Europe 2015 - Romantic Highway - Wurzburg and Rothenburg - Dusseldorf Germany

Wed. Oct 28, 2015 Rothenburg Germany

Well we set out this AM with the intent to follow the Romantic highway from Fussen to Rothenburg. The guide book said just to follow the brown signs. There was no Route number, or GPS tracking, so with map in hand we set off. We quickly discovered that pretty much all signs are brown, and that it was near impossible to follow the Romantic highway. By blazing our own version of the Romantic highway twisting and turning on country roads, through little towns we could not find on the map, we were enjoying our journey. We enjoyed our journey until about two and a half hours in to the trip when we figured out we had only gone about 50 miles and at that rate we would arrive to Rothenburg till about 5:00 PM. We finally jumped on to the autobahn and arrived at out hotel about 1:00 PM. It was quite an exciting trip to the hotel which is located in the walled part of the city. It included driving down cobblestone streets barely wide enough for our car, all the while trying ad void running ove our fellow tourists. We were finally rewarded with a fabulous room that is located in a wonderful timber beamed,stone wall, creaky floor old building. We promptly set out to explore and to our delight the town had the same magical feel as our stay in France on Mont St Michel. Our highlight was walking on a narrow path on top of the wall surrounding the city, and climbing 103 stairs to the top of a tower for amazing views over the city. We then were able to try five different restaurants between afternoon cappuccinos, then cafe stop, beer stop, dinner stop, then after dinner stop. There is a full moon tonight bathing the town that feels deserted tonight with all of the tourists gone. We both agreed that this was one of our favorite days this trip ! Tomorrow off to Wurzberg where we drop our rental car off, and spend the night before heading off to Düsseldorf to spend time with Jon's old friend Patrizia and her husband Martin.

Getting ready to leave Fussen - note the cannon on the doorstep

Driving on the beginning of the Romantic Highway in Fussen

There's that castle again - picture 1001

Little town along our way

Back on the highway a bit - and a traffic jam - the good thing is that all the trucks stay in the right lane

Arriving in Rothenburg, trying to find our hotel while dodging tourists on the streets

Typical European bed style - no top sheet, and two individual comforters to use at night

All the following pictures are in Rothenburg - I could have taken 1000 pictures here it was so charming

the city is surrounded by a wall

In the town center this guy was making fresh squeezed apple juice

A fun way to cruise town

This town oozed charm and romance

We were able to walk around a large part of town on this walkway that was perched on up on the wall that surrounded the town - it was great views from here

Looking down over the town from the walkway

Next stop - climbing the 1,000,000 million steep, narrow, ladder like steps to the top of the watch tower

It was one long wall - it surrounded the entire city

Steps at one portion of the wall

Fall colors on the ivy on the wall, the walkway is at the top

this view reminded me of Mary Poppins - they still have all of the old TV attenaes

These steps date back to around 900 - you can see the worn tread on them from millions of footsteps through the ages

The tower we climbed

The wooden doors at one of the exits from the town were enormous

Town center and town hall

Don't feed the nutcracker

Loved the festive window displays

I spy Jon at the cash register - can't wait till Christmas now to see what he bought

This was at about 8:00 PM - the town was desserted once all of the tourists left

Full moon over Rothenburg

Looking down from our hotel room - falling golden leaves

Our hotel on the corner

Leaving town in the AM - town it is just starting to buzz

Fri. Oct 30 2015

With our trusty map in hand we set off from Rothenburg to Wurzburg yesterday. We were optimistic that we would be more successful sticking to the Romantic Road but alas, it was not meant to be so we blazed our own trail to Wurzburg. We did great until once in the city trying to find our hotel. Streets were closed due to construction and somehow we ended up in a parking garage. We gave up on the hotel and decided to drive to the train station to drop the car off. This was easily accomplished, and our hotel was only a 15 minute walk away. About the walk, Jon and I have made a pact that never again are we going to schlep around about 50 lbs. of luggage. Of course we always say that, but I am honestly serious this time. No more than 25 lbs between suitcase and carry on. Our next trip is to south east Asia for five weeks and the last thing I want is to be dragging luggage!! Anywho, we finally made it to the hotel, the Wurzburg hotel and we were able to check in early then set out to explore. We were a quick walk to the market place, bridges, royal residences etc.... We took the tourist train tour for a city tour which was a slight mistake because all of the bouncing around did not agree with Jon's back. We had delicious local white wine next to the bridge, then ate dinner at a great restaurant right across the street from our hotel. We caught the 11:55 AM train and we are en route to Patricia's now.

Traveling up to Wurzburg, off and on the Romantic highway

We wandered off the highway for awhile, nothing like getting stuck behind a tractor on a dirt road

These piles of potatoes went on forever

That brown sign is the sign for the Romantic highway - this one was easy to see, I think we missed most of them

Entering Würzburg - there really is graffiti everywhere

Our room in Wurzburg

I agree.....

One of the vendors at the market in Town Center

The Royal Residence

Fortress Marienburg overlooking the Main River and town, complete with vineyards in front

Jon - Main River

I thought this clown was kind of creepy actually

The Main River Bridge

Restaurant where we had our afternoon refresher, right on a lock on the river

Delish local white wine

Dusseldorf train station

Mon. 11-2-15. Dusseldorf

We arrived in Dusseldorf and were met at that train by Patrizia and Martin. We went to their home and sat out on their balcony enjoying cocktails and catching up over the years. I had not seen Patrizia in over 22 years, and had never met Martin, but we settled in together like old friends. We went to a wonderful contemporary restaurant with a beautiful view of the Rhine for dinner. Sat. we spent the day in Cologne. Jon has always talked about the Cologne Cathedral and it truly was magnificent. We ate lunch at a Brewhouse in Old Town. Sat. night we went to a Halloween party at the restaurant of friends of Patrizia's and Martins. Patricia dug out some costumes for Jon and I, and we went as Squish and fish dish. The restaurant was all decked out for Halloween, and we had a blast eating, drinking and dancing. Yesterday we drove several hours south following the Rhine to a winery that was having a wine tasting with about seven different courses of food. It was a really unique experience, and both the food and wine were amazing. We got back early evening. Lucky for us Patrizia's cousins had just visited from Italy and given Patricia and Martin about 200 pounds of assorted cheeses, so we munched on cheeses, sausages, breads - it was all perfect. Patrizia had some business appointments till afternoon, so Martin played host and tour guide for us around Dusseldorf, and we then settled into a riverside outside restaurant till we met up with Patrizia. We then moved on to the oldest restaurant in Dusseldorf, then wrapped up our visit tonight with our last toast and German beer with Patrizia and Martin for this trip, at the airport hotel where we are staying tonight to catch our flight home tomorrow.