Sunday is a day of rest in this very Lutheran town. And it is hot. We got up early for the hearty breakfast provided here. I haven’t said much about our accommodations yet. This place is wonderfully comfortable with another large bathroom. My goodness, the Germans know how to make a good bathroom. And our living space is ample and cool. We have two singles pushed together, which is a very spacious and large table for both of us to work at. And with the lovely restaurant downstairs that spills out onto a large patio with two huge umbrellas covering the whole space under the large London trees. From the patio, we are just a short way to the St.Jakob’s Kirche, the largest and most famous of the sites in town. Der Reichskuchenmeister is a wonderful and perfectly located hotel with lots of charm, which includes ten cases of war dioramas with perfect little soldiers. Very cool!
After breakfast, we set to climb the Rathaus Tower all the way to the top. This is the tower from the main building in the plaza, the one with the crooked windows in the turret. We started there—easy. No trouble at all until we got to the top, and there was a door. I started to open the door when John made creepy noises. I stopped, then tried again, this time ignoring the noises. Inside the huge door was a large room with a line on the floor for us to follow. This was where we moved from turret to turret. The next set of steps was wooden, mounted on half-timbers. We started climbing again, turning up and up and up. I was counting, and now I had passed 100 steps, then 150, and the steps were getting narrower and steeper. The whole staircase was getting narrow and steep. Now we were at 175 steps. Further up, steeper and steeper, turning more and more until a final few steps as i had counted to 205. As we reached the landing, we both felt as if we were climbing a ship’s rigging. There, a lady was waiting in a tiny booth, way up here! She announced that there were a total of 220 steps—just about my count considering how many more steps we still had to climb, after paying, of course. So straight up I went, definitely like climbing rat lines, and then the final step was like swinging up onto the yardarm. And there we were, really, really high up. It took me a while to get used to the height. I went back down and then back up and felt much better. We both went all the way around the central bell, taking pictures, and watching that ferris wheel in the distance, once again!
Our next stop was the Rothenburg Museum, housed in a former convent. What a great building. Upstairs, around corners, low ceilings, then an open painted ceiling. Then down and back up and like following a maze. We saw all the rooms and can say that the collection housed equal numbers of swords and basic portable armory and tankards, each with hinged lids. Hundreds of both— so there you have it. The most interesting exhibit was the building itself. Finally, at the end, we found a few more rooms dedicated to the former Jewish population of Rothenburg. Sadly, there is only a Jewish festival once a year to bring people to town because none live here now. We again placed stones on a few of the sample tombstones.
I forgot about the collection of musical instruments. No trumpet, but there were two clarinets! I’d love to hear the small wooden sound that this one makes. I bet it’s just lovely. The black instrument behind in the case is actually a flute, and behind it, a trombone.
After a lunch of Father’s Day cake, we rested from the heat, then headed out to walk into town, outside of the protection of the gated old town. This took us through another of the 7 gates into traffic (horrors!) down the street and to the small train station. We were in time to see the waiting train take off to the next stop. That’s where we plan to be in the morning. Once again, a train, a five-hour journey this time. Surprises to follow.
We have now passed through 3 of the 7 gates of the town. Lots of Night Watchmen needed— and some new ones who can tell a good story!
At dinner, we sat with a lovely couple from Frankfurt who were here on a three-day vacation from work. They were very kind to stay and talk with us for over an hour. Delightful company.
Lastly, I tried to join in with the Night Watchman tour again tonight. Since last night was the great Hans, who will retire in October, I thought I’d test his replacement. My advice is to come quickly to Rothenburg and catch Hans on a Friday or Saturday. His budding replacement has none of the storytelling style or timing of a long-drawn-out punchline. And he struggles for words. Other than that… I left the third stop.
Happy times, a lovely day in a very warm German town. Guten Slept.