Tell your husband to go to...


We have an all day adventure planned for today, so we were up and eating breakfast by 8:30 this morning.  Vicki is still suffering from her cold and being out all day wasn't going to work for them, so Ric decided to go on the half day included tour of Wurzburg, which was where we were docked.

We jumped on our comfortable bus and enjoyed a ride through the German countryside.  Everything is very green and before long we found ourselves enjoying the view of the medieval town of Rothenburg.  Rothenburg certainly reminds us of Disneyland, but this is the real thing. According to our guide, the village portrayed in Pinocchio originated here. When you enter the gated wall that surrounds the city, it just doesn't look real.



This medieval town dates back to 1250 and is one of Germany's best preserved villages.




Check out the town square taxi and Christmas store truck - so cool.



We were given a nice walking tour by our guide Stephanie.  One of the buildings pictured above is a beer garden with a long name which translated into 'hell'.  She said that when the town wives got irritated with their husbands and told them to go to hell, they were glad to cooperate.  

For lunch in town we were served a very typical German meal - Baverian potatoes soup, bratworst, wine, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, apple strudel with vanilla sauce and their own Muller-Thurgau medium wine.  Karen didn't really eat the bratworst, or did she?


After lunch we were on our own so off to see the town and the Christmas shops and a peek inside the Lutheran church. This famous German Christmas shop is the largest you'll ever find. In fact, it has a trail like Ikea with this 20-ft tree halfway.




On the way back to the ship, Karen and Carla toured the Wurzburg Residenz built in 1720 while Bill and Mike skipped this tour.  This tour was interesting in that it showed how the bishops lived back then.  This was a very rich bishop who built a grant residence with the largest ceiling fresco in the world - bigger than the Sistine Chapel (but not as beautiful).  We were not allowed to take pictures inside so all you get is a picture of the gardens and the residence.




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