Now let's finish up Germany, shall we?
Next stop was Munich.
We had absolutely no idea what to expect from Munich. We just thought, it's one of Germany's largest cities with lots of people.. It'll entertain us.
We were lucky enough to stay at a Marriott right in the center of the city.
It was more active and lively than any place we visited.
We dropped off our hiking bags & headed out.
Munich is full of people enjoying summer.
There were people playing bocce ball in a large park.
There were couples dancing in an open gazebo as locals played music just for fun. No tips taken.
There was a open air badmiton tournament.
Just around the corner was a band playing on stage surrounded by carnival concession stands.
It was a blast to walk around a hang out with European strangers.
After just one day/night in Munich, we headed to our favorite city, Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
If (or should I say when?) you go to Germany, you must must MUST stop for a day or two
in this super charming town.
When we arrived, I skimmed the board for our name and couldn't find Nelson.
Then I remembered that I made everything under my maiden name because of my passport.
Sadly, I didn't see Fausett on there because I don't look for that name anymore.
Found us!
This place was simple and charming.
There were a couple packages of gummie sheep on our pillows that said Guten Nacht (good night) on them. The little touches made it so fun! That's our cute little B & B below.
The first thing we did in Rothenberg was walk the wall around the city.
Much of the wall is several hundred years old. Other parts had to be restored from when we bombed
the city in WWII. We learned that over 300 houses had been destroyed in the war.
About 60% of the town is original and the other 40% was rebuilt in the same style.
When you walk on the wall you can see everything; "Christmastown", restaurants,
neighborhoods and the main clocktowers.
This is the most photographed house in Germany. And for good reason! It's adorable.
(How many times have I used the word 'adorable' so far? Well, I ain't stoppin'!)
After eating a delicious Italian meal (don't you dare judge us!), we decided to do the Night Watchman Tour.
It was fun to go throughout the town with this guy below telling us SO many stories about Rothenberg.
I'm pretty sure he was American. Too many American pop culture references and an awfully fake accent.
Did you hear me say "Christmastown" earlier? Oh yes.
There is an area of Rothenberg where Kathe Wohlfahrt keeps a Christmas village all year round.
I was in holiday heaven.
One thing we saw before leaving was a Crime and Torture Museum.
It was so interesting to see what punishments there were for
lying to the preacher and stealing corn from a neighbor back in the day.
I spent like 5 hours there. Yeah... I guess that's kinda creepy, huh?
The next day was our last day in Germany.
We left Rothenberg ob der Tauber for Dusseldorf. It was one of the longest train rides of my life.
We finally got into Dusseldorf and we were starving. We walked around for what felt like an hour
trying to find a restaurant with an English menu posted outside.
For the first time in our entire European experience- on our very last day in Germany-
we couldn't find an English menu.
We didn't dare eat somewhere with a German-only menu because we didn't care for the food.
In what seemed a perfect coincidence, we turned the corner and found a Korean restaurant.
A Korean restaurant in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Mike and I looked at each other. Nothing had to be said. Thanks to Mike's Korean we could eat something!
So there you have it.
We absolutely LOVED Germany!
Not so much the food but definitely the country.
