Small Family, Big Adventures: When in Germany...

We love Germany…it is such an easy country to explore. Everyone speaks English, it's not an expensive country, the food is great and well..we all know Brad likes the fact that you can order a LITER of beer. And when you factor in a cute walled city like Rothenburg, it is an easy decision to jump in the car and start driving. 5 short hours away lies Rothenburg, Ob der Tauber, a charming Medieval town completely surrounded by walls. The town is known for it's eternal christmas. You can find Christmas shops and decorations year round as Germany is known for it's handmade/painted christmas ornaments, nutcrackers, pyramids and lighted arches…and of course you can pick up a Cuckoo clock while there.

So our journey begins at dinner in the oldest house in Rothenburg called Zur Holl. As it was Valentines day and I tried to get reservations on the way there…our only choice was a 5pm reservation. So we did. The restaurant is very small and has a limited menu. But the lamb I had and the ribs Brad chose were worth the 5pm reservation!! YUMMY!

Then a quick walk up to the square we found ourselves at another restaurant for dessert and a beverage. I had the Schneeballen (meaning snowball dreams) which is believed to originated in Rothenburg and served at special occasions such as weddings but now they are served at every bakery in the town and all over Bavaria. It's like a cookie twisted into a ball then covered with chocolate!!

We had heard/read that the nightwatchmens tour did not run, but then learned at the restaurant that it did. However, we were not dressed for 28 degrees so we tried to go and stand outside, but we couldn't take the cold. (i know..we are pathetic)

opps..just realized Amelia's picture made it into 2 different collages…

So Sunday morning comes and we are ready to explore/shop. But it didn't take long to learn that EVERYTHING is closed on Sunday. Ok..there were a few restaurants and the Christmas museum were open, but all of the souvenir shops, christmas shops were closed. So we checked out the Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas Village which was adorable. It featured Old Time German Christmas decor and massive Nut Crackers! So after that hour of the day we chose to walk around on the city walls. You can walk the entire perimeter of the town on the city walls which was pretty neat!

We stumbled upon a restaurant that was a little off the beaten path…Alter Keller. So to get out of the cold, we headed in for lunch. And we had the best spaetzle ever! (that is a German dish of noodles and cheese…ala mac n cheese but so much better!) Of course we ordered the schnitzel and sausage too!
The food was so good, we made reservations for dinner for that evening…I had the filet and it did not disappoint!!

Monday morning we got up and at it as the shops were opening and we were ready! So in we go where the owner of this cute Christmas shop greets us and wants to chat about America and how she went during Eisenhower era. She let the girls pick out a wooden toy to take home while I picked out my nutcracker and smoker to purchase.
Then Brad was determined to check the box for picking up my birthday present so he offered me to go into a few jewelry stores where I had been window 'eyeing' a certain necklace. So we checked that box, and proceeded to head back to the hotel to check out and head back to Belgium.