Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Sept 25 Harburg and Rothenburg

This is our last tour day. We bought tickets yesterday and need to be at the train station at 8:30 for departure. By now, we have the metro down pat--just one stop to get there.
We are among the first to board and sit in the front seat with a great view out of the big windshield.
David was hoping this tour would be led by a younger guide, and it was, but we came to regret it. Her name is Ellen, and she is syrupy sweet, but you can tell she does not enjoy this job. She provides limited information--It is almost like we are paying for bus transportation without a guide--well, that is an exaggeration, but not by much. During the first two hours of the tour, she talked loudly in German with the driver, laughing as though she was having the time of her life. David wondered if the two were having an affair. She sure seemed to be flirting with him. And clearly he was much more the focus of her attention than the passengers. If anyone asks a question, she answers very abruptly, curt and unfriendly. Other passengers commented to us that they also found her rude.
We drove north out of Munich on the so-called Romantic Road. This route has been in existance since Roman times, and begins in southern Bavaria, near the Neuschwanstein Castle, and heads north through Munich and across Germany. The name was given to it several years ago to entice tourists. Actually, a drive along this road reveals medieval Germany at its finest. It was once a trade route through Bavaria. Now it's a mostly scenic drive featuring walled medieval cities, towers, half-timbered houses and lots of tourist resources. The entire road is a little over 260 miles long, from Wurzburg in the northern Franken wine growing region to Fussen in the south where Newschwanstein is.
We drive for more than an hour through lovely rolling hills of a rich agricultural region. The round bales of hay are covered with huge plastic bags, and I wonder how sealing it up doesn't make it mildew or mold inside. There is corn in the fields, grapevines, and other crops I do not recognize. We cross the Danube River, much smaller at this point than in Vienna.
Our first stop is at Harburg Castle, a true medieval castle that is a huge fortress. This is the largest castle complex and one of the oldest and best preserved castles of southern Germany. It is first mentioned in history in 1150, so it is nearly 1,000 years old! It truly retains the feeling of medieval times, the imposing exterior walls towering high above the ground and built with stones, not blocks. Michael Jackson called it "the castle of my dreams" and tried unseccessfully to buy it. Inside the walls, it feels like the middle ages with rustic timbers, inner chambers, a chapel, dungeons, a well, its own orchard in the courtyard, animal shelters, and has displays of medieval armor and weapons. It was an important military stronghold. There are many holes and slits in the exterior walls which were used for defence by allowing guns to be fired on approaching enemies while protecting the person inside. Of course, these are narrow and would only allow the soldier to aim the gun in one direction. It was a chilly and damp day today and that added an aura to the adventure. I imagine this castle was a cold place to live!
This entire region was struck by a meteorite thousands of years ago so we are inside a giant caldera called the Swabian Crater. We can see the elevated rim of the crater all around us in the distance. It is very foggy here and the guide says that is not unusual.
After Harburg, we drove further north to Rothenburg. This is an entire medieval city, surrounded by a high wall. It is described as " the most perfectly preserved medieval town in Europe." We had time on our own to explore there, and started with lunch. We stopped at an open-air restaurant, where the waiter directed us to a table already occupied by another couple. We asked if we could join them and they said sure. We had a great visit with them. They are from Long Island and have adopted a child from China. Her family is from Germany. She has been researching geneology very successfully and told us of some of her exciting finds, like a US immigration application document which showed a great grandfather's home town in Germany. They are travelling by car and plan to stay overnight in Rothenburg. We, on the other hand, have only a couple of more hours to see the place, so regretfully excuse ourselves to look around. There are many tourist shops and they brag about their Christmas shop, but we want to see the city more than shop.
We begin with St. Jacob's church, a protestant church whose construction started in 1311. As the largest church of the time, it reflected the city's wealth and organized worship of God. There are huge beautiful stained glass windows and a famous "Holy Blood Altar", which claims a relic  of a drop of Christ's blood.. We walked a few blocks to the edge of the city to climb steps up the wall and walked along the wall for some time. It is a great way to view the city and the surrounding countryside. The town hall in the Market Square center of town has a high tower, which was a watchman's tower. We climbed and climbed and climbed the stairs, which became narrower and narrower, finally ending in just a ladder, from which you emerge through a four-foot opening on your hands and knees onto the catwalk around the huge bell. I hope they don't ring the bell. At this close range, it might break our eardrums! We inch our way around the four sides of the bell. There is only room for a few tourists at a time up here! It is a great photo op, and David takes lots of pictures of the town, the market square below us, and the vistas across the landscape beyond the town. We have to get back down the ladder in reverse, feeling our way for each step as we descend. I felt sore in my gluteal muscles for two days after this adventure. There are other churches and gardens, lots to see. We decide to stop for a drink before we get back on the bus at 4, so visit another outdoor cafe for beer and hot tea.
The return home trip did not take "the scenic route" Romantic Road, instead we drove on the Autobaun. It is true that there is no speed limit for cars. Busses and trucks do have speed limits and there are stretches that even for cars, have speed limit signs. Porches and BMWs zoom past us. The highway itself is like our interstates, three lanes on each side, with truck stop areas and rest stops. There is not much to see, most of the road is lined with trees. The guide suggests we use this time to rest. But now our guide calls a friend on her cell phone and talks and laughs so loudly that there is no way the tourists can rest, even if they wanted to. Very unprofessional! I am relieved when she ends the call after an hour, but then she makes another call!
We are driving through the hops-growing area, but they have been harvested, so all that remains are 12-foot tall poles and wires in the fields. Hops must grow like grapes on a vine? Finally we approach Munich from the north and can see the Olympic tower in the distance, We pass the Audi and BMW production plants and the airport.
Back at the train station, we first decide to go to a nearby beergarden, but no one comes to take our order and we decide to head back to the room. Neither of us is hungry for dinner, and we want to pack and get organized for our 4 am departure to the airport tomorrow.

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