Then the rains came....

When we left Turckheim in our rearview mirror we headed over to Colmar for breakfast of coffee and croissants, freshly baked on the premises. I have no idea what the cafe was called but it had outdoor tables so we could people-watch.  French children were being walked to school by their parents. It began to rain. A soft drizzle so nothing to be concerned about.

I can hereby testify that croissants and coffee are best enjoyed in France. So simply perfect.

We set off from Colmar on a long journey back into Germany, to Rothenburg which Ciaran had never visited and we are always happy to visit again. Such a unique old town.

Along the way the rain increased and the skies were ominous. The drizzle morphed into heavy rain by the time we crossed into Germany in Strasbourg, a city I had hoped to see under better conditions.
I saw windshield wipers. Strong Mercedes wipers and they worked tirelessly on the fast speed for the next SIX HOURS. The thunderstorm was following us all the way. I had to focus on keeping us on the road and opted out of any conversation that was occurring amongst my passengers.

It was only when we were 20 miles from our goal that the weather improved and a rainbow came to tell us all was well and that we were finally safe from the onslaught.

The first order of business after checking into the Burg Hotel, our hotel of choice here, was to eat after 6 hours in the car. We played safe by eating indoors-the usual Weinerschnitzel, french fries (pomme frites) and lashings of cold crisp German lager.

We walked the quiet streets in the dark. Quiet because the tourist buses had gone back to the cities they came from. While Carol went back to the hotel for an early night, after our long drive, Ciaran and I found a cosy pub called the Pulverer where we were the only customers for the next hour or so.
We spent the time "catching up" as we hadn't seen each other since 2006-a whole year earlier, when we met in Berlin and then again a few months later when he joined us in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

No rain the next day so we had perfect weather for a walk outside the town, beginning at the Castle Gardens, which affords this view looking back at the walls of Rothenburg.

The Castle Gardens

We walked down to the bridge over the Tauber River

After a couple of hours of leisurely strolling we returned to within the town walls to stop at one of the most photographed street scenes in this storybook town...

Lunch was enjoyed al fresco on the sidewalk in front of Ciaran's hotel- the Meistertrunk. As we already had two visits to Rothenburg in our recent history we wanted to show Ciaran the "events" in the town after the tourists leave for the day, usually around 6 pm.

Such as the drinking contest which legend has it saved the town from a siege...Rothenburg was spared by the drinking prowess of it's Mayor.

And the Nightwatchman drew his usual crowd for a walking tour of the narrow backstreets. He promises it will be "scary". He's such a good talker (in English) that I believe him. He leads his crowd away for the two hour tour.

Another evening of dining outdoors on a warm May evening, followed by a visit to a small Italian gelato shop, followed by a return visit to the Pulverer for Ciaran and I. Endless pleasure always capped by a sound sleep in the night time quiet of this fairytale town.

Next morning we packed as we were on the move again. To Munich. After breakfast we enjoyed a short stroll on the outside of the wall before packing the car. We are taking everything at a leisurely pace as there is no timetable. This is one of the great benefits of revisiting favorite towns and cities. There is no rush to see everything in one day as we know we will be back again in the future. So we can afford to sit in the sun  drinking espresso and eating gelato while groups of tourists are guided around trying to see it all in an 8 hour visit. In Germany, in particular, we like to relax as much as possible between seeing the museums and castles. We like the beer garden pace where you have all the time in the world to soak up the atmosphere. We have our hectic vacations too- usually on Mediterranean cruises, where there is so much history and art to see in each port the ship visits.

The Burg Hotel

Next up we visit Munich, Lindau and Austria....I'm combining 3 trips to Europe in this blog: trips from 2007 (what you've seen so far) 2005-Lindau, and 2008 Munich, Salzburg and Vienna.

I apologize for gaps in the narrative due to losing so many photos to theft of a computer and recently I have been very busy, having just returned from 4 days in Houston, Texas.