Rothenburg ob der Tauber

On the way to the mountains, we stopped at Crailsheim. Mr Dullum had to take prisoners there as part of his duties. After that we went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It's a well preserved city that wasn't damaged too much during WWII. We parked at one end of the city and walked to the other.

It does have a wall running aroud the city. We could see lots of tourists making the trek along the top.

Here is a particularly scenic spot in the city. Very close to here we stopped for coffee and cake. We took Mrs Dullum along the sidewalks which are smooth compared to the streets.

Here is the Rathaus. We stopped at the Tourist information next to here and I got a number for a taxi. When we got to the opposite side of the town, I called and 15 minutes later we were at the car. It was well worth the cost. Mr and Mrs Dullum thought it was more touristy than the other places but it is a world famous city.

A slow day

We didn't do too much today. Slept in and then ran some errands. Tomorrow we are headed off to the mountains for a few days. The hotel has internet so I should be able to post something tomorrow night.

Dragons in Worms

Berlin has its bears and Hamburg has Hans Hummel. Worms has it dragons. There are dozens of dragons around town. They are all painted differently. Here is one in the pedestrian zone. A dragon is one of the key players in the Niebelungen story that is partially set in Worms. I even noticed an item on a menu called "Siegfried's Bloodbath". The hero Siegfried bathes in the blood of a dragon and becomes invincible. Except where a leaf falls on his back. It doesn't end well.

First Day of School

This is a statue that Mrs D and I saw when we walked up a block from the river in Boppard. Mrs D didn't understand it. It's a mother or grandmother giving a package in the shape of a cone to the small child. It's a Schultuete. Parents or Grandparents present this to a child on the first day of school. It contains sweets (becoming less and less popular), toys and school supplies. It takes the edge off of a very stressful day. Someone even added real candy to the Oma's right hand.

Road Trip from Koblenz to Bingen

On Monday we got started after noon again. We took the autobahn up to Koblenz. It's the location of the confluence of the Mosel and Rhein rivers. There is a park and monument at the Deutsches Eck or the German Corner. We walked around and had a pop and coffee.

The first picture is a view from the Deutsches Eck toward the old part of Koblenz. Note all the river cruise boats. There were many additional docking stations.

The second picture is Mr & Mrs D at a cafe in Boppard. It was time for them to eat but there wasn't much open. We had a very nice open face sandwich with cheese, salami and ham that was similar to prosciutto but very smoky. The bread was wonderful. It was dark and probably rye. We had a great view of the river and all the traffic. The Rhein flows a lot faster in the valley than upstream at Worms where it's wider.

Here's the view we had of the local ferry. There are no bridges between Koblenz and Bingen. There are only two or three ferries that run.

I didn't get a get a picture of them but we were amazed by the vineyards going up the steep sides of the valley. Machines are out the question and Mrs D was even questioning the safety of the workers. I think if you fell you would get caught in the vines so you wouldn't go all the way down to the river.

Here's a picture of the famous Loreley. This is the narrowest spot on the Rhein between Switzerland and the North Sea. It's has been the scene of many wrecks. The myth is that there is a beautiful maiden who distracts the sailors with her beautiful song. It mostly ends badly.

Sorry for the bad spelling. The spell checker is looking for German so it all comes up as a problem.

A Day of Rest and a Pleasant Drive

Sunday was a slow day. We slept in and then took a road trip down to Bad Duerkheim and then down to Deidesheim. We had visited them before but they were interesting enough we wanted another look. These towns are on the German Wine Road and are at the edge of the Palatinate forest.

Bad Duerkheim is a larger than Deidesheim. It has a lively downtown area even on a Sunday afternoon. I noticed that it has a Spielbank (casino). I think that you have to get dressed up for table play but if you want to play slots, the dress code is fairly relaxed. After that we went South. I wanted to get some pictures of the cute goats in Deidesheim. The town is famous for a goat auction on Whit Tuesday. Look it up if you don't know what that is. We had to.

You can see a pictures of Mr & Mrs D at one of the fountains. Please note the goat droppings are part of the sculpture. Those Germans really like their scat. We even caught a kid's show demonstrating how to identify animals by their scat. They were dissolving it in jars. Thankfully it was a horse or it could have been really nasty.

We stopped at a nearby cafe and had coffee and cake. Of course, the cakes are elaborate desserts. One of them was rhubarb and Mr & Mrs D really liked it. It was nice to just sit, relax and have pleasant conversation.

Alps? Who said anything about the Alps?

Just as an aside, I was asked when we are going to see the Alps. I thought I was pretty clear that this trip was not a grand tour but just living in another city for three weeks and taking a few day trips. HA!!! Next week I'm going to get them up at 5 am and we will drive until we are in the Alps. We can take a few pictures and head back. I guess I need to think of it as a bus tour and I'm the driver. We have always enjoyed road trips so this isn't really out of character for us.