Our drive to Rothenburg ob der Tauber was only about an hour, thank the good Lord above! ...and our hotel, Hotel Rappen, was easy to find as it was on the outside of the city. Thankfully, this made getting to our hotel easier because driving through the small cobblestone streets of Rothenburg seemed more stressful than not. The tricky part we had to face was finding out which building was the right building. There were two buildings to the hotel but each building served a different purpose. It took us a hot second to figure it out, but once we did, we got checked in, grabbed our bags from the car, headed to the elevator, and said a little prayer. The elevator, which seemed ancient, had hardly enough room for two people and their baggage, and it was astoundingly slow. I'm not going to lie... I worried about it getting stuck and/or plummeting. Thankfully, that never happened, we arrived at our floor with a brief bounce, in one piece and found our way down the small corridor to our pleasantly spacious room with a great view of the town outside the wall.

Once we were settled, we ventured out the side of the hotel and into the small walled city. It was nothing short of idyllic romanticism. The quaint streets with the old fashioned architecture painted all different colors was truly something. Tourists and locals wandered the streets stopping in and out of cafes, and popping in and out of shops. We wandered aimlessly, taking it all in.

In our wandering, we found a portion of the outer wall along the southern edge where the wall was low enough to look over. It drops down several stories, and we had the freedom to look out over the valley filled with quaint homes and harmonious vineyards. It was a beautiful view begging to be seen.

As the sun set, we felt like we had seen everything and really just wanted to eat. We found a small restaurant near by & popped in. We heated up quickly as we browsed he menu, but still couldn’t shake that deep lingering chill that had us longing for a hot meal. We both ordered the French Onion soup, which was so unbelievably salty, Brad couldn't even finish his. I did it for him since I was afraid to insult the waiter. …and I was still hungry.

Eventually, we faced the cold once again and continued to wander through all the small areas of the Christmas market, but scouted nothing we were eager to collect for ourselves. As part of our mission to keep discovering, we decided to stop in St. James' Catholic Church because we heard organ music from outside. When we walked in, it was completely dark except for the soft warm illumination of burning candles. It was jaw-dropping! I think my soul was overwhelmed by the overwhelming acoustics as the organ bellowed with great force...The setting was powerful, and if it wasn't for the other patrons inside, I probably would have felt like we were part of murder mystery. As the music came to a halt, the people began to clear out and so did we.

With the uncertainty of what to do next, we just began to saunter back toward the hotel, but then curiosity struck once again. Just to the right of the city entrance, there was a set of stairs leading up the side of the city wall. We knew we had to climb them. ..and we did. We climbed to the top of the wall and began to walk. It was so dark that you could hardly see your feet move in the faint yellow glow of the city lights. The turrets were incredibly tricky to navigate, as they were almost 100% closed in. Some of them had steps, so at almost every one, you had to cling to the sides of the walls, and step slowly while, also ensuring to watch your hea. At a certain point we decided to start using the flashlight application on our phones for peace of mind. We walked until we could not walk anymore and had to turn back. It was a long way to the start, but so worth it. How often, do you get to walk a city wall in the dark!? It felt so medieval. All I needed was a bow and arrow, and I was ready to tar someone from the side.

After our great wall adventure, we headed back to the hotel for some R&R. We watched a movie on our iPad, and were out like a light shortly after.

The next morning we arose with purpose. My agenda: I was going to the Kathe Wohlfhart store to get myself some ornaments. (I told Brad that I would only be getting few, but ended up purchasing closer to ten. WORTH IT! ) First, we needed to eat to ensure that shopping energy was at its maximum. We wandered downstairs to the restaurant where we took part in the buffet. The same ole' stuff as everywhere else... meets, cheeses, breads, produce items... Satisfying, but getting old. Once fed, we ran back up to the room to grab our coats and escorted ourselves back into the magical walled city. There are like four Kathe Wohlfhart stores inside the wall.... but I wanted one specific one... The BIG ONE!!! I found it... The place was literally a maze, set up so that you can only go one direction, and that one directions winds you through the store in its entirety in a very strategic fashion.... It was so shiny & sparkly inside with all the Christmas things you could ever want! I was in a magical faux-snow covered heaven.

With ornaments in tow, we reentered the real world. We wandered the city a bit more out of curiosity, but there wasn't much to find. However, Brad was curious about trying a schneeball that he had been eyeing the day before, so he purchased one of the delightfully enchanting pastries from one of the local bakeries; and, to his dismay, he said it was like eating pie crust covered in chocolate which I think is all it is. It’s safe to say he'll never get one again if we ever go back! As our curiosities and whims began to fade, we headed back to the hotel to collect our belongings once again. This time taking the elevator in shifts as we made our way with our belongings to the car.

Neuschwantstein was calling, and we didn't want to miss the tour!

ISSUE 14: Rothenburg, Germany 2015