Our next destination, the medieval village of Rothenberg ob der Tauber wasn’t a simple one to reach and was our first foray into regional train lines. The German train company DB has a magnificent phone app that allows you to plan trips and even gives you diary entries with the train number time and platform numbers of arrival and departure. It makes things really easy at the station. Our first train was an IC train to Ansbach. I had booked a reservation for this one and it was very similar to the other trains we had travelled on. The next train from Ansbach to Steinach was a regional one – there is still a first class carriage on regional trains but it is often a closed off section of about 8-10 seats. Most Germans don’t bother travelling first class – as an over 25 Australian traveler, we can only buy a first class Eurail pass so we took advantage of it and the access to readily available seats. The next train was a small, two or three carriage train that would probably have been a commuter train if it wasn’t out in the middle of nowhere. We passed through a town here called Schweindorf on the way to Rothenberg ob der Tauber.

From the train station, we walked toward the walled old town, passing an ever increasing number of 200-300 year old dwellings and various hotels and restaurants. Another hot ticket on the German tourist trail, it was clear Rothenberg was all about the tourist dollar. In my experience that usually means prices that are twice as high. That wasn’t the case here though. The prices were really reasonable and were quite similar to those in all other areas of Germany we had previously been. After a slight misdirection, we realised we needed to go through the gate that leads into the walled medieval town. It really is quite a spectacular site. All cobblestoned and contained within a continuous wall around the town. Because modern life allows cars rather than horse drawn carriages to enter the town, on foot you weave your way through the side entrances to the gate and across the pedestrian part of the bridge. After we visited our first Christmas market Dan pondered why anyone would visit Germany at any other time of year. This is doubly so of Rothenberg o.d.T. Not because of the Christmas market – there was one but it closed at 6pm and wasn’t really any more spectacular than any of the others we had seen. But just because these rows of candy coloured medieval houses along cobblestoned laneways somehow look even more appropriate with Christmas wreaths nailed to the door and brightly lit trees on the stoop. (Nature Boy – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – a newer track but a good one – the thing that always impresses me about Nick Cave is his exceptional ability as a lyricist.)

Our hotel, which was right in the centre of the town square, had been made available by joining four of the original aristocratic houses to form what was quite a large hotel. It had been in the same family for hundreds of years until 2006 and none of the work to make it a comfortable hotel had taken any of its character. It was magnificent – all hard wood floors and banisters with rich carpet runners. Our room wasn’t exactly medieval in its decoration but it did have quite lush wallpaper that invoked the 1900s and a sleigh bed – even if it was painted cream. And the floorboards were authentically creaky. We chilled in the room for a little while and then headed out to find something to eat.

There was a big range of restaurants from doner kebab to high end. After wandering for a while we came across a restaurant offering traditional German fare. It had been modernized inside and whomever had designed the fitout and really thought about the wait staff. There was a bar and servery area off to the left with plenty of space and on the right was a kitchen with an automatic opening door and the server area directly in front when the wait staff enter. In front of the door there was plenty of room for the wait staff to stand where they could see the whole floor and respond quickly to the needs of their customers. As a result the service was great (and so by the way, was the food). We were pretty hungry as we hadn’t eaten since breakfast so we ordered entrees. I had a beef broth with pancake strips which was just what the doctor ordered and Dan enjoyed a plate of meats, cheeses and olives. Dan said the olives were so-so but the other produce was excellent. For mains I had the roast pork which came with potato dumplings and awesome gravy (as well as a side salad). Dan had a pork steak with chips and salad (and the same awesome gravy). I enjoyed a great local Riesling (learning the word for dryer helped me choose a quite dry Riesling from the menu – and Dan again had the local beer.  We rounded it off by sharing an apple strudel. And then it was time to retire. (California Sky – Unwritten Law – one of my fave So-Cal punk bands, with the world’s craziest drummer. California Sky really invokes that big sky you see in the States and at home but not here in Europe. I’m not sure why – there are certainly big skies but it just doesn’t feel as big and open as at home.)

The next morning we took it a bit easy and wandered down for the hotel breakfast. It was magnificent – with much the same offerings as our previous hotels but here it was all high end regional produce and it was delectable. The breakfast room too was spectacular. It was a large tiered room created between the houses and also featured full length windows that lead out to an elevated terrace in the summer. A very pleasant way to start the day. Unfortunately Dan was feeling rather woeful so could only stomach a couple of croissants. After breakfast we went out to wander around the lanes of the town. We walked to the edge of the old town where the morning sun was hitting and peered out over the wall to the frosty farmlands below. Dan decided to go back and lie down until we had to leave. I kept wandering through the streets.

You often forget that people actually live in these towns. Just a few lanes away from the main tourist street, locals were scurrying to get their morning bread, delivery vans were trying to find somewhere to park while delivering produce and the garbage truck was coming to collect the bags piled high on the streets. I still had to get a Christmas ornament for our tree. Most of the stores opened at 10am although I found a little store run by an enterprising older German lady that was already open. I went inside to look around and when the young girl that worked in the store asked if I needed any help, the elderly lady immediately recognized my accent. It turns out she knows Canberra pretty well as she had spent 25 years living in Australia when her husband worked on the snowy scheme. My father had worked there too. She also had a son who lived in Kiama. Small world. She said she fondly remembers her time in Australia and goes back to visit every year. She so enjoyed her trip down memory lane that she offered me a 10 per cent discount on anything I bought and gave me a free map of the pace that usually cost a couple of Euros.

Christmas themed activities – 13  War museums and model shops – 1.5 Design experiences – 1