Lenox 2000 - The Trip Continues ....

Wednesday, 9/20/00

I have breakfast with CooperGunner (Greg) and his wife Erika, and Bhickox (Bill from Houston.) Gunner lends me 100 DM and I pay my bill of 120 DM to Frau Pfaff, pack up, and say my good-byes. As I think about the last three days, I find it remarkable that 30 strangers, who only know each other by their written words, would decide to travel great distances at great expense on the chance that they would have a good time with each other. I'd bet the farm (or in this case, the bauern) that each and every traveler felt he got more than his money's worth. The "stay at home" stammtisch members will never really appreciate the camaraderie and the bonds that were forged in Urach. I spoke to several people who were fairly sure they would not be able to return next year, either for personal or financial reasons, or due to time constraints. Personally, if such a gathering were to happen again, I would try to attend even if my entire trip only lasted a long weekend.

Today my first stop is supposed to be Dinkelsbuehl, one of two medieval villages in the northwestern part of Bavaria. My route puts me on back roads and autobahns, and I change roads at whim. I am able to average 140-150 km/hr in the Renault, and hit a high speed of 162, which is about 101 mph. I exit the autobahn south of Stuttgart to avoid the congestion and after a while I find myself in the city of Reutlingen, where I park my car in an underground garage in the city center and walk to a Sparkasse. Again my ATM and credit cards do not work, so I go into the bank and find help behind the counter. English is spoken and I have no trouble getting a cash advance on my MasterCard. I only take 250 DM, as I don't think I'll need much more for my remaining days. I spend a few minutes in the fussgangerzone,

the pedestrian shopping area that so many towns have. I duck into a bakerei and my lunch consists of a piece of pastry. Back into the Renault, I depart for Dinkelsbuehl, arriving at 4:00PM. Dinkelsbuehl is quite a nice town which, if I was traveling with other people, could easily occupy 6-8 hours of leisurely walking and shopping,

but I must be in Rothenburg in time for the nightwatchman's tour, so I go at my usual pace, and by 5:45 I am back in the car, having purchased some handmade creamers from a local artisan, but not being successful in finding some artwork that I was looking for. I drive the Romantischestrasse (the Romantic Road) to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which means Rothenburg on the River Tauber. I stop for gas on the way and pay 2,01 DM/liter, the cheapest I had noticed anywhere in the past week.

Arriving in Rothenburg, I figure that since I am only spending one night, I'd stay inside the wall that surrounds the city. I pull into the gate and realize that driving inside the wall is like driving in Chinatown, only worse. Every street is paved with cobblestones. The first hotel I check with has rooms for 155 DM per night, about $75.00. I decide to look elsewhere even though they would accept a credit card. My next stop was Gasthaus Reidel, about one block north of the most photographed place in Germany, the Ploenlein. The single room is 35 DM per night, about $17.00. I take a look and the room is tiny

and spartan. The furniture looks to be from the 40s. The 1740s. No credit cards accepted, but for such a bargain, I can't pass it up. I transfer my necessities to my daypack, drop it in the lobby, and drive four blocks to the free parking area, just inside the wall.

Returning by foot to the hotel, I stow my pack in my room on the second floor. Here, 2nd floor means you have to walk up one flight to the first floor, and another flight to the second floor. The locks on the doors use skeleton keys. There is a shower on the hallway that is the size of a telephone booth, and is shared by 7 rooms on this level, as is the commode. Each room has hot and cold running water at the sink. This is not a place I'd recommend to anyone except those on the tightest budget, but for those, this place is certainly acceptable. The bed sagged in the center, but despite the age of everything, (the building is about 500 years old), it is reasonably clean. The weather today varies from overcast to sunny, and back again, with temperatures in the 60s. I wear cotton pants and a long-sleeved shirt and I'm comfortable, but now that it is getting dark, I add a sweater.

At 8:00PM, the nightwatchman's tour begins from the town square.

The nightwatchman speaks excellent English and he tells our group of about 400 people that this is the largest crowd he has ever had.

The tour is well worth the 6 DM charge, and is both informative and amusing. The tour ends at 9PM and I find an Italian restaurant where I order Spaghetti Bolognese and an orange soda, my first Italian food of the trip.

I walk through Rothenburg for another 1/2 hour and begin to feel some sprinkles, so I call it a night and get into bed. I try to read for a while, and I can feel my eyes closing.

                                 Thursday, September 21, 2000
      
I awake to a steady rain which continues more or less throughout the day. After breakfast, I walk through Rothenburg and see it by daylight...a truly beautiful city. I do a little shopping, buying postcards and some watercolor prints of Rothenburg. I also find some Swarovski crystal for my daughter, Megan and I buy her an airplane and a sailing ship. For Shari, I find some stone serving platters that are hand carved and painted in Kenya. I also find a shop in which a young lady burns scenes of Rothenburg in a wood disk and personalizes it with your name, if you wish. I choose a pre-carved disk showing the Ploenlein and have her inscribe, "Willkommen im Haus Oxman" (welcome to the Oxman house).

By 1PM, I'm in the car and on my way north to Iphofen, which BavariaBen had mentioned he was going to check out. It is not far out of my way and while it may be worth an hour or two, it doesn't have the charm, nor does it cater to tourists, like Rothenburg and Dinkelsbuehl do. There is a fine looking gate in the wall

but what i thought most interesting was a store with Wild West memorabilia.

I decide to stop into the store and meet the owner, who turns out to be not American, but German! We talk for a few minutes and I continue on my way towards Cologne on the A3 autobahn. The route takes me past Frankfurt and I stop in the city of Montabaur for dinner. I weave my way from the autobahn exit towards the zentrum (city center), and 4 km later I park on the street and locate a pizzeria. It is 6:00PM and I am famished, not having had lunch. The waitress comes over, but she speaks no English, so she asks a man at the adjacent table if he is able to translate. He is. She takes my order and the man, who has been reading a newspaper, stikes up a conversation which lasts throughout my meal. He asks if I have a few minutes, and I tell him that I am expected in Leichlingen soon, but I can spend 10 minutes with him so that he can show me the fussgangerzone. We take two minutes to walk up some steps and I am treated to a beautiful view of the city. From the car, Montabaur is nothing special, but if you have some time and are nearby, it's worth a stop. There are a lot of old faschwerk buildings, many in really good shape. He shows me Judenstrasse, the street where the Jewish population lived in the 1500s. During WWII, the street was renamed Margaritastrasse, and stayed that way for 50 years. A few years ago, they renamed it Judenstrasse, but there are probably no Jews within 50 miles. I am sorry not to have taken my camera for this walk, which lasts about an hour, but I manage to take Manfred's photo

when we get back to my car. I give him the third nerf football as a gift for his son. Sometimes the the most inauspicious moments seem to reward one with great memories. 

All Good Things Come to An End