Rothenburg is about two and a half hours from Baumholder so we got there around 8pm Friday evening just in time to catch the sunset. We arrived at the huge wall where our GPS kept telling us to turn right. We made about three u-turns driving passed this small arch with cobble stone beneath it before we realized that is where you actually turn in. Taylor drove down the narrow street with people walking up and down them making the road even smaller until we finally found our hotel.
I booked two nights at the Gasthof goldener Greifen which is located right in the center of the town. The old city wall still stands circling the entire town with city gates, arches, old-timber homes, cobbled streets and tons of color that makes you feel like you are in a fairy tale dream!
As it became darker, the streets became emptier so we wandered down a bit and found the Roter Hahn and ordered some food. The food was delicious but even more impressive than our sausages and sauerkraut was the liter of beer Taylor ordered, for himself.
The next morning we got up and enjoyed our complimentary breakfast that included bread, butter, and different kinds of cheese and meats - now that is my type of breakfast! The first thing we wanted to do was walk the city wall. We did so for about 20-30 minutes and realized it was going to take a long time to walk the entire thing so we got off and walked towards the big tower which is located in the market square.
Located in the market square is the town hall (Rathaus) and a very tall tower. We walked into the open door facing the square where immediately we saw stairs going up. We were curious (and who doesn't love a spiral staircase?!) so up we went. After looping around for a bit we found ourselves in an empty area on top of the town hall that leads you to the tower. From there, you climb more stairs but this time the stairs are wooden and get more narrow the higher you go. About 6 flights up we made it to the top where a lady sits in a small booth and takes 2 euro from you to climb the small wooden ladder that leads you outside for the view.
Now, the next few pictures were taken courtesy of Taylor. I did the 3 flights of the spiral staircase, the the 6 flights up the narrow wood steps, paid my 2 euro, climbed the small wooden ladder, crawled onto the 2 foot wide platform, looked over the edge and said, "I'm outta here!" Totally worth it!
The rest of the day was spent wandering the streets, looking in shops, eating food and going to the crime museum. The crime museum was packed with floors and floors of ways the medieval criminal was treated straight down to a baker who baked his loaves to small.
(Oh! Did I mention we have a new gnome friend? His name is Wolfgang. Be on the lookout of him in some of our pictures on future trips!)
At 8pm every evening there is a Night Watchman Tour. I am not a big tour person but I heard this was the type of tour made for people like me! They were right! The tour starts in the market square where you met the Watchman. You then follow him around the town while he tells interesting information with clever jokes and humor. We laughed a ton and also learned a lot about the old medieval town!
I can't believe this place is less than three hours from us. At one point Taylor turned to me and said, "Are we in a dream right now?" I am assuming we will be making a trip back there again at some point!
