Before I forget

our first day in Germany was spent in the medieval city of Rothenburg. We flew clear across the Atlantic on Air France with no splashdowns midway. However, after our arrival in Rothenburg I thought a time machine had just appeared to be a Boeing 767.

We left home at near 10 a.m. flying to Atlanta. From there we ventured to Munich arriving at 1:00 a.m. our time but in Germany it was 8 a.m. So the vacation began whether you slept or not on the plane. I may have been tired but Rothenberg was charming. This clock on the market square chimed on the hour and just like a cuckoo version the windows opened and out came a couple of. . . well. . . Germans.

Here's Emily, Eric and Geoff in front of the City Hall. And below a close up view.

Christmas is kind of a big deal in Germany and this store is the ultimate holiday shop. I would have taken pictures inside but apparently they won't let you steal all their ideas. They have a website but I fear it's one of the those times when you had to be there. Geoff sent us a picture with himself and a ginormous Nutcracker last fall which was taken on the other side of this bus.

Saint Jakob's Church, built in the 14th century, and converted to Lutheran since the mid 1500's was the home of this statue of Christ standing on a skull. Overcoming death people. Obviously.

The guidebook describes Tilman Ruemenschneider as the Michelangelo of wood carvers and lists this as the "most wonderful wood carving in all of Germany." Also at St. Jakob's. Um,impressive.

Rothenberg is surrounded by a rock wall with a walkway running along the top. The night watchman would walk along the wall all through the darkness looking for trouble. Fires were the most destructive and no one wanted to encounter a thief or fully armed intruder but a World War II bombing required the wall to be rebuilt.

We were fortunate enough to run across the night watchman himself and took the tour.

There is a pulley above the upper most door of these houses. It was used to move their food from the ground to the attic for protection. A year's supply of grain and corn were required by the city. Interesting?

It looks like Rothenberg is on fire in this picture but it was an early evening fog. This picture doesn't really portray how awesome it looked.

There's no evidence but I climbed up this wall and then just turned around and climbed back down. It was rickety and scary, but Eric leaned on the railing and lived to tell about it.