Sunday, May 25, 2008

Quintessential Germany (Der Romantische Straße)

A few weeks back my mom came to visit Europe and enjoy what I've spent many years enjoying. She flew into Frankfurt where I was a mere hour late to meet her before we grabbed a little rental car and drove into the heart of Germany, the Romantic Road.
We drove to Würzburg, another US military town, and had lunch at an outdoor cafe. People walked here and there and young mothers gathered to push their lil ones in strollers. The weather had been great lately and the sun continued to shine for us. Another sure sign of spring arrived too, blooming flowers and road construction.

Mom was tired from the trip but we had much to see so we continued for an hour stopping for the night in the small village of Röttingen.
Germans take great pride in the appearance of things. Nearly every grave in the Röttingen cemetery boasted bright planted flowers. Many window boxes also showed their first blooms of the year.
We stayed at a bed and breakfast called Gasthaus Karl (not pictured). It is common in Germany for people with extra rooms, or an extra story, to convert the free area into a bed and breakfast. I enjoy gasthauses as a colorful and reasonably priced way to experience Deutschland.
It was Monday, the one day each week that many German restaurants are closed. We had trouble finding anywhere to eat, but after a short drive to a neighboring town, Credlingen, we found a homey place serving traditional food; soup, salad, and schnitzel.
Having lost a night's sleep on the airplane Mom put in early. We had a lot of driving over the next few days. We likely could have filled our entire trip with just the cities on this road, but wanting to see as much as possible we chose a whirlwind route.

1 comment:

Maureen said...

Isn't the romantic road so much fun to drive?? so many cool things to see. We spent quite a bit of time in Wurzburg too. Your pictures make me quite nostalgic for our years overseas.

I hope you drove the whole thing and ended up seeing Neuschwanstein.