Day 7--Rothenberg, Romantic Road, and Munich

Day 7, and only a short stau to start our day during the drive to our first stop, Rothenberg. 

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

I really enjoyed Rothenburg.  The town survived with no WWII bomb damage, so most of these buildings have been here since the 1400s--it is Germany's best preserved walled medieval town.  

(White tower)

I was disappointed we had two hours to explore and eat lunch, which was not enough time to enjoy the town.  We walked as a group down to the Market Square, before dispersing to do our own thing for the allotted time.

We first backtracked a bit to St. Jakob's, originally built in the 14th century and refitted in a neo-gothic style in the 19th century.

The church has as a holy relic a drop of Jesus's blood and a gorgeous carved Altar of the Holy Blood, c. 1499 to 1504.  

We backtracked just a bit more,

to take pictures up Klingengasse at the Klingentor (the towns old water tower).

Next down to one of the most famous spots to photograph in town, the Plonlein.

(of course it would be under construction)

(I could get a decent picture of half of the fork, at least)

Then it was back up to the Market Square.

(loved this pretzel handle)

(Sausages!)

At St. George's Fountain,

we turned and headed to our next stop.
One of the things we had wanted to do in Rothenburg was buy Christmas ornaments--it is the location of the headquarters of Kathe Wohlfahrt, which sells handmade German ornaments (as well as other types).

We had lunch on the square from a local bakery (including a schneeballen (snowball) a dessert of fried thin pieces of dough in a ball covered in powdered sugar).  They are a "thing" here in Rothenburg.  Yum!

Back to the Market Square one last time to catch the "show" at the councilor's tavern,

On the top of the hour, the 1466 clocktower starts the meistertrunk (master draught) show.

In 1631,  a conquering general took the town.  The mayor offered the general a drink.  The general drank it and enjoyed the local wine and offered the mayor that if he could drink the entire 3 liter tankard of wine in one gulp, I'll spare your town.  The mayor did it, and the general did not destroy Rothenburg.  Whether or not true, it is a fun story!

Sadly, it is already time to head back to the bus.

Romantic Road

Next on to the romantic road, where we passed some small villages and even a castle,

on our way to Munich.

Munich

We arrived in Munich at about 430. We had decided not to do the dinner today (and excursion anyway), and instead went out and explored. The S bahn (subway) was accessible from the basement of our hotel, which made traveling to the center easy. And this time we figured out the ticket machines!

Once at the Marienplatz stop, we immediately headed to the first of the churches on our list that we were hoping to get in before they closed for the day.

The Asamskirche was made to be the private chapel of two architect brothers, who built it to show their wares really.

(Left of the entryway)

(right of the entry way)

It was very over the top baroque. 

Next to another church, the Michaelskirche, a Jesuit church complete with Archangel Michael spearing a devil on the outside.

Right next to the church was an ice cream cafe, so we had to stop for a second dessert break.

On to the Frauenkirche, Church of our lady. 

Pretty on the outside, but a bit boring interior.

Down through the main square

 to the viktualienmarkt, with a giant Maypole! All sorts of food and flower stalls were in this square.

From here to the Hofbrauhaus, which was so much fun!

(We passed under the Old Rathaus!)

There was live oom-pah music and even a few people in lederhosen.

Katherine and I both got a 1 liter Radler, a mix of beer and lemonade.

It was better than beer normally is, I would have enjoyed a smaller amount.  But we persevered!.

After an hour hanging out here, we went to the Nues Rathaus (new town hall) cellar (Ratskeller) for dinner

(I had munich veal sausages with mashed potatoes).

We were particularly proud of our ability to fit all this in since the hofbrauhaus and the Rathaus were the excursion we would have had to pay extra for with the tour.  We ended up doing that (and more) for less money.  

A couple of night pictures,

(Old Town Hall)

(New Town Hall--Nues Rathaus)

(Entrance to the Ratskeller)

then back to the hotel.  I think we tried to go to an Irish Pub nearby to listen to music, but it was super full so we decided sleep was a better option.  Our subway journey back worked out almost fine--we got a little turned around leaving the station and took an exit not super close to our hotel, but we figured it out and made it back.  It wouldn't do for us to suddenly be able to use the train system efficiently!