Road to the East

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Rothenburg ob der Tauber...GO for Christmas. Yes, I realize Christmas was some months ago, but since we've had a heat wave here in Spain, I needed to cool off a little (its been in the 90's all week). So, for Christmas my love and I headed North and East. We got in the car and drove straight through Spain and France and headed due East. The first real stop on our trip was Rothenburg. WOW. A little village famous for Christmas, handmade toys, and schneeballs (yes, I said SCHNEEballs). So take a look at the pics and though the weather was bad, I think you can make the decision for yourself about how special it really was.

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Photos

Have you ever heard the Crooked Man nursery rhyme?
There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse.
And they all lived together in a little crooked house

The Cozy German Hotel
Every morning we had a wonderful home made breakfast in this little Christmas nook. For dinner here I had typical roasted goose with dumplings and plum sauce. YUMMY!!

Adorable Hidden corners
The city is walled and along the walls you can find little corners like this one.

Colorful Facades
Each building is individual and filled with Christmas spirit.

Schneeballs, Cuckoo Clocks, and Toys
The town specializes in handmade toys and cuckoo clocks and schneeballs (explanation later). Could you find a better Christmas stop?

Schneeballs
OK, so THESE are schneeballs. They're bigger than a baseball and basically made of a big ball of sugared pastry ribbons covered in chocolate or sugar or nuts or all three. YUM!

Handmade signs
All the stores have beautiful handcarved wooden signs.

TOYS TOYS TOYS
I wanted to buy that wooden merry go round in the center left, but it was .... 500 euros. I think these toys are for adults.

Christmas Street Festival
Hot mulled wine, footlong frankfurters, and sheerling slippers. They were all on display at the festival.