Beautiful Bavaria

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From Bavaria to Rhineland-Palatinate– February 24th to March 4th

It’s always nice when the unexpected occurs, if it’s good of course, and I really did not expect to enjoy driving through parts of Germany as much as I have. From stunning natural sights like the Neckar Valley, to fantastic medieval towns such as Rothenburg ob der Tauber, it has been a pleasant and unexpected surprise.

We started on February the 24th in the snowy town of Nesselwang, and have come north and then north west to end in Bingen, on the edge of the Rhine. The ice cold bottle of Becks is keeping me company as I struggle to see the computer screen, the sun is beating down and has been for about the last week. I had been told Germany was like Manchester, it could rain at any time and always take an umbrella, but since the snowfall almost 2 weeks ago now, we have had the odd cloudy day but the sun has been out almost every day. We couldn’t ask for better weather, not by much anyway.

So, back on the 24th of February we left Nesselwang, aiming to see a few sights, and the book told us we had to go to Wieskirche to see the church there, so we duly did. It was a UNESCO world heritage site, so when we pulled up we were a little unimpressed by the bland white building, but it was the inside that was quite amazing. As ever, I’m sure the pictures won’t do it justice. It was stunning inside, not stunning in the way our Cathedrals are vast at home, but the decoration was amazing. I’m sure somebody more interested in art would be even more impressed, but I certainly was anyway.

The next stop was Landsberg am Lech, again not somewhere I’d ever eard of before, but we trudged along into the town anyway. This was our first real site of the character of this area, which was fantastic, the highly decorated buildings, whether they were houses or shops did not seem to matter, all built in a similar style, and all colourful beyond belief. Certain buildings were more interesting than the rest, often the Rathaus (townhall) or other old merchants buildings would be even more thoughtfully built and painted than the others. Some of the photos of the buildings around the market square should give you an idea of the sort of character the town has.

The next few days continued in similar vein. The towns we visited became slightly older and sometimes had even more character. The ‘flagship’ town of the local area was the aforementioned Rothenburg ob der Tauber. I’m glad it was late February when we visited. Anything approaching Christmas and this town must be a nightmare. There is one Christmas shop open all year round, but many of the shops were selling Christmas themed goods, and the Chinese tourists seemed to be spending a small fortune. The medieval character the town had was impressive considering much of it had to be rebuilt following being bombed in 1945. From some of the information boards in the museum in one of the wall towers you get the impression whoever wrote it was a little peeved about the war. It’s quite interesting reading that sort of thing from a different perspective!

A few other town stops, Weikersheim and Bad Mergentheim, before a wander around the main city in the area, Wurzburg. The city itself was a little uninspiring, but they often are. An accidental trip to an art museum was even more so. At least I know what Count Rudolf XIV looks like now…

The last couple of days have seen us head of a little north westerly, mainly alongside the Neckar in the valley. From here the aim is to meander alongside with the Rhine towards Koblenz, then follow the Mosel down to Trier. Not found any beer festivals yet, guess it’s the wrong time of year, might have to come back when it’s the right time as the beer, including ones I’ve never heard of, is excellent.
Auf Wiedersehen!

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