Germany 2: The medieval town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber

  I navigated the medieval streets and drove to my hotel with surprising ease.  The hotel parking lot, on the other hand, was a nightmare to get in.  I did not move the car again until the 11 AM checkout time, two days later.  Luckily the lot emptied by then.  

  Rothenburg ob der Tauber is universally recommended on lists of medieval towns to visit in Germany, and so there is a massive influx of tourists for the day.  Staying inside the town allowed me to go explore once they have partially dissipitated.

  That first afternoon I stopped by a local cafe and tried two of their amazing pastries. As the early evening came around, I took to the town.  I visited the iconic picture location, walked out to the westernmost viewpoint in town, and then walked most of the city walls, which covers the north and eastern portions of town.

The iconic spot featured online.

I didn't catch it at the time, but I liked that the picture had a man peaking out of one of the top windows.

Towards the western viewpoint.

From western viewpoint back into town.

A view while walking the city walls.

  

  I discovered that Germany shuts down many shops on Sundays.  This forced me to find a nearby restaurant, as all of the grocery stores were closed.  Nearly all of the restaurants in town served Italian food for some reason.  I picked one off the main path, that also had outdoor seating, and ordered a vegetarian lasagna, with orange juice because I was super thirsty.  

  The next day I handed my laundry to the hotel in the morning, and received it back, cleaned within a few hours.  Unfortunately, nearly everything was still dank, so I hung the clothes out to dry throughout my room and bathroom.  I spent the day in my room, with the exception of another visit to the cafe and a return to the same restaurant.