BEAUTIFUL ROTHENBURG

Welcome to a picture tour of Rothenburg, probably the most photographed city in Germany.  It is the quaintest of the quaint cities, in most people's opinions.  It is one of the top cities to visit in Germany.  We drove down on our last P day, probably took a little more than 2 hours.  We didn't visit any of the museums, mostly walked around the lovely old city that is within the old city wall.  We will still have things to do here next time we come.  As usual, my pictures are in a rather random order.

We could have climbed the 200 plus stairs to the top of this tower and gotten a nice view of the city, but we didn't.
Just a cute gastehaus.  (guest house)
The town hall in the main town market square.  They have a wonderful Christmas market here that we will want to be sure to come to in December.
Such cute narrow streets.
Brian in front of the gate to the gardens.  At one time there was a castle here, but it burned down so now the gardens are located on the spot.
In the back is the old city wall that goes around the city.  Built, I believe, in the 13th century.  Something else for us to do next time is walk around the wall.
Looking into the gardens


Another view of the market square.
The famous town clock.  We didn't get to see it's action.  Unfortunately, it doesn't perform on every hour.
Here is the most photographed view (minus the people) in Rothenburg.  You will see this scene everywhere on travel books, paintings in the shops, etc.
A closeup view of the house in the previous picture.  I wonder if anyone lives here.  I should have looked in a window.
Anyone for a drindle or lederhosen?   (Probably spelled wrong)
Rothenburg is famous for this pastry called Schneeball.  It is like pieces of dough (like pie dough) cute in strips and then formed into this ball.  It comes with lots of different choices to put on it--nuts, chocolate,etc.
We shared a chocolate one, and found it quite good.  Rick Stieve's book says it is over rated.
We had this wonderful view looking back on the city from the garden.
Another great view.  I like that little bridge down there.
In the garden
More garden
I just like this house.  Obviously, of newer vintage than some of the others.
I thought you might like to see a BMW scooter.
We did go into one of the more famous churches.  It had some beautiful stained glass windows.
The church is famous for this wood carving of the last supper.  It was done by one of Germany's most famous wood carvers.
A close up view.  This is different than most views of the Last Supper.  Christ is not in the center.  Judas is the figure in the middle holding his bag of money.  Christ is offering him a piece of bread.
Opps, we already saw this one.
Just another cute street.
They have some interesting signs for their shops.
This is one of the entrances into the old part of the city.

Well, I'm sure you have seen enough.  I took lots of pictures and my camera battery run out before we were through so I could have taken more.  

Auf Wiedersehen

NURNBERG

We have made two separate trip to Nurnberg during the last week.  Last Thursday Elder Toolson had an interview with the Stake President in the evening so we took the train down early so we could walk around the old town.  My camera battery was exhausted part way through our visit so I didn't get all the pictures I wanted to, but we will be there many more times to get more photos.

Just inside the old city they have this relatively new area that is quaint but is not that old.  We ate bratwurst at a little cafe here.

This picture looks back at the old city entrance.  Nurnberg was heavily bombed during the war, and was second only to Dresden.  The old City was over 90 percent destroyed.  If a building was only damaged, it was repaired  and restored, but many of the build had to be rebuilt to look like they still belonged to the old city.  The Allied forces bombed this area so heavily because it was a favorite gathering place of the Nazis.
I just liked the looks of this lamp post.  It looks like it has candles in it, but I'm sure it is electric.  I'll bet it looks pretty at night.
This church dominates the huge open market square.  Nazi demonstrations were held in the square.
Just being a tourist.
This is called Schoner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain).  I didn't see any water in it, but in old times it brought fresh water to the city.
On our P day Monday, we went with the Elders in our District to Nurnberg to see the Nazi sights.  Nurnberg was the favorite gathering place for Hitler's huge rallies.  I'm sure you have all seen pictures of him speaking in front of all the huge gathering of troops.  There is a Nazi Documentation Center which describes  how Hitler came to power and all that followed.  It was very interesting and sobering.  This huge complex was never finished.  When the war started, they had other places to put their money. This picture says something about boycotting jewish establishments.
Just a few of the pictures from inside the Center.  This is Hitler and his cronies.
Hopefully, Elder Toolson does not resemble Hitler.

A look at  what is called the Congress Hall.

What a great looking group!
Our two Elders here in Graf, Elder Harrison and Elder Aubrey.
Who might this be?
We were starving after our Nazi tour and the Elders took us to a Doner shop.  A great type of sandwich is made from this rotating piece of meat.  I don't really know what it is!  But it was good.
Elder Harrison put some super hot sauce on his doner, and his face turned bright red while eating it.

We took the train home and got there before the rain came.  It was a fun day.

VISITING AMBERG

Monday on P day we took a short trip to Amberg.  All of these cities seem to be quaint and interesting.  


All the produce looked very nice and fresh.  When I have shopped in the German grocery stores the produce doesn't look so good.
Every way you turn is a picture taking moment.
We went in two very different churches.  This was had huge paintings all around the walls and on the ceiling.
It had life size sculptures figures.  These were two of the 12 apostles.  It was very beautiful.
The other church was equally beautiful in a different way.  This church had many wonderful stained glass windows.  These are just two of them.




Our nice Elders at our apartment for lunch on Tuesday.
I think of Elder Richardson when we are with them.  The taller Elder is from Germany.  He said he was disappointed when he got his mission call to Germany.  He wanted to go to England.  There are quite a few German nationals here, but more from the USA.