From Rothenburg to Prague on Friday

This was our last day in Rothenburg. Most tourists who visit Rothenburg do it as a day trip. We stayed three nights, and our days here were packed with activities we would not have missed for the world. Once the day-trippers leave at about 4:00 in the afternoon the town belongs to the locals and a few tourists who spend the night. It is lovely. Our hotel was perfect...right off Market Square. There is a restaurant in the hotel that serves breakfast to the guests, and lunch and dinner to anyone. The food was excellent, and the price very reasonable. We will miss the tiny doorways and the creaky splendor of the 600-year-old house-turned-into-guesthouse. However, I don't think Olen will miss carrying around the large, heavy skeleton key that has been our room key.

Today we visited the local museum, which is usually not our favorite activity, but this museum is housed in a former Dominican convent from medieval times. It has not been used as a convent since 1554. It was full of historical relics but the building itself was of most interest...rooms where the nuns slept, ate, and even a kitchen used at the time.

After the stop at the museum we wandered by the municipal building where photographs were being taken of a wedding party. We stopped to watch. It was extremely eclectic, to say the least. The bride wore an off-white dress with a brown shrug. The groom wore a top hat, tails, and had his hair in braids. One couple was in traditional German folk dress, and one guy in an AC/DC jacket. One man wore a white T-shirt, and one of the ladies wore a mini-skirt and gold high heels, which were a perfect choice for walking on cobblestone streets!

Lunch was again at one of the street-side cafes, where there was time to rest and watch the people passing by.

We walked some of the backstreets and ran across a small Jewish memorial honoring the last 20 Jewish residents of Rothenburg, who were driven out in 1938. Most of them were eventually murdered. So sad.

We decided to walk on the ramparts again, simply because we enjoyed it so much and because it is such a "cool" thing to do. When we reached the tower called the Rodertor, we noticed that it was open to the public. (It had been closed when we were there a couple of days ago.) So, we climbed the 135 steps to the top, and were rewarded with an excellent view of the city, looking down on the buildings and the roof over the ramparts where we were walking. Also, at the top was a pictorial history of the bombing of Rothenburg in WWII, including photographs of the damage.

Finally it was time to leave and head for Prague. It took us three train-changes to get to Nurnberg, where we ate a sandwich at McDonalds (yes, there was a McDonalds in the train station!). We took a restroom break where the local "potty police" (some woman who refused to give you a towel to dry your hands on until you dropped some coins in her plate) was patrolling the area.

For some reason, we were unable to get a train from Nurnberg, but our EuRail ticket covered our route to Prague by bus. Now, this is no ordinary bus. We are on it as I write this. There is an electrical plug beside my seat, a table in front of me, and there is a flat-screen TV that shows our route and location at the moment. There is a WC on board, and the attendant just went down the aisle offering tea or coffee. The ride from Nurnburg to Prague is 3 1/2 hours non-stop. If I can get this blog done, I might be able to post using the air card if I can do it before we leave Germany. Maybe...we will see.

Obviously, we crossed the border before I got the blog completed. I am posting from Prague on Saturday morning. No time to add more. We are off to see Prague!