September 22, 2008


The trip to Wurzburg was mostly a quick driving trip because of our late departure from Heidelberg. The weather was again pleasant, starting in morning at 8 C and warming in the afternoon to 18 C. When you do the conversion, that’s about 48 F to 64 F. The numbers seem cold but it really isn’t. Generally, there is little wind and low humidity and it is quite comfortable. We covered the distance on the Autobahn in relatively short time.


Once we got to Wurzburg, we found it to be like many of the larger cities we’ve passed through, it’s not a place where you want to spend a holiday, too big and not quaint and cozy. So, off we go to the outskirts to a little berg called Hochberg where the grass is greener and the air is fresher. We found a room at a nice gasthof, the Gasthof Golden Adler. It was a little late when we checked in so we headed straight to the restaurant to make sure we didn’t miss dinner. Much to our surprise we found in addition to the usual schnitzel or bratwurst, they had a ½ deep fried (no breading, just crispy) chicken on the menu. The chicken was soooooooo D E L I C I O U S !!! Normally, we chat a little during dining but I don’t believe either of said two words to each other while we ate. It was the first normal meal we had had in 2 weeks.


The next day we needed a couple of miscellaneous items so we stopped at the local “WalMart,” which in that part of Germany is a “Toom” store. It was interesting to see how they manage the shopping cart problem. It was the same way we noticed in all the cities since Belgium. The carts are stored in a shelter in the parking lot. To get a cart, you insert a 1 Euro coin and release a chain holding the carts together. When you finish shopping, you return the cart to one of the cart locations, reconnect the chain and retrieve your Euro. No errant carts in the parking lot and no cart attendants needed to bring them back home. The second thing we noticed is the stores don’t provide bags for your purchases. It’s like “Sam’s.” You either carry out each individual item in your arms or you bring your own bag. Also, all of the checkout cashiers have a chair and sit while checking you out. Having a cashier check you out while seated takes a little getting used to. Ed kept looking to see if they were pregnant. Anyway, we again had fun deciphering the packages to find what we needed. Bought some wine, which by the way really does not give you a headache. We were advised of this by some friends and it really is true! Also the prices are unbelievably inexpensive. You can get a nice bottle of everyday wine for 3-5 euros.


The next morning we left Hochburg and headed down the “Romantic Road” on the elusive Route 27 (It kept avoiding us. The signage wasn’t over done). I saw a neat little cemetery in a forbidden apple orchard and had to stop. Dorothea wanted me to pick some apples but I remembered what happened to another guy who ate an apple when he wasn’t supposed to so, instead, we took a couple of pictures and continued on. Even though the cemetery was located in a rural area, the tombstones were not insignificant. Most were on family plots dating back to the early 18th century. All were well cared for and indicated a strong tie of the present to the past.


The “Romantic Road” is an old trade route between Wurzburg on the North to Fussen in the Alps on the South. The roads are good and most of the land is in agriculture. The lands appear to be manicured and picturesque (if only Arcadia, FL could see them). We were on somewhat of a schedule to get to our apartment in Murnau on the 26th so we only could spend a little time in the villages of Bad Mergentheim, Weikershiem, Rothenberg, Feuchtwagen, Dinkelsbuhl, Wallerstein, Nordlingen, Donauworth, Landsberg and Fussen.


From Wurzburg we stayed in a great inn with a large room in Endlefingerhof and explored the nearby town of Bad Mergentheim (Bad is pronounced Bat and means Bath as in Spa). The lady at the Tourist Information (TI) Center told us about a light and dancing water show they were having that evening at 10:00 in one of the gardens. Since the temperature had dropped that day, we bundled up, headed for the gardens and decided to have dinner before the show at a nearby restaurant. We found there is no correlation between high prices, an attractive setting and good food. The dinner at the Best Western Premier left a lot to be desired. The water and light show with music was cool. It wasn’t the Bellagio but, they did a good job with the production.


We left Endlefingerhof and headed for Weikersheim to see its castle and town and planned an extended stop in the walled city of Rothenberg. The city with its surrounding wall and gates is a large shopping area which includes a Christmas Shop and quite a few of regular residences. The Christmas shop is huge with more than 20 different rooms (Dorothea was in heaven!) Wish we could have stayed longer in this spectacular walled city. Lots to see and not enough time! From Rothenberg on our way to Feuchtwangen, we came across a real sheep herder and his two German shepherds working a flock. From the photo you can see the size of the herd which made the dogs cover a lot of ground. They appeared to do it effortlessly. Also note the “black sheep” in the herd! In Thurnhofen, near Feuchtwangen, we stayed at the “Pension Grunen Wald” on the 23rd. It had a small restaurant where we had a dinner of guess what, Wiener Schnitzel. The best part of dinner was meeting our next door diner, an anesthesiologist from East Germany who was a great guy and chatted with us most of the evening. Dr. Hans Jurgen Woske was on his way to a medical conference and was glad to “practice his English” with us. He was someone who back home would have become an endearing friend and we hated to say good bye knowing we would never see him again.


The next day we went on to Dinkelsbuhl, Nordlingen, and Harburg. We saw quaint horse-drawn carriages (German version of conch trains!) in many of the villages like Dinkelsbuhl. St. George Cathedral is Gothic style and beautiful. At Donnauworth we stopped for coffee and pastries and were happy that our GPS coverage was back on! Our last stop for the day was Landsberg. We found the lovely “B & B, Aufeld” in Pitzling just outside of Landsberg. The owner was very nice and proud of the fitness room and sauna he built. He also was a sailor!


We could have spent two weeks on the Romantic Road, but had to be selective in how long we stayed in each city since we wanted to spend time seeing the Hapsburg’s castles including the “Cinderella” castle of King Ludwig II near Fussen and get to Munich before “October Fest” ended.



Be sure to see the associated photos for this BLOG on our Kodak gallery. we'll send you a link in a separate email.


Notes from last blog – “sahne” means cream, not sayne. Also the castle in Sankt Goar is Rheinfels.


Dorothea and Ed