Day 2 in Rothenburg ODT

Today was our second day at Rotheburg ODT. Since it is a small city we managed to get our bearings and do the self guided tour last night as well as the Night Watchman's tour that is recommended by Rick Steves. The Night Watchman's tour was OK. It was funny and somewhat informative but it was not really very authentic as it was built for North Americans and didn't have too much real history involved. I would recommend it for a first time here, but not a second.

Food in Germany and costs in general have been a lot less expensive then in the Netherlands. We can have a huge dinner for under 30 Euro here and all the tours are cheap as well as the entrance to the museums. I guess a big city would be different, but for a tourist town, I am impressed with the prices. Beer is under 3 Euro for a large glass in all locations and can be found for 1.5 Euro in some.

Today we did the wall walk. This walk takes you around the city's wall and through some parts of the moat. It was interesting to think all the people who lived and died by the wall. As Rotheburg is one of the few walled cities left in the world, it is a rare experience to see such a thing. After the wall walk, we had lunch and then went to the Christmas shop, which was very cheesy and overpriced. They were selling dollar store classes ornaments as well as craft things for lots and lots of Euro. Some of the stuff was nice, but overall it felt like a tourist trap.

After the Christmas store we went to the Crime and Punishment museum which was totally worth it. For 4 Euro each, there was a 1 hour walk that displayed all sorts of torture and humiliation devices from the middle ages. As well there were numerous art exhibits from the same time and a neat collection of wax seals. This was one of the top museums we have seen thus far on the trip.

After dinner we sat in the square and watched the locals make fun of the Night Watchman. I guess he is sort of considered a bullshit artist around here, but he makes so much money off the Americans and Canadians I bet he doesn't care. After he left a bunch of boys came and played their bands songs acoustically. We sat and listened to them for about an hour and I have to say it was a wonderful experience. This is what traveling lets you do, experience how other people live and what they do on a Sunday night.

I think Germany will have to be re-visited in the future. There is so much we didn't get to see just visiting these small cities. Next time Berlin and Munich I suppose!

Tomorrow we are off to Prague, so I will update the next time we get internet!


Auf Wiedersehen!

Hotel in Rotheburg OTD

I have edited this post to reflect some changes that I discovered in the morning when we woke up! Apparently the owner is still alive an well (we assumed he was not here anymore as we didn't see the guy described in the Rick Steves book) and the confusion around our reservations was figured out. Read below...

We are staying in Gasthaus Raidel in Rothenburg. It is in an 600 year old building so it is quite "authentic". We have a shower in our bedroom but not toilet. The toilet down the hall (the only one in the building that I can see) has no toilet paper, so it is quite challenging to go to the bathroom. I am not sure what is going on, but this place was recommended by Rick Steves' book. Later on we discovered more toilet paper, so I think they just got behind (haha) on it yesterday.

The room would be better but the lamp is broke so we are using the nasty overhead light. The lamp is apparently under repair, so who knows if it will come back to use for the evening. The floor is squeaky (fine with me as it is an old building). At first we thought they lost our reservation, but then we discovered that I had clicked October instead of September on the reservation form, so they had us booked for next month. Luckily they had a room, but I think it is the 'room of last resort' that they give to dumb asses such as myself. Our 'real' room for next month apparently has a complete bathroom in it and non-squeaky floors. However, we won't be able to take advantage of that as we won't be here! I have to hand it to the hotel on the ability to adapt to my mistake, but I guess in the worst case scenario we would have found another room down the street.

Bacharach Germany

Typing on a German keyboard is strange as the Y key is in the lower left hand corner.

Anyhow...

Bacharach is very nice and beautiful this time of year. We are staying at a quaint little bed and breakfast Ferienwohnung Kachel that is about a kilometer from town. Our room is very large and has it's own bathroom.

Town is good just like all the little village pictures said it would be. The region is famouse for it's white wine and we have drank lots of it (especially tonight which makes this German keyboard even that much more challenging). To the South is St. Goar, another small town which has a castle that we visited today. There will be lots of pictures coming soon, when we have our own intertubes again.

Tomorrow we leave for Rothenberg and don't expect to have internet there either. Maybe in Prague?

Rea has a big update as well, but we will await more North American keyboard patterns and free wireless.

Welcome to the Traveling Sauters!

Hey everyone!

We will be visiting Europe over the next month (September 20th until October 15th) and visiting the Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy and France. This is our first trip to Europe so we are quite excited.

T-Minus 2 days and counting!