Day 54 (August 1st): Wurzburg, Romantic Road

Woke up at 6:00 AM and couldn't fall back asleep. The sun had come up already and I took a picture of the church from our room window. Then I laid in bed and took some notes for my blog. I was able to fall back asleep around 7:00 AM and then woke up again 8:00 AM. I showered and we all went downstairs for a buffet breakfast. It was a great breakfast with; all sorts of fruits, rolls, meats, cheeses, juices and cereals. In addition there was cold spinach ravioli, crawfish and mushrooms. I chowed (emphasize CHOWED) on everything but mainly the ravioli and crawfish and washed it down with plum juice. Not a big surprise but I was hurting all day. The kids had cocoa cereal and croissants. After breakfast we packed up the car and went across to the fortress but got to the parking lot at the top of the mountain and we decided not to go in. We turned around, stopped for gas (and a couple of volvic waters) and then went over to the government residence which we didn't realize we had already seen earlier in the day. Our plan for the day was to travel south down the Romantic Road which has a number of little medieval towns along the way. We had a difficult time finding the Romantic Road at first and stopped at a Lidl (supermarket) and stocked up on volvic waters (new flavor; grape berry) and other tasty snacks. We hit the road again and finally found the Romantic Road. The Road meanders through the country and goes on for 180 miles south all the way to Fussen. Our first stop was Bad Mergentheim where we parked for about 45 minutes. While we were parking the kids ran to a playset not realizing it was part of a pre-school. The teacher spoke to us in German and we had no clue what she was saying. We used the bathroom at a random hotel then walked around town. It was a cute town with typical old style German timber buildings and a market square. We walked back to the car and hit the Romantic Road again. Our next stop was Creglingen which Frommer's listed in its book. We parked the car and we weren't sure if it was legal or not but decided to leave it there and head out. There was an old guy sitting on the side watching us very closely. When one of the shop owners came out the old guy ratted us out that we had parked in front of his place, but we kept walking. We went to the local Schloss (castle) but it was closed then walked over to the town church. The town is so small you can see everything in 15 minutes (see top left picture). We walked back to the car and I saw the old guy still sitting there and waved to him (instead of giving him the finger). Our next stop was Rotingen ODT which Frommer's listed as one of the best towns on the Romantic Road. This town dates back to medieval times and has a tall wall that completely surrounds the town. We parked the car and walked through the gate entrance. There were beautiful old timber buildings that lined the cobble stone road. We checked out some stores then made our way to the town center where the Rathaus was (there were lots of tourist here). In the middle of the platz, we bought some fresh pressed apple juice and then stopped for lunch at a bakery. Zach had cheese on a pretzel (that he didn't like), I had turkey on a pretzel, Hannah had a salami sandwich and Al had a cheese sandwich with a coffee. After lunch we continued walking through the town looking at the shops. Most of the shops sold steins (see middle bottom picture), food or other touristy items. We walked all the way to the other end of the walled city (see bottom left picture) and found a shop that sold a horse wall hook that we bought for Hannah. Of course Zach wanted something now so we bought him a miniature metal knight. All throughout the city they sold these unique desserts we called canon balls. These were crunchy dough balls that either came plain or with a filling and a topping. We bought a chocolate filled canon ball that was very tasty.
It was getting late and our 2 hour time limit (2:00 PM to 4:00 PM) was soon approaching on our parking ticket. We used the restrooms by the parking lot (lucky we had hand sanitizer) and then found a playground right down the street. The kids played for an hour before we hit the road again. Our next stop was Dinkelsbuhl which is known for making Ginger bread. When we got to the town we looked all over for the Ginger bread but couldn't find it. We stopped at the information shop and they informed us that Ginger bread is primarily made during Christmas, but we might find it at one of the bakeries down the street. We got to the bakery and incorrectly assumed that Ginger bread meant Ginger bread man. They did have the bread, not the little flat guy from Shrek. We bought some bread and other snacks (croissants and pretzels) that we ate outside on a bench. After finishing up, we headed back to the car and drove to Nordlingen. Nordlingen sits in a gigantic crater that was formed millions of years ago. We got to the town but couldn't find a crater, but I did find a public restroom. By that time it was getting very late and it was our goal to make it to Fussen (last town on the Romantic Road)by night fall. We had a 2 hour drive ahead of us so we hit the road. On our way to Fussen we passed through the Bavarian Alps and I pulled over when I saw a great mountain scene (see top middle picture). The Alps were in the distance with a lake in front of it while the sun was setting. I pulled over on the side of the road and everybody jumped out and ran down to the lake. It was perfect timing and I took some great pictures (see picture on right). After 30 minutes, we got back in the car and drove to Fussen arriving around 9:00 PM. Luckily, we found a hotel right in the middle of town that had availability. Our room had a king size bed with a pull away cot. Zach slept in the king with Al and I, while Hannah slept in the cot. We ate dinner at the hotel and Hannah had a turkey salad, Zach had an apple pancake (that he actually enjoyed), Al had a cheesy pasta and I had Bavarian ravioli (filled with meat and spinach) with fried onions and bacon on it. Of course, I had to have a tall Bavarian beer to complement the meal. After dinner we brought our bags up to the room, the kids showered and we settled in for the night. Today was a very busy and fun day.