Easy day

Our train doesn’t leave until 10:05, so we have time for breakfast. Unfortunately this very nice hotel has the front door open, and flies are all over the meat and yogurt. But at least the bread, cheese, and coffee are fly-free.

The post office is right next door, so we mail two boxes of Kaitlyn’s stuff back home. The large box has to be sent DHL by air, but the smaller box is able to be sent regular shipping. DHL seems to be the regular postal carrier throughout Europe.

Rothenburg o.d.T.

We’re off to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, switching trains in Augsburg, then onto a bus in Steinach (because they are working on the tracks into Rothenburg according to an older traveller we meet in Steinach).

It’s a 40 minute hike from the bus stop into the old city and to our hotel, the Cafe Uhl, with all our bags in tow and the last 20 minutes over cobblestone. But what a hotel I chose! I didn’t realize it was right in the middle of the famous Rothenburg fork in the road view when I booked it. The view from our bathroom window is nice, too.

I don’t remember when I finally made reservations for the hotel, but it was during the trip sometime. Rick Steves’ Germany and Austria 2006 is the one travel guide that I brought along, so I was able to make reservations pretty easily. With the travel guide, there’s no need to buy maps from here on out either. And since both the cell phones are gone, we’re relying on the trusty ol’ prepaid travel card at only 6 cents a minute for almost anywhere in the world. So, I made reservations by phone with the card.

After a rough start, we have lots of fun in Rothenburg. Cafe Uhl has a bakery almost as good as the one in Füssen. We decide to have both lunch and dinner here. Throughout the day we wander the cobblestone streets and shop as many stores as possible looking for affordable Räuchermännchen.

We get directions to the door that mom likes to paint. In the hallway where the door is located, is a theatre group doing singing excercises. We walk past them into the center of town, where there is another souvenir shop that is just closing up. The lady lets us in and we buy a few things. She is happy to do business and gives us each a personally signed copy a map of Rothenburg that she drew back in 1969. Compared to a few other maps we’ve seen in the town, this one is really good.

Unfortunately we miss out on some good deals on Räuchermänner, because the shops we were going to come back to are already closed. We eat dinner at the hotel, send a few emails from their computer, and go to bed.