You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'Rothenburg' tag.
This morning we decided that yesterday we hadn’t had enough time in Rothenburg, so we stayed for a while longer and did some shopping. Yesterday was Sunday and in most German cities, stores are closed on Sundays. In Rothenburg (a tourist city) there were some open stores last night, but not all of the stores that the kids wanted to see… so we spent an extra two hours in Rothenburg this morning looking around, shopping and enjoying our time. A few of us even went to the Käthe Wohlfahrt Weichnachtsmuseum (a famous Christmas store).
After our time in Rothenburg, we left and took the 3-4 hour drive to München (where all of the students fell fast asleep for almost the entire trip). When we first arrived in München, we went to the Olympic Stadium (where Mark Spitz won 7 gold medals in the seventies! We hit the bathroom, ate, and then walked around the ponds, saw the swimming hall and enjoyed the sun (but not necessarily the muggy weather). Then it was back on the bus and off to the city center… where we could do some shopping.
We started at the Marienplatz, the square in front of the “new” city hall, where the infamous Glockenspiel is. Then we went off to places like the Kaufhof, Karstadt, the New Yorker, Pimkie, and many, many more. So far we have been able to fulfill needs as they have come up (more camera memory cards, towels, usw.)… so that is fantastic.
Finally off to the next Youth Hostel, where we ate a delicious supper (one of the best so far, I think), and then a few of us went for a walk to find an Eis-Cafe (surprise, surprise).
It has been a great time so far… we’ve had a few run-ins with minor bouts of stomach-y type things… and it seems to be making the circuit… but everyone is well (today) and tomorrow we have an awesome bike-tour of München planned and then off to Dachau… it is quite the juxtaposition of emotion.
But your kids have been fantastic… they have been early for everything… they have been very thankful… very kind and just downright awesome. We have gotten comments from so many people on how great they are as they are polite, flexible, trying new things, and using their German! Feel free to be as proud as we are.
Greetings again!
We left Dresden this morning around 8:30 and got on the bus. It was our last bus ride with our current bus driver, Hans. Once we got through the state of Sachsen and into Bayern, we stopped off at the bus company and they switched drivers. Hans has another tour he has to do in Berlin soon and he also needed to go to the doctor, so we said farewell, knowing full well that we would miss him… and said “Hallo!” to our new bus driver, Tony.
After a (what our bus driver said would be the longest) 5 hour bus ride, we made it to the beautiful city of Rothenburg (ob der Tauber). We went directly to the Criminal Museum, a museum where they show the punishments and tortures of the medieval times. It is really interesting and eye opening to see the kinds of things that people were punished for (like quabbling women were stuck together for a couple days with a double neck violin until they got along).
After our time at the museum, we stopped for Eis (ice cream), which is becoming a regular thing for us… most kids eating Eis at least once a day… some eating it as many as 3-4 times per day… but when the Eis is only about 70 cents per ball, it’s probably the cheapest snack around… and definitely a nice cool down on these hot, muggy days. Oh, back to the story.
After the Criminal museum, we stopped for Eis… and the students got their first chance to eat Spaghetti-Eis! The Bethany kids have waited 3 years for this since Frau Gill first told them about it… and it was better than ever expected! (Check out the link so you see the beauty of Spaghetti-Eis) I have some pretty great photos of the kids enjoying this specialty… so someday if I can get my camera to upload…
Shortly thereafter we had some time to walk around the city and just enjoy the sights for a while. It is truly a beautiful city, maintained from the middle ages. It is always one of the favorite cities… and I heard at least three kids hoping they could come and live in Rothenburg either in their adult life or when they retire. I told them I would love to come and visit them often!
Then off to our Jugendherberge (youth hostel) for supper and a bit of relaxation.
At 8 o’clock, many of us met at the Rathaus (city hall) for a tour with the night watchman. He is fantastic. If you ever get to Rothenburg, he is an absolute “do-not-miss” attraction. He tells the story of the life of the night watchman in the middle ages and talks about life in general… he is funny, interesting, and you walk away knowing (and retaining!) so much information!
Once we were done with the tour, many of the students connected with some other Minnesota students who were in Germany for their last night. They played four-square, ping pong, and just talked. It was nice for them to connect with others like them and they got some tips about the rest of the trip (like a reminder that they will be eating Semmel/Brötchen for the rest of the trip for breakfast). And then it was time for bed!
Gute Nacht!
