Rothenburg was our next stop. We drove from Garmisch to there mostly along the autobahn... I (Mary) was driving but it's all in kilometers so I couldn't decide how fast I was going (people were still passing me...) but later realized I was averaging 95 mph! There's no speed limit on their freeways... it was nice. :) When we got to Rothenburg, we drove through a gate to get inside the city wall and found narrow, cobblestone streets and very old buildings mostly from the 1300s. Our room had a patio looking out from the city wall into the Tauber Valley, which was a winter wonderland, and the hotel itself is built into the original city wall. That night we browsed the Christmas Market and got half-meter long hot dogs for dinner, and crepes for dessert. Ben stayed out to go on the Night Watchmans’s Tour. It was a really funny, witty tour about the life in medieval Rothenburg and Europe in general. I did it the next night.

In front of our Burg Hotel

The next day we did a lot of walking and looking within the walls and went into shops and bakeries. They have the coolest Christmas store, Kathe Wolfhart, where there’s practically a Christmas city built on the inside (along with a mini villiage with animals running it which the girls loved). We hit the Medieval Criminal and Punishment Museum, which had lots to see—instruments used to torture for a confession or punishment. They had certain punishments depending on what was done and what profession you were. If a baker sold bread that was too small, he could be placed in a cage and dunked in water until he couldn’t hold his breath anymore… or killed if they thought he could hold his breath longer when he couldn’t. Two ladies who fight can be put in a double headed vice where they face each other. They would have parades where those at charge would wear silly masks and bells (sign of degradation) for bystanders to watch and laugh at, or cage people up outside for the same purpose.

Olivia, the flirt, caught this Australian's eye, who was with his friends. A girl from the group asked us if we were American--she heard Abby talking and said she loved her accent! We told her we all like theirs!

The next morning, we checked out and took a stroll along the old city wall. It’s not hard to imagine what medieval times were like in a town like this. Excellent stop!

Olivia's favorite past-time

Going up to the wall

And that concludes our 2 week vacation portion of the Germany trip. We're now settled in Landstuhl where Ben works in the ICU at the military hospital. We are in an apartment right in the town of Landstuhl, and are enjoying our surroundings. We're trying to catch up, so we can put regular stuff on here again... so Merry Christmas, yesterday!