Our trip to a medieval city.

Remember back in January when I made a post about having to cancel a trip we had planned because of the weather and issues with David's work? Well we finally got to reschedule that trip last weekend.  Since it was through the USO they gave us credit towards another trip within 6 months.  Last weekend we could have gone on the trip we had initially scheduled  or . . . .

 . . . gone here.   I think we made the right choice :-)

It's a little town called Rothenburg ob der Tauber.  It literally translates into Red Castle over the Tauber river. The red castle that is its namesake, unfortunately, is no longer standing due to a large earthquake sometime in the 13th century. 

This small little town has endured so much hardship over the last thousand years and yet it's still standing. It's been devastated by earthquake, the Black Plague, the 30 Years War, the Peasant Revolution and the daily life of the 15th century.

It was so fun to walk around a city that had such a long and rich history.  Unfortunately the batteries in my camera petered out on me so I didn't get to take a whole lot of pictures but there was some amazing stuff there.  There was a beautiful house that has been owned by the same family since the middle of the 16th century.  The house of a former mayor from the 15th century is still in the middle of town.  The Medieval Crime Museum is in old building behind an older church.  One of the main churches in town has a Holy Relic of a vial supposedly containing 3 drops of Christ's blood.

I could go on and on about this town.  I could picture myself living in a set of rooms above a shop yelling at my children to go fetch me some water from the town well.  I'd make a good house Frau . . . someday.

And as you can see below the Bavarian countryside was so gorgeous.  Green and lush with little tiny houses tucked away.

I doubt the city walls looked quite as nice then as they do now.  They may have, who knows?   

I just feel lucky to be able to live in a place where there is such and old and rich history for me to explore.  America certainly has a wonderful history, but there's nothing like seeing buildings that have been around for almost a thousand years. 

So now I've seen Cologne, Paris, Reims, Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Speyer.  Next up London!!