So here’s a little gem you should visit while you are in Germany: Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

It’s a small village just within the borders of Bavaria.  It’s about 20 minutes away from Thorsten’s home town and he took me there a few times.   Like a lot of  European towns, Rothenburg  centers around the old city with its walls and then the city spreads out to more modern architecture.

The old city of Rothenburg has remained intact since its inception in 950 A.D. (although that was just te creation of what’s today the palace garden – it officially became the Free Imperial City of Rothenburg in 1274 A.D.)

When you first enter through the old gates, you find that you can still climb up the walls and walk them:

The streets are what you would imagine a European town would look like:

At the center you will find the Rathaus or Town Hall.  This photo was taken the first time Thorsten took me there and there was a run of some kind:

If you do ever find yourself in Rotheburg, you must swing by Kaethe Wolfahrt.  It is the famous Christmas store in Germany where you can buy gorgeous ornaments year round.

It’s mainly a store but it is set up like a museum.  You can walk through and just be awe inspired by the beauty around.  Normally you are not allowed to take photographs inside but Thorsten is awesome and snuck one:

You should also go to the gardens:

And from there you will be able to see the beautiful valley and the Tauber river where Rothenburg gets part of its name.  The words ‘ob der Tauber’ literally means ‘above the Tauber.’

It’s a cool little village that you should try and visit if you can.  It’s very picturesque and the more modern areas are also cool including this resturant:

This restaurant is made of an old dairy mill.  Very cool, great food! You should go for Sunday brunch there’s more food than sense there! mmmmmmm Delicious!