Adelaidean.
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Zugspitze
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I stand corrected.
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You'd have to have a very good sense of balance and a good head for heights to be that man clearing snow - it looks terrifying.
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Dec 17 - Munich
We slept in until 8 and then enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, me unable to pass up the Prosecco. Today would be dedicated to exploring as much of Munich as we could squeeze in. First up, the Englischer Garten, one of the largest city parks in Europe, where I wanted K to see the river surfers in action. The Eisbach River is supposedly the best and most consistent city center location for river surfing and people have been surfing here for some 40 years. The surfers are fun to watch and I thought K might get a kick out of it (she did). https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...726e00b93c.jpg She also seemed to enjoy the small section of the Englischer Garten we explored, and even the scenic route the GPS took us on to get there. It was another un-Munich like December day (at least IME) – warm and sunny. We next sought out the Viktualienmarkt, where we wandered aimlessly, took a gazillion photos and did a bit of shopping. I love this area of Munich and can’t visit the city without stopping here. If K was surprised by the abundance of food, fresh flowers and massive steins of beer, she didn’t let on. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9e45e83742.jpg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ea2000f16c.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...cad9ca9dcf.jpg I’d been curious about Eataly, but had never been, so now seemed a good time. After a bit of walking in circles we managed to find it and settled in at a table for a late leisurely lunch. K chose a pasta dish that she picked mystery bits out of, I went for a pizza (€41 with wine and mineral water, good but nothing special, glacially slow service). After lunch we poked around the huge Eataly market hall, bought some Italian chocolates and shared a big bowl of chocolate orange gelato. We eventually tore ourselves away and located the Hofbrauhaus, not for food or beer, but because it just seemed like the thing to do…afterall, this was K’s first visit to beer loving Bavaria, she had to at least see the place. So see it we did; we just walked through, checked out the long tables of merry beer drinkers singing along with the oompah band and went on our way. We then sought out Stachus Passagen beneath Karlsplatz, Europe’s largest underground shopping center, where we spent entirely too much time trying to locate a WC (then paid €1 for the privilege of no hand dryer and no towels!) https://www.muenchen.de/int/en/shopp...-passagen.html I seek out Advent concerts when I plan Christmas trips, and I’d found an organ concert for this evening at Frauenkirche Cathedral Church of Our Lady, so we went back up to street level and walked to the church. https://www.muenchen.de/int/en/sight...-our-lady.html After the concert we returned to Karlsplatz, poked around some more and stumbled upon one of my favorite finds from a previous Munich visit – Kay’s Champagneria (don’t quote me on this but I think it’s located in Galeria Kaufhof, which has a pretty wonderful food hall in the basement). We pulled up a stool and each had a nice glass of dry Rosé Prosecco, one of my favorite drinks of the trip, a surprise as I don’t usually like Rosé. The Polish woman manning the bar asked where we were from and told us about her trip to the US years ago, her limited English worlds better than my feeble attempts at German; she then kicked us out so she could close shop. We picked up some buttered pretzels from a bakery, poked through a few more shops and then returned to the hotel, where we ate our pretzels in front of the fire in the lobby and had more girl talk. It’d been another long day, some nine hours, and we must have walked 10 miles; we’d done admirable job of fitting in as much as we could. To be continued... |
Originally Posted by nonconformist2
(Post 17041303)
You'd have to have a very good sense of balance and a good head for heights to be that man clearing snow - it looks terrifying.
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Se spent a full day biking all over the English Garden there, and loved watching those surfers. We too loved Viktualienmarkt. So much variety! Your niece is better than our kids;) They stayed out later than us one night and went to the Hofbrauhaus. The next morning was not pretty for them, and they said they only had 2 beers. Liters of course, lol!
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Really enjoying this, Mel. Despite numerous trips to Germany I've never yet got closer to Munich than its airport but I did go to the Zugspitze many years ago on a family holiday so it was nice to be reminded of that. Munich is definitely on my bucket list.
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Hi annhig - nice to see you here. Lots to do in Munich, we've been many, many times and never run out of things to see and do.
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Thanks for the write up, very interesting so far.
As a dad of 3 twenty-something daughters, I nominate you for Aunt of the Year. I really like taking 2 or more of them with me on trips...heading out solo with one of the daughters and no spouse, not sure how that would go. Major thumbs up to you, Melnq8! |
bdokeefe - It was a learning experience, no doubt, but K turned out to be a very good travel companion. I hope she felt the same about me.
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Dec 18 – Munich to Rothenburg ob der Tauber
It was time to leave Munich and head to the best preserved medieval town in Germany, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, one of Europe’s most visited towns. Yes, it’s touristy. Yes, it’s kitschy, but I couldn’t imagine taking my niece to Germany at Christmas without a visit to this ‘fairy tale’ town on Germany’s Romantic Road. And so we bid adieu to our lovely Munich hotel, walked to the Hauptbahnhof, purchased a Bayern Ticket (€34, good on regional trains only) and set out on the 3:15 journey to the “Red Fortress above the Tauber” aboard the 9:35 am train, via Treuchtingen and Steinach. I was surprised that these trains weren’t busy this close to Christmas - whether sheer luck or because it was mid-week I’ll never know - but all the better for us. Our five minute train change in Treuchtingen was stress-free as we merely had to walk across the platform to our waiting train, but the four minute change in Steinach involved dragging our luggage down a set of stairs, then back up another set of stairs, accompanied by many other tourists doing the same thing, some of them rather inconsiderate as they frantically rushed to make the connection. Upon arrival at the Rothenburg station I passed my phone to K who, being 19 and much more proficient at gadgetry than me, did a great job of getting us to our accommodation, Kreuzerhof Hotel Garni, chosen for its location within the walls, yet on a quiet side street. The B&B consists of a handful of buildings and a small parking area. I’d booked a quiet four-poster room, hoping for a wee bit of extra space. It suited us well (€105 per night, inclusive of a decent breakfast). https://www.kreuzerhof-rothenburg.de/index.html Rothenburg too was unexpectedly sunny. After getting settled we went out to explore…having only had a cheese pretzel for lunch, the display case of Café Uhl quickly seduced us inside for cappuccinos and calories – chocolate cake for me, lemon cheesecake for K, both good (€12). Our timing was perfect, as a tour group filed in shortly after, pretty much taking over the entire cafe. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...02f9b4a483.jpg Cafe Uhl https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2355bcf322.jpg Cafe Uhl K was intrigued by the Schneeballen, a popular Rothenburg treat (pastry made from short crust and dipped in various toppings and…IME…barely edible); we picked up a few small ones for her to try later (and she agreed they look a lot better than they taste). https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2b34be763e.jpg Schneeballen We then climbed the 220 steps of the Rathausturm (tower of the town hall) to the viewing platform…well, platform is a stretch…it’s more of a ledge. I’ve climbed the tower before but had forgotten how steep and narrow it is – the last bit is actually a ladder. The guy in front of me bailed at the last minute forcing me to back down to let him escape (€2 each). The views from up here made the climb well worth the effort – expansive views of the town, the Tauber River, the surrounding countryside and of course the goings on directly below us in the market square Christmas Market. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0a1e5a73f3.jpg Views from Rathausturm The day had been surprisingly warm, but cooled off as soon as the sun dipped. We returned to our accommodation for warmer jackets and then set out to explore the Christmas Market in earnest. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ac09ef808f.jpg Rothenburg ob der Tauber Christmas Market https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4850d89682.jpg Rothenburg ob der Tauber Christmas Market Afterwards we wandered the side streets and popped into Zur Hoell, me wanting to show K the place she’d hear more about during that evening’s Night Watchman’s tour and hoping for a pre-dinner drink, but alas this popular Rothenburg institution was fully booked from 5 pm. We eventually made our way to the Klosterstuble; I’d stayed here on two previous trips and knew they had a good restaurant, so I’d booked us in for both tonight and Friday. And good it was; Käsespätzle with a mixed side salad for both (K really liking the potato salad), plus a shared plate of apple strudel with warm vanilla sauce and whipped cream for dessert - I enjoyed the almonds but wasn’t crazy about all those raisins. And another first for me - a nice Schwarzriesling, €38. No visit to Rothenburg ob der Tauber would be complete without accompanying the hellebarde wielding Night Watchman on his rounds, so after dinner we joined the mob in the main square for the English Night Watchman’s Tour - 8 pm (€8 for adults and €4 for students and loads of fun). https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fdaa7a4c70.jpg Night Watchman To be continued... |
We loved Rothenburg, and were surprised that it was not busy when we were then in mid September. The most people we saw were during the Night Watchman Tour, but not during the day at all. Too bad you missed Zur Holl. Excellent food! I agree, those Schneeballen look MUCH better than they taste.
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I love Rothenburg odt , Mel, been twice, but only in summer.
I even took a cousin who lives in Nuremberg but had never been, - too ‘Disney’ she thought, well, she loved it too, ha! |
I like it too. I've been there several times and always manage to have a good time (and I've been to Zur Holl a few times for drinks but haven't had a meal there yet, must rectify that).
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Joining you on your travels too, Mel. I really enjoyed Munich but have not ventured far into the rest of Bavaria. Am reading your report with great interest.
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The night watchman is grey now. I have done his tour twice. We tried one of those balls. Yuck.
We took the cable car up the top without stopping on Boxing day and it was smooth till we hit the tower and then we all fell forward and people gasped. I had nothing to hold onto so about went over. We took the cogwheel back down and it was standing room only. So much ski and sled equipment taking up space. It was a clear day but like you blowing hard. We had a great lunch and was so happy for the one non rainy day. Didn't you love Eataly? We had drinks and a cheese plate one night there. I bought my husband the lemon gelato. You really did well! |
Macross -
So, the ride from Eibsee up to the Zugspitze wasn't smooth? I enjoyed poking around Eataly (especially the chocolate section), but our lunch didn't knock my socks off. Or the service. Sorry I missed the lemon gelato though! |
Dec 19 – Rothenburg ob der Tauber - Detwang
After breakfast we walked the ~2 mile long wall that surrounds Rothenburg to take in the roof level views of the town. I’ve done this several times and it never gets old. K seemed to enjoy it as well. I’ve since found this comprehensive guide and wish I’d it with me at the time: https://www.bigboytravel.com/germany...-walking-tour/ https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...49a77913bc.jpg Walking the wall https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3e2d885716.jpg Walking the wall We then walked outside the wall and followed the Jacobsweg/Panoramaweg Taubertal down to the pretty town of Detwang in the Tauber Valley, following the river. We both really enjoyed this walk, K commenting on how peaceful it was. I’d read about the Sacred Cross Altar at the 1000 year old St. Peter and Paul’s church. We found the church easily enough, but were unable to view the interior or the altar, as the church is only open for an hour on Sunday in the winter. It sure was pretty though, and we both admired the well-kept cemetery. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ff55210625.jpg Detwang Then it was back up the hill to Rothenburg, where we walked more of the exterior, explored the grounds outside of the Rödertor (one of the five gates into the walled city) and I took a gazillion photos. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...88057a2105.jpg Outside the wall https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4e73b9a81e.jpg Outside the wall https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a385b7abab.jpg Outside the wall https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...00cc756ccf.jpg Outside the wall Hungry, we headed to Gastof Rödertor, located just outside the walls, a favorite of mine from past visits. Determined to save room for a cake stop later, we shared a really good potato pizza with ham, onion and salami (€19 with sparkling mineral water and one glass of wine). I was surprised to find the restaurant near empty. Our afternoon was spent at Das Mittelalterliche Kriminalmuseum (Medieval Crime Museum) where we learned much more than we wanted to about medieval torture and punishment (€11 euro for both). Fascinating and gruesome. After cake and cappuccinos at Baumeisterhaus (cheesecake for K, a tiramisu cake that didn’t taste much like tiramisu for me) and a rest in our B&B, we returned to the Christmas market so K could pick up a few gifts she’d spotted the day before. We milled about, ate 1/2 meter bratwursts, soaked up the festive atmosphere, and then watched the Christmas Market vendors button up their stalls for the night as we waited in the market square for the 7 pm Ghost Tour with the Executioner (the tour actually begins at 7:15, there’s a typo somewhere). Unlike last night’s mob for the Night Watchman, our group was small, four Aussies, two Brits, and two Americans (us). The tour was entertaining, the guide a hoot, good looking (!) and intense; staring each one of us directly in the eye and flirting shamelessly with one of the young women in the group – great fun (€9 each). https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4fe92039b4.jpg Ghost tour To be continued... |
I’m enjoying this report and can’t wait to read more! I only stepped a toe in Germany and really need to do a Germany-focused trip one of these days. There are just so many places to visit and unfortunately the money to travel doesn’t accumulate at the same speed that locations are added to my bucket list!
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Really enjoying your report!
I spent several nights in RodT, and I most enjoyed the scenic walking from the town. Glad you got out to see the countryside -- so pretty! s |
Rothenburg ob der Tauber is really worth it if you can spend the night (like Brugge). They are magical when the sun goes down and the day tourists leave.
Macross- That sure is a sign of time moving on, I also remember the Nightwatchman with non-grey hair. 'And for the next 400 years in Rothenburg, nothing happened', for some reason his delivery of this line made me laugh then, and now. Trade and fortune bypasses a city, which then serves to preserve it. |
the best preserved medieval town in Germany, Rothenburg ob der Tauber Also I hope that no one takes from your report that it is a good idea to fall for all the tourist traps there like the ridiculous local sweet or silly pseudo museums. I also don't quite get why you walk to Detwang's closed church but don't mention Rothenburg's own church and its altar piece. |
Ah yes, we can always count on Lubitsch to piss all over the trips of others.
And FWIW, we visited Rothenburg's church the following day. |
Dec 20 – Rothenburg ob der Tauber
A lazy start, a leisurely breakfast. I paid our hotel bill so we could get an early start the next morning, and then we walked to the train station outside the walls, bought our Bayern ticket for the next day (€34), obtained a print out for tomorrow's train changes, and then explored the mall across the street, me loading up on chocolate from Kaufland (grocery store). Note: The B&B had left squares of Eichetti chocolates on our pillow – they were so good - remember Albert’s chocolate ice cubes? I loved those as a kid and they reminded me of them. So when I stumbled upon Eichetti chocolate squares at Kaufland for .99 a bag I went a bit nuts. Google tells me that Eichetti is a German brand for a unique ice cream confection and was founded by Adam Eichelmann in Werneck in Lower Franconia in 1897. This chocoholic wholeheartedly approves. But I digress… We returned to Café Uhl for lunch, the restaurant weirdly empty; potato soup with bread and sparkling mineral water for both, Schwarzriesling for me, cappuccino with cream for both (those babies were STRONG), a cinnamon roll with poppy seeds for K and an absolutely fabulous decadent rich butter cream cake for me – yum, yum, yum – we both agreed it was like eating a stick of butter - €32. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...80d9f784c3.jpg Cafe Uhl We wandered, we shopped…the whole town was now bustling on this last Friday before Christmas. The sunshine had disappeared – the clouds and rain had set in, and little did we know they’d be with us for many days. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ef72094c4e.jpg Poking through Rothenburg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2ae2c593d2.jpg Window shopping https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b80da3e77c.jpg Window shopping https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5a3a9ae2e0.jpg Wandering I’d run across a tour with music at St Jacobs church at 5 pm, so we joined in; the music and candlelit church were enjoyable, but the tour was in German and therefore lost on us. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4410dafc49.jpg St Jacob's Church https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f572ebdcf0.jpg St Jacob's Church Then it was back to the Klosterstuble for an encore dinner, both ordering the Käsespätzle again, Schwarzriesling for me and Schorle for K (white wine diluted with soda, €30, four thumbs up). After a bit more wandering and photo taking, we retreated to our cozy room to pack and watch German MTV. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...14db0318cd.jpg Rothenburg after dark https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7dd60ad31b.jpg Rothenburg after dark https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2bcd6cf6a5.jpg Rothenburg after dark https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3c7847a375.jpg To be continued... |
1 Attachment(s)
Originally Posted by Melnq8
(Post 17042130)
Ah yes, we can always count on Lubitsch to piss all over the trips of others.
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/...ns-in-germany/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/trave...many-12536263/ https://www.planetware.com/tourist-a...r-d-ba-rot.htm Look you were doing and are writing about one of these sugary grotesque US American cliche itineraries with Munich, Rothenburg, Salzburg. Fine, it's your holiday. It's just that doing a side trip from Munich to Rothenburg is a bad idea and needlessly complicated. You are writing about all the cliches that Rothenburg has set up for clueless tourists. We have no local specialties? Let's pretend that some leftovers are a great delicacy. We have nothing to exhibit? Let's do some silly medieval torture stuff, people will fall for this nonsense. If it were just you, fine. But people are reading this stuff here and believe you that this is the way to have a Christmas holiday in Germany and at this point somebody has to gently reintroduce reality and some taste.
Originally Posted by Melnq8
(Post 17042130)
And FWIW, we visited Rothenburg's church the following day.
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Okay, how about 'one of the best preserved medieval towns in Germany'? Will you buy that?
It's just that doing a side trip from Munich to Rothenburg is a bad idea and needlessly complicated. Perhaps we have different definitions of complicated. It wasn't complicated for us. And it wasn't a side trip, it was a destination - I wanted my niece to see Rothenburg and all its tourist trappings. I get that you don't approve, but it's not up to you is it? I think Fodorites are intelligent enough to realize that many places in Europe are tourist traps, and capable of making their own decisions regardless of what one random visitor writes in a trip report. Lord knows the US is full of tourist traps as well, but does that keep Europeans from visiting? I think not. And yes, I've seen the altar in St. Jacobs - I took a tour of the church in English several years ago. Mellow out dude, it's just a trip report. |
omg lub, knock it off.
We have been twice and loved it. We collected gluhwein mugs this trip. Happy to see pottery as last year in France they were giving us plastic cups in Paris and Lille. I think you did well on the budget, I love reading some high end reports but we are budget travellers so appreciated seeing the cost. That cake!! We splurged a couple of times but still under 80 euros for both and that was NYE. Did you buy anything from the markets? I love felt ornaments. Your pictures are so much better than mine. You mentioned the train from Munich where it split, we saw a few panicked faces. My husband read the fine line on the boarding gate about it so we were in a front car. He was impressed with your ski ticket. We paid 50 euros each just to go up. We did have the free tourist bus ticket though. |
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