Parents Trap II

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When we left the Rhine, we headed ESE to Franconia, which is now part of Bavaria. "Now" means for the past 200 years. Dad did very well with the autobahn traffic.

We stopped for lunch in Speyer, one of the first cities to side with Luther. We ended the day in Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber, which is very postcardy. Driving in a medievel city is not fun.

Eric, Mike and I had been to R-burg in 1999, and it really is too touristy. But the gates and homes are nice, and they have a "treasure" church (there aren't too many outside Italy). One day we hiked a couple km outside town to the village of Detwang, which I recommend doing.

We returned the car in Nuremberg, one of the biggest medieval cities and "most German" of all cities during the Third Reich. There's still a huge suburban complex half-built by the Nazis. From there we got on a fast train (first class!) to Berlin.

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Photos

Lunch
Looks like the beer got to me...

Speyer wedding
Freud would love this

Rothenburg
picturesque

Rothenburg
Tilman Riemenschneider is the name. Carving is his game.

Rothenburg
600 years ago the mayor hung out here.

Detwang
Fancy that Arsenal shirt!

Detwang
Riemenscheider in full effect.

Nuremberg
Nazi Congress hall

Nuremberg
Nazi rally grounds

Nuremberg
is that a salute?

Nuremberg
medieval hospital

Nuremberg
cathedral and market

Comments

[Dad]

Great Guide and Great Trip
Rawley is guide extraordinaire! And a good navigator. We drove about 740 kilometers without incident. Great food and local beers. Remarkable museums in Berlin and great walking. Bought a piece of the wall at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum; verified to be authentic by the DDR! I am not quite sure how that was done, but I have the certificate that states it (for what it is worth). If you are going to Berlin, consider staying at the Park Inn Hotel on Alexander Platz. We had an excellent stay there. In Salzburg, we did the Sound of Music tour with Bob's Tours; it was great. In Munich, we did 2 Radius Tours (that's the name of the company; office is at the main train station, on the side). The Third Reich walking tour with Brendan (from Northern Ireland) was one of the best tours that we have ever done. The Dachau concentration camp tour was also excellent; Steve was our guide. A very sobering experience, but nevertheless, highly recommended.