Rothenburg, Nuremberg, Munich

Rothenburg City Wall
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Today we have 7:30am start and as we start on the road there is once again very heavy fog which hinders our view of what is supposed to be the Romanantic Road. It's an hour before we stop in Rothemburg, which is an old medieval town that has remained that way (once rebuilt after the war). We have to walk into the old city through a small break in the city fortress wall as the archway openings in the wall are not big enough for our bus to enter through. We walk through narrow streets and see the typical german houses from medieval times.

Munich Hoftbrauhaus! Prost!
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Once in the centre of the city in front of the city hall, we are given directions to local shops offering cheaper souveniers (not Japanese prices), where to find the famous Christmas shop and told of the local delicacy called a snowball. Imagine a long 2cm wide line of pastry scrunched up into a ball about the size of a baseball then cooked in the oven. After this it is dipped in a coating like cinnamon sugar, milk or dark chocolate or vanilla icing.

Prost!!! (Cheers!)

Rothenburg Clock Tower
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We first head off to the souvenier shop where I pick up a couple of typical german decorations. We then moved on to the Christmas shop, as three ladies on the bus had talked up this place and we just had to have a look inside. This place was a three floored building with just about every type of christmas decoration you could think of. They even had a full section of christmas napery. I chose a couple of small things as the prices were quite high, made even higher once converted to australian dollars. Joe spots a couple of small beer steins that he likes and decided to buy these. We try and find our way out through the maze of the store which is made to make you walk through each corner of the shop. Once out we only have 20 mins before we are to meet the tour guide back at the Rathaus. We only just have time to utilise Hansel and Gretel (toilettes) and grab a couple of coffees and snowflakes to take with us on the bus.

Rothenburg Xmas Shop
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As we travel along to Nuremburg Joe and I munch on the snowflakes, trying not to make too much mess of this flakey pastry. Its a two hour drive to Nuremburg where Maria walks us into the city square. Maria once again points out sightseeing points then leaves us to our own devices till 2pm. This town is famous for childrens toys and gingerbread but we decide first to walk up to the city fortress wall and through the castle garden, then back down into the town again. In the square there is a tall gilded gold fountain (which of course is surrounded by an iron barrier to protect it from tourists and fortune hunters).

Hitlers Podium at Nuremberg
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We decide to partake in what Maria said was the lunch snack of note - the Nuremburg sausage. This is like a chipolata size breakfast sausage, served three on a round breadroll with optional mustard. Quite tasty but the cafe we chose got quite noisey when inundated with what we guessed was a spanish tour group. It was interesting to listen to spanish people trying to order german items off the menu from the italian people who ran the cafe. We ran out of time and headed back to the bus. We made an unscheduled stop at the Zepphlin field where the nazi party used to hold their private meetings, and the stage where Hitler used to address the public nazi meetings. It was all a bit eerie as the whole are was cordoned off.

Nurumberg square gold fountain
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It was then back on the bus and back on the road for the two and a half hour trip to Munchen (Munich). We checked in and had an early buffet dinner at the hotel with the other tour participants. Those of us that had opted for tonight's outing set off at 7:45 for the Hoftbrauhaus - the beer hall. When we arrive, there is a problem with getting in and Maria can't seem to charm the front security guys into letting us in the main door. We are ushered around to the back beer garden door. Tonight is a special night, with the beer hall booked for a sitting for 800 germans - those that organised the Octoberfest in Munich. We are not allowed to sit inside and must find a table in the cool outside air. Before long a waiter comes up and Joe and I decide to share a stein of the original beer. This didn't actually taste too bad, and I decided to also go for one of the traditional pretzels. We wander inside and listen to the brass oompa band play and look at the people arriving for the dinner who are all dressed in traditional dress - leiderhausen.

Nurumberg Church
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Our tour guide Maria says to go out the front of the beer house as there is a parade of all the germans in their traditional dress entering the beer hall. This is great - just like a parade in town with all people dressed up with their group colours and flags. After taking many pictures we all leave and after a short drive around the city to view some of the older buildings illuminated at night we return to the hotel and look forward to another later than normal start.