The Romantic Road

The Romantic Road winds it's way through Southern Germany and is filled with countrysides of beautiful old castles and medieval villages. It is romantic with all its picturesque villages, the beautiful forests, castles and meandering river. Many castles are still lived in and others are open for public tours. Our first stop we was in the village of Rothenburg which was also having a festival called The Meistertrunk Festival (held since 1631) so we were very fortunate to once again see the historical reenactments and costumes from the era.


The city is surrounded by a very tall wall, which was common for protection in midieval times. We entered through the arch and then climbed the steps and walked around a portion of it for a view of the city.

One of the most famous houses in Germany is within these walls and you can see why it is so frequently photographed. It is called Gerlach Forge and was a craftsman's house.

This is a city many tourists visit so you could hear many different languages as you walked down the streets.

We were captured by the town guard and Gebhard paid a tip to free us!

There are specialty Christmas shops that offer Christmas shopping year round and have a section of the store you must pay to enter (small museum).

We loved seeing all the different signs hanging outside the shops.

Everyone is waiting in the market square for the Meistertrunk (two men appear each hour in the upper windows of the building on the right with a stein or mug in their hands.)