Bavaria or Bust!

We got ready to leave Bacharach this morning, but of course we had to head into town for coffee before checking out. Today was a travel day:  caffeine was a must!  Besides, we can’t skip morning coffee on this trip:  you can’t get better coffee anywhere outside Europe. When we finally departed, fully caffeinated, our itinerary only had us driving about 2.5 hours in the direction of Munich, to a village just inside the region of Bavaria. 

Along the route we decided to stop in Würzburg to visit its Residenz, which was touted as the Versailles of Germany. While slightly smaller than Versailles, it bore many similarities, including opulent rooms, grand staircases, and manicured gardens. It was a nice stop, but no pictures were allowed inside.
 




Our ultimate destination for the day was Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Rothenburg o.d.T. is a fairly small, modern town built around maybe the best kept German medieval town around. It still has a complete fortress wall surrounding the whole city. Visitors to the old town must park outside the wall and walk in. It’s rather exciting to enter through the ancient fortress wall!



We are staying in a campground just outside the city. This campground has a few rooms for rent. We will be here for two nights; the rates are great. It also has a laundromat, so we did our first week’s wash to get us through the rest of the trip. We pack light and do wash once. 





After checking in, we went to the local “Walmart”. It wasn’t Walmart but it was a big store where we could get anything we needed. It’s always fun to go to regular stores in different countries to see the products they sell. Some are exactly what we have and a few are totally unique. 

Then we went into the old city to get a preview of what we can do tomorrow. We visited the church where a choir was practicing for a concert. We also had a very German dinner, complete with spätzle. 






After dinner, we took a walk along the top of the fortress wall. Then, even though it’s fairly early, we headed back to the campground. Jim wanted to rest and turn in early tonight. 





It’s hard to convey how adorably medieval (minus the then prevalent smell of sewage) this town is. Pics and descriptions can only do so much. But just picture the Disney movie Pinnochio; apparently the town was the inspiration for the setting in the movie. 

We are just going to relax outside our room for the evening. More Rothenburg tomorrow. 

Note: Kristi said today was a “light” day … we walked over six miles. 😂

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