"... TO GIVE UNTO THEM BEAUTY FOR ASHES, THE OIL OF JOY FOR MOURNING, THE GARMENT OF PRAISE FOR THE SPIRIT OF HEAVINESS; THAT THEY MIGHT BE CALLED TREES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,THE PLANTING OF THE LORD, THAT HE MIGHT BE GLORIFIED." ISAIAH 61:3

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber


Beautiful Rothenburg, Germany's best preserved medieval town!

















Always busy, very touristy, and absolutely awesome!

Our "hotel", the one time home of a local patrician named Johann Bezold, had been converted into a handful of small apartments.



















Loved the feel of the place! Crooked doors, slanted floors, and shutter windows.
Of course while I was looking off the patio at this,

















Joey and the girls were drooling over THIS,

















The door to our room was straight out of Dr. Seuss! (Awesome!)






















Garden views out the back,

















and city in the front.

















Our little wing from the garden level.

















The original wall still surrounds the altstadt (old town) for about a mile and a half.

















We found a staircase and started climbing!

































We followed the wall for about a half mile. The views were wonderful!

















































We had lunch at a terrace restaurant around the corner from the hotel.

















After lunch, we toured St. Jacob's Church.
Built between 1311 and 1484.


Stained glass 1350-1400. Beautiful.












































The twelve apostles altarpiece, 1466.

















The Holy Blood Altarpiece, carved 1500-1505, includes a rock crystal reliquary from 1270, which legend says contains a drop of Jesus' blood.





































Then, Shopping!!!







































There's usually more looking than buying.













































Except when it comes to Gelato!!!


































We found a great Pizzaria for dinner. Sooo good!

















As we were finishing up, this stylish man-about-town trotted up and took a seat on the doorstep.
The waiter came out, greeted him by name, and tossed him some pizza!
Ruff life. (That one's for you, Poppy!)


















After dinner, the girls headed back to their room while Joey and I stayed for a cappuccino.

Those of you who know me have your jaws hitting the floor about now.
Relax! I've learned to loosen the strings. And the girls are teenagers now!
Plus they had a phone.
And the streets were empty.
And we could see the hotel from where we were sitting.
(I said I've loosened the strings. Not cut them!)

Anyhoo, after the world's best cuppa, we took an evening stroll to the wall gate just past our hotel.
This is what we found on the outside.











































Great way to end the day.

And this was a great way to start day two!

















More shops,







































































At first, we thought there was a statue on top of the far building,






















Turned out to be something better!

















The Kathe Wohlfahrt store and the Christmas museum were my favorites.

The girls, however, have a different aesthetic.
























They liked the medieval weaponry shop, and the crime and punishment museum!





















































Don't know about you, but the executioner became a lot less intimidating when I realized he wore a shag carpet cloak.





















































And that was our trip to the "big city" of Rothenburg.

We are so going back!