Some more Hoffman's to add to the Adventure...Part II

During the second half of the vacation we focused more on localized day trips because there is so much to cover in about a 2 hour radius all around us!  Thursday we drove to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, our favorite medieval city where DH and I had been almost 2 years ago. We'd been meaning to go back for a night so that we could experience the Night Watchman Tour, so now was the perfect opportunity with the family.  We stayed at the Hotel Schwarzer Alder right in the old town with easy walking access to everything.   Rothenburg is a great town for stein shopping and we found more than what we were looking for at the Christmas trinket empire of Käthe Wohlfahrt store.  Mom, Dad and Carli visited the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum while DH and I putzed around the fun streets of the city.  We had a tasty dinner in a restaurant recommended by the owner of our hotel because he owned the restaurant as well!  "The best schnitzel in town," he said.  Carli said it was pretty good.   We headed over to the Markt Square to wait for the Night Watchman Tour to begin.  There was an enormous Medieval Festival that weekend and the festivities were being kicked off that night so we saw many people dressed in the attire and bands marching into the Rathaus.

Finally we saw the Night Watchman marching up to the Square.  Every night Hans-Georg Baumgartner takes tourists through Rothenburg streets and tells fun stories about history in his dry sense of humor tone.  We all had a great time on the tour.  There were probably 50 people on it with us!  DH and I had a nightcap in a biergarten around the corner from the hotel and the others settled in.  After breakfast the next morning we left town.  It was a great time in Rothenburg.



On the way back from Rothenburg we stopped in Heidelberg for a nice climb to the castle.  The weather was cooperating and there weren't too many people there.  We didn't do the English tour inside the castle but spent time walking the grounds and visiting the cellar with the larger than life wine barrels.  We went through the Apothecary Museum as well which was really informative and interesting.  I had never been through it and after 5 visits to the castle it was about time.

That night we stayed in and checked the weather for the weekend. It was looking the best on Saturday so we decided to do the unforgettable Rhine River Cruise out of Bingen.  This cruise will never be boring, even if we've done it a number of times. Where else is one able to float on a boat and constantly look left and right at castles high above the river!   We took the train to Bingen to catch the 10:30 K-D boat.  Everyone had a great time just soaking in the fairy tale scenery.  We had a bite to eat in the restaurant on the boat because we ended up riding it till the early afternoon to Marksburg Castle in Braubach. 

Marksburg Castle

We visited Braubach last year with The Mitchell's but weren't able to get up to the castle because of yucky weather.   There is a little green train that will take you to the top which we opted for and then only spent about 45 minutes wandering around and taking in the beautiful views of the Rhine Valley.  Back down at river level we took the train to Rüdesheim and a ferry across the Rhine to Bingen.  The sun was out and it was a nice opportunity stroll along the river back to the train station.  We stopped along at a Biergarten for some local wines and dinner.

Sunday was definitely a good day of rest as the weather was less than desirable.  We were having marathon viewings of Downton Abbey while taking advantage of the sunless day.  I think our guests (well mom and Carli anyway :) were hooked after the first show!  By the time they left to go home we had finished 2 full seasons!  It was a good day for them to get all of their luggage organized to make room for all of the fun things they had purchased so far. 

Monday was a Holiday in Germany and a great day to get one more road trip in.  We set out that morning in the direction West with 3 destinations in mind...just that no one could pick which one we should go to!  We decided on Strasbourg, France because it was the shortest distance and we had the option of taking a covered boat river cruise in case of rain.  While we managed to get a good amount of walking in we did take the cruise in time for rain.  Strasbourg is a lovely city with beautiful old houses and history.  Even though it was rainy it didn't ruin the day.  We chose lunch at Au Pont Saint Martin Restaurant right on the river that was full of charm and ambience.  Everyone had a delicious lunch and then we did a little bit of shopping to purchase some Alsace goodies.  Our last trip!

The day worked out well and we even got home in time to watch some more Downton Abbey!  It was hard to believe that nearly 2 weeks had flown by like it had but we all had such a wonderful time.  We hope it was a vacation of a lifetime for Mom, Dad, and Carli as it sure was one that we'll always cherish.