My favorite German town of all: Rothenburg ob der Tauber

I love this little place.  It is the most complete, best preserved and most quaint of the medieval towns.  The streets are narrow and most of the homes and buildings are the real thing.  We stayed in a place that was built in the 1500s a few years ago, where it was so small the bathroom door wouldn't even close when you sat down (indoor plumbing was unknown when it was built)!

Just one problem--it has been "discovered!"  It was swarming with people when I arrived.  There were about 15 tour buses outside the wall where I drove in. Most had Asian tourists.  I heard American English for the first time here, outside my classroom.  It has become the "in" place.  But it is still a joy to go there.

Dinkelsbühl

Dinkelsbühl, on the Romantic Road, one of the beautiful, well-preserved towns, for which this road is named.  Very well preserved from the 1300s to the 1600s.  Lots of the original wall and moat around the city, too.  (As I sit writing this, I can hear the bells from the church here in Nördlingen ring the 10:30 chimes, just across the street).





Another little friend in the restaurant



More of Nördlingen - from the top of the church

Nördlingen has an amazing old Gothic church in town that rises far above everything else.  It has a viewing platform around the outside of the tower, near the top.  I just CAN'T pass up an opportunity like that!  So here is looking at the tower, straight down and around the beautiful little town.

Oh, yeah - this is where part of the original Chocolate and the Chocolate Factory (Willy Wonka) was filmed (even though the movie was set in England).  The town scenes and the aerial view at the end.

One other tidbit.  They believe that the large valley in which the town sits was created by one of the largest meteors ever to hit earth.

Entryway to the tower.

Where I am staying

You can see part of the wall in the middle of the picture.

My little friend on the viewing platform.

Nördlingen - with the medieval wall all the way around it

My destination for the weekend is some beautiful, well-preserved medieval towns on the Romantische Straße (the Romantic Road).  I am staying in Nördlingen tonight.  It is one of the best-preserved towns in Germany.  It has its old mediavel wall still going completely around it.  They used to have to build these walls to defend themselves against neighboring towns who would attack and sack them.  A very cool place and so beautiful!

Why they call it a Water CLOSET.