Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Rothenburg was next on our list of Christmas Markets to visit this year so we loaded up the van and headed out on Saturday morning. Rothenburg is an almost too perfect old Germany city, with streets that look as if they came right out of a postcard within the old city walls. We visited Rothenburg once before, maybe nine years ago, so we had seen all the touristy things and this trip was just for the Christmas Market.


So off all the Markets we've been to, Rothenburg's is the most beautiful. We parked just outside the old city wall and walked through an arched stone doorway into the Altstadt. The streets were all cobblestoned and covered in just enough snow to be pretty. We walked straight to the main square and, strangely, right past the hotel we stayed in all those years ago. It was kind of fun to say, "Remember, that's where we parked our car, ate breakfast, bought that hat, etc." The Christmas Market itself was spread out over the central part of town. It started at the Marktplatz and continued to wind it's way through the streets and alleys of town. I loved that as we were walking from stall to stall of the Market we were also taking a little walking tour of the town. We stopped often and went into the many stores that are around the town center. Some of our favorite things about the day were:


The Magic Mushroom toy store. The kids loved exploring this magical place where toys were displayed inside mushroom shaped shelves, there were trees and flowers growing overhead, and the carpet looked like a field of flowers and grasses with a stream running through it all.

I could have looked around for a long time at the Kathe Wohlfahrt store and the 16,000 square feet of twinkling, Christmas-y splendor. The huge revolving Christmas tree, the 13 foot tall nutcracker, and the 18 foot tall Christmas pyramid all were amazing to see. Even more fun than all of that was the rows and rows of Christmas ornmaents. It was actually more than I could take in because there was just so much to see.
Both times we've been to Rothenburg it has been cold and snowy. As we were walking back to the car I told Jared that I want to go back someday when it's warm. Then maybe we could take the walk around the top of the old city wall and follow the night watchman on the torchlit tour at nightfall. Who wants to come for a visit and explore Rothenburg with us?

Comments

  1. LarisaDecember 21, 2010 at 3:24 PM

    We will be right there with you. I like August, but Jared wants us to come at Christmas again. Any feelings either way?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sarah MoranDecember 21, 2010 at 8:43 PM

    Both? Your family is much, much busier than ours is so I would say whenever you feel like visiting we will make it work!

    ReplyDelete

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