There is snow in Bavaria! It must have fallen hours before we arrived as the trees were blanketed. The oddest part was the highways were dry with no sign of snow on them. It was eery to see the snow ghosted on the nighttime landscape as we drove by without a trace on the road.
Rothenberg is a walled city and an iconic quaint german town. A definite must see in any season. We stayed in the city walls. Note to self - next time stay outside the walls. The streets were built for foot and horse & buggy travel. Add snow and a bunch of people to the mixture and you up the fun factor. Somehow navi got us to our hotel near the town square. Poor Janie had to navigate into a back parking lot through a walled gate with a steep uphill pitch. Kudos for your making it - there was not a lot of room for error. We wondered up to the market square for a late dinner. The Christmas market was closed for the evening - sensing a theme here? We had our first authentic German dinner out complete with HUGE and thick chewy beers. I had pork with creamed mushroom sauce and spaetzle. It was very good. Although I did notice a vinegar note to all the vegetables here. Not a huge fan of that. We tucked in for the night after wondering around the main square taking photos.
The inn provided a hearty and good breakfast. We enjoyed the baked goods. Janie had a lovely bread with pumpkin seeds and I love the breads with fruit in them. They had some scrumptous lox as well. It was a good place to stay with a decent sized room. The inn keeper was quite nice and helpful. Personally, I think he was excited that we made it in before he headed home at 10pm. This is where I heard the tree called the Christmas Wood. I liked it.
On a side note Janie had an interesting observation. She's been to Germany before and being of clear Irish decent no one has really ever expected her to speak the language. Not so with me! With my strong german heritage I look the part and the german comes flowing out towards me. Everyone seems a little confused when I have not mastered the german language. It was funny to watch once we made the connection.
We had to move the car into a public space before we could venture out. It was earlier than the market opening so we wandered around and took snow pictures. The snow drifts made the scenery more romantic and beautiful. Kathe Wohlfahrt is the big name Christmas designer in Germany based out of Rothenberg. We ventured into her shop early to beat the rush. She has some kitschy wooden ornaments and cute wooden people incense burners. But what I feel in love with was her hand painted pewter ornaments and the natural wood - unpainted nutcrackers. So this is where I indulged my travel budget. I bought ornaments for the family. Chuck loved nutcrackers so I brought the made in Germany natural wood one in memory of him. Now those of you that have known me since my theater days will find it funny that I actually bought a nutcracker. You see for at least 5 years I stage managed a production of the Nutcracker every Dec. And every few years I would be doing a classical version and a jazz version. This means I would listen to the Nutcracker music pretty much non-stop from Sept on. After having a near mental breakdown one Sunday morning shopping for show props because everywhere was playing Nutcracker music, I threatened everyone with bodily harm if I received anything nutcracker related. It actually took 10 years for me to enjoy the music again and not call cues in my head. But I digress. The nutcracker is handsomely regal and it will be a wonderful keepsake from the trip. Plus if you are only going to have 1 nutcracker it should be a unique one.
The Christmas market was larger than it appeared in the dark. And it was lovely to wonder through it snow covered. I sampled the hot apple cider which provided some good core warmth. We had our 1st encounter with the prune people. Neither one of us is sure of the significance or what you do with them, but here and in Nuremberg the prune people are everywhere. (Don't worry - none of you are getting a prune person for Christmas). We did not buy much at this market as I supported the local economy in the Christmas shop, whittled away a few hours window shopping.
Enjoy our snow filled adventures in Rothenberg.
POSTCARDS from Rothenberg
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