Rothensburg

So for our last day which was on Monday we rented a BMW. It was a pretty sweet car according to Steve. It was a M3 and was made to go fast. My goodness. He rented a M5 but the BMW place called Steve and told him that someone had wrecked it so we were given the M3. We rode the autobahn for 2 hours. It was quite the experience. We got up to 270 k/h which is around 170 mph. It seemed like it only took a few minutes to get up that last. Then there was only certain stretches where there was no speed limit. Jon drove half of the way back and I wasn't brave enough to drive it. It was a fun drive and the city we drove to was incredible. We went on what they call the romantic drive. It was really pretty. It took a little bit to get used to the speed signs and our navigation system really helped so we could get around. We rented the car from the BMW welt from 9-5 and it cost a pretty penny, but Steve thought it was worth every dime we spent. The guys were bummed that they put a governor on it to prevent people from going too fast. It seemed plenty fast to me. It was scary because going that fast you wanted to have enough room to slow down if someone came over in our lane. I am just glad we were safe and it was a ton of fun.

Jon having a go at it. 

We drove to this cool city named Rothenberg. It is this old medieval city that is huge. It doesn't look that big and we only had two hours there. Which was a bummer because we could have spent all day there. Just walking the streets. It had this big city wall surrounding the city. I loved the old bridge here. 

It looked like an outdoor coliseum.

This was the first buildings we walked through. 

More of my favorite red vine. 

This was a view from the back wall of the city looking out over a bridge. It was so cool. We were more and more amazed at how pretty it was there. Jon's love of buildings was contagious and I found I enjoyed them just as much as he did. 

This was engraved on one of the stones. 

This was an entrance into one of the churches there. So cool with all of the red trees that had fallen on the ground. 

We had lunch at this little cafe. It was such a good sandwich. I can't tell you how many sandwiches we have had with ham on them. I think we just liked that they put butter on the bread. They also had a chocolate store there. We had these pastries. I should have taken a picture of them. They made these balls of pastries and fried them and filled them with stuff. I personally was always a little disappointed in their sweets. Never quite sweet enough but we enjoyed them anyhow. 

I wish my back fence looked as cool as this. 

This town was the inspiration for Pinocchio and Chitty, Chitty Bang Bang was filmed there. Harry Potter  and the Deathly Hollows was filmed in this city. So cool. I loved the uniqueness it held. The vibrant colors. There was fun shops we tried not to get stuck in. We eventually split up from Steve and Gena the last hour so we could wander around. 

I love all the detail that goes into the buildings there. 

This is the entrance we went through to get to the rest of the city. The outside walls. We walked through to the upper level. 

I thought this history was fascinating that I found online. In March 1945 in World War II, German soldiers were stationed in Rothenburg to defend it. On March 31, bombs were dropped over Rothenburg by 16 planes, killing 37 people and destroying 306 houses, 6 public buildings, 9 watchtowers, and over 2,000 feet (610 m) of the wall. The U.S Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy knew about the historic importance and beauty of Rothenburg, so he ordered US Army GeneralJacob L. Devers not use artillery in taking Rothenburg. The local military commander Major Thömmes ignored the order of Adolf Hitler for all towns to fight to the end and gave up the town, thereby saving it from total destruction by artillery. American troops of the 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Division occupied the town on April 17, 1945, and in November 1948 McCloy was named Honorable Protectorate of Rothenburg. After the war, the residents of the city quickly repaired the bombing damage. Donations for the rebuilding were received from all over the world. The rebuilt walls feature commemorative bricks with donor names. Traffic-reducing measures were put in place in a significant portion of Rothenburg to increase safety and accommodate tourism.

Can you spot that German fellow walking through the city? 

We thought the kids would love the swords we found in this cool store. Our tour guide called them 

Thought this was pretty cool. We saw it in a store. 

We thought this church was pretty neat. It was the heart of the city. I loved the statues of Christ in Gethsemane. 

This is Jon walking through the outside fortress.  It had this old musty smell to it. It was so cool. 

I thought this tree was so cool with the vibrant yellow leaves. 

I thought the bike was so cool. 

I loved all they did to the windows to make it look so pretty. 

This was on the top of someone's little car. Sweet. 

Jon bought his hat in one of the stores there. We bought Taylor one as well. I thought he fit right it. I thought he looked pretty handsome.